Opkines History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The origins of the name Opkines are from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from the name Hobb, a pet form of the personal name Robert. This name was supplemented by the common diminutive suffix -kin. Thus, the original form of the surname Opkines was Hobbe-kin. 1

Early Origins of the Opkines family

The surname Opkines was first found in Oxfordshire at Swalcliffe where a family of this name has resided since the 13th century and had nineteen proprietors who had the personal name of John. 1

However, the earliest record of the name was found in the Latin form of Hobekinus in the Curia Regis Rolls of Staffordshire in 1224. William Hobkyn and Richard Hobkyn were both listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, while the Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire of the same year list William Hopkyn and John Hopkynes. 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Nicholas Hobekyn and Roger Hobekyn in Cambridgeshire and later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Agnes Hobkyn-wyf. 3

Early History of the Opkines family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Opkines research. Another 72 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1544, 1563, 1570, 1581, 1594, 1600, 1612, 1620, 1623, 1624, 1626, 1627, 1644, 1647, 1657, 1660, 1664, 1666, 1670, 1674, 1681, 1682, 1690, 1700 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Opkines History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Opkines Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Opkines family name include Hopkins, Habbagan, Hopkin, Hopkines, Hopkyns and many more.

Early Notables of the Opkines family

Notables of this surname at this time include: John Hopkins (d. 1570), part-translator, with Thomas Sternhold and others, of the famous metrical version of the Psalms, was admitted B.A. at Oxford in 1544. 4Richard Hopkins (d. 1594?), was a Catholic exile, born of 'genteel parents,' and at about seventeen years of age became a commoner of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford, where he was residing in 1563. 4Edward Hopkins (1600-1657), was an English colonist, politician, and Governor of the Connecticut Colony, founder of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies, politically active in the administration of Oliver Cromwell.William Hopkins, was a British sheriff...
Another 154 words (11 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Opkines Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Opkines family to Ireland

Some of the Opkines family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 182 words (13 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Opkines family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Opkines surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Michael Hopkin settled in Barbados in 1654; Stephen Hopkins and his wife, Elizabeth, settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts in the year of the "Mayflower".

The Opkines Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Inter primos
Motto Translation: Among the first

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print