Sweeton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Sweeton comes from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It was a name for a person who was referred to as swete, which is an Old English word used to describe a sweet or gentle person. 1 Another source claims the name was "probably an Anglo-Saxon personal name, having reference to character." 2

Early Origins of the Sweeton family

The surname Sweeton was first found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 where the name was found as both a forename and a surname: Swet le Bone, Norfolk; Adam Swet, Oxfordshire; and Roger Swet, Cambridgeshire. 3

In Somerset, Walter Swete was listed there 1 Edward III (during the first year of the reign of King Edward III) 4 and later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Johannes Suete and Johannes Swete as holding lands there at that time. 3

Early History of the Sweeton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sweeton research. Another 265 words (19 lines of text) covering the years 1578, 1583, 1660, 1672, 1685, 1700, 1708, 1712, 1752, 1770, 1774, 1777, 1781 and 1821 are included under the topic Early Sweeton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sweeton Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Sweeton has undergone many spelling variations, including Sweit, Sweet, Swete, Sweete, Sweett and others.

Early Notables of the Sweeton family

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

Migration of the Sweeton family to Ireland

Some of the Sweeton family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 34 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sweeton migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Sweeton were among those contributors:

Sweeton Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Ann Sweeton, who arrived in Maryland in 1670 5

Sweeton migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Sweeton Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Edward Sweeton, Scottish convict who was convicted in Ayr, Scotland for 7 years, transported aboard the "Barossa" on 27th August 1841, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Sweeton (post 1700) +

Arthur W. Sweeton Jr., American Republican politician, Member of Connecticut State House of Representatives from Canton; Elected 1954

Citations +

Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/barossa