EnglandStreeton is one of the many names that the Normans brought with them when they conquered England in 1066. The Streeton family lived in Wiltshire, at Stratton. However, there are also parishes in Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, and Somerset also named Stratton.
The reason for the many parishes so named is because of the etymology of the surname as in "one who came from Stratton (homestead on a Roman road.)" [1] However down in Cornwall, in Cornish the name literally means "the hill full of fresh springs." [2]
The surname Streeton was first found in Wiltshire where it is said that the notorious Adam de Stratton derives from Argouges from Manche in the arrondisement of Avranches in Normandy.
Adam de Stratton (died 1292) was a royal moneylender, administrator and clergyman under Edward I of England. He rose to become Chamberlain of the Exchequer and steward of Isabella, Countess of Devon. His father was Thomas de Argoges, or Arwillis, of Stratton St Margaret in Wiltshire. In 1278, he was accused of cutting off the seal of a charter from Quarr Abbey, thereby invalidating its authenticity. This was not the beginning nor the last time he would be associated with dubious activities. On 17 January 1290, he was relieved of his office of chamberlain, along with his temporal possessions. Upon his arrest, he was discovered to have in his possession a vast sum of money and objects associated with witchcraft. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1292 and died by 14 August 1294.
Stratton is a parish in Cornwall in the deanery of Trigg-Major, and in the hundred to which this parish imparts its name. "This circumstance denotes its great antiquity, and discovers that in former ages it presented no contemptible figure on the rolls of fame." [3]
Robert de Stretton (died 1385), an English divine, born at Stretton Magna, Leicestershire was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield and son of Robert Eyryk or de Stretton. "He and his elder brother, Sir William Eyryk, knight (ancestor of the Heyricks of Leicestershire), derived their surnames from Stretton Magna. " [4]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Streeton research. Another 175 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1285, 1320 and 1364 are included under the topic Early Streeton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Stratton, Straton, Straiton and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Streeton Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Streeton migration to Australia +
