Whyatt History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The name Whyatt came to England with the ancestors of the Whyatt family in the Norman Conquest of 1066. It comes from Guyat, a pet form of the Old French given name Guy. 1

Early Origins of the Whyatt family

The surname Whyatt was first found in Sussex though the name "has gone through the various forms of Wyat, Wiat, Wyot, and Guyot, or Guiot. The last-named three are used indifferently in the time of King John, and clearly prove the derivation of the name as a diminutive, from the Norman-French personal name Gui or Guido, which we have also received in the form of Guy. The name Guyatt is still found in West Sussex." 2

Another noted source provides early entries for the name as a forename: Wiot de Acham in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1192; Wioth de Cratella in Northumberland (no date given); Gwiot in the Curia Regis Rolls for Gloucestershire in 1203; and Wyot in the Assize Rolls for Yorkshire in 1219. 3 Rolling back to earlier spellings as a surname, Reaney notes Thomas Guyot in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1295 and Henry Guyot in the Subsidy Rolls for Somerset in 1327.

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 proved the widespread use of the name both as a forename and surname: Ayote uxor Wyot, Shropshire; Henry Wyot, Cambridgeshire; Wyott le Carpentier, Buckinghamshire; and Wyot de Dudelebury in Shropshire. 4

There are scat records of the name in Scotland as Black notes "Maucolum Wyet of county Anegos rendered homage, 1296. Nothing more is known of him. James Vyot, Wyot, or Wyat, [was] burgess of Arnbroath, in record 1461-1468." 5

Early History of the Whyatt family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Whyatt research. Another 167 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1460, 1503, 1506, 1509, 1513, 1521, 1536, 1537, 1542, 1543, 1550, 1554, 1588, 1616, 1623, 1624, 1644, 1663, 1685, 1731, 1746 and 1813 are included under the topic Early Whyatt History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Whyatt Spelling Variations

Before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Sound was what guided spelling in the Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Whyatt family name include Wyatt, Wyat and others.

Early Notables of the Whyatt family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Sir Henry Wyatt (1460-1537), an English courtier from Yorkshire; and his son, Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), an early English language poet and statesman, knighted by Henry VIII in 1536; Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger (1521-1554), an English rebel leader during the reign of Mary I of England; his rising is traditionally called "Wyatt's rebellion"; George...
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Whyatt Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Whyatt migration to Australia +

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

Whyatt Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. George Whyatt, English convict who was convicted in Peterborough, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Earl Grey" on 27th July 1838, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 6
Mr. John Whyatt, English convict who was convicted in Liverpool, Merseyside, England for 15 years, transported aboard the "China" on 198th January 1846, arriving in Norfolk Island, Australia 7
James Whyatt, aged 30, who arrived in South Australia in 1854 aboard the ship "Ostrich" 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Whyatt (post 1700) +

J. Whyatt Mondesire (1949-2015), American journalist and reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer

Historic Events for the Whyatt family +

RMS Lusitania

Mrs. Martha Ann Whyatt, English 2nd Class passenger residing in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA returning to England, who sailed aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and survived the sinking by escaping in a collapsible 9

The Whyatt 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: Duriora virtus
Motto Translation: Virtue tries harder things.

Citations +

Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
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)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 17th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-grey
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 5th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/china
South Australian Register Saturday 22nd July 1854. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Ostrich 1854. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/ostrich1854.shtml
Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 6) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/