Stillingfleet History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Stillingfleet

What does the name Stillingfleet mean?

The name Stillingfleet reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Stillingfleet family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Stillingfleet is based on the Norman name Steflingefled.

Early Origins of the Stillingfleet family

The surname Stillingfleet was first found in Yorkshire at Stillingfleet, a village and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire. The place dates back at least The Domesday Book where it was listed as Steflingefled from the Old English personal name + inga + fleot and literally meant "stretch of river belonging to the family or followers of a man called Styfel." 1

Early History of the Stillingfleet family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Stillingfleet research. Another 109 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1466, 1491, 1635, 1689 and 1699 are included under the topic Early Stillingfleet History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Stillingfleet Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Stillingfleet are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Stillingfleet include Stillington, Stillingfleet and others.

Early Notables of the Stillingfleet family

Edward Stillingfleet (1635-1699), was a British theologian and scholar from Cranborne, Dorset considered to have been an outstanding preacher as well as a strong polemical writer defending Anglicanism...

Stillingfleet migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 2

Stillingfleet Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Silvester Stillingfleet who settled in Jamaica in 1684

Contemporary Notables of the name Stillingfleet (post 1700) +

Benjamin Stillingfleet (1702-1771), English naturalist and dilettante, born in Norfolk, son of Edward Stillingfleet

The Stillingfleet 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: Magna est veritas
Motto Translation: Great is truth.

Sources +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies