Rawstorne History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Rawstorne

What does the name Rawstorne mean?

The vast movement of people that followed the Norman Conquest of England of 1066 brought the Rawstorne family name to the British Isles. They lived in Yorkshire, at Rostherne. Rawsthorn is derived from Old Norman names that mean red, and torn. Accordingly, the name means dweller by the thorns.

Early Origins of the Rawstorne family

The surname Rawstorne was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the manor of Fryston, and were conjecturally descended from Gerbodo, a Norman noble, who held those lands at the time of the taking of the Domesday Book in 1086, a census initiated by Duke William of Normandy after his conquest of England in 1066. This family emerged with several basic spellings, Rawson, which became popular in Yorkshire in all their various branches, Rawsthorne and Rawstorne and Rostron and Rawstorn all became more popular in Lancashire.

Early History of the Rawstorne family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rawstorne research. Another 94 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1683 and 1965 are included under the topic Early Rawstorne History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rawstorne Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Rawstorne, Rawsthorne, Rawstorn, Rawstron, Rawstrone, Rawsthorn, Rostron and many more.

Early Notables of the Rawstorne family

More information is included under the topic Early Rawstorne Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Rawstorne family

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Rawstorne or a variant listed above were: Richard Rawston, who arrived in Maryland in 1678; John Rawthorne, who settled in Maryland in 1756; and Robert Rawsthorne, who arrived in New York in 1884..

Contemporary Notables of the name Rawstorne (post 1700) +

Brigadier George Streynsham Rawstorne (1895-1962), English soldier and cricketer, who was Lord Lieutenant of Sutherland (1950-1962)