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![Show Contents]() Wolstowne History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
Wolstowne is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Wolstowne family once lived in one of a variety of similarly-named places. Settlements named Woolstone are in Buckinghamshire and Devon. Wolstan is a parish in Warwickshire and Woolston is a hamlet in Somerset. The surname Wolstowne belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Early Origins of the Wolstowne familyThe surname Wolstowne was first found in Lancashire at Woolstone, a township, in the parish and union of Warrington, hundred of West Derby. Saint Walstan (or Walston) (died 1016) dedicated his life to farming and the care of farm animals and is accordingly the patron saint of farms, farmers, farmhands, ranchers and husbandrymen. "[Bawburgh, or Babur in Norfolk] is distinguished as the birthplace of St. Walstan; he lived at Taverham, where he died in 1016, and his remains were removed hither, and enshrined in a chapel in the parish church. The resort of pilgrims to visit his shrine greatly enriched the vicar and officiating priests, who, in 1309, rebuilt the church; but the chapel in which the remains of the saint were deposited was demolished in the reign of Henry VIII." 1 Early History of the Wolstowne familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wolstowne research. Another 80 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1465, 1535, 1553, 1561, 1570, 1573, 1579, 1594, 1670, 1705 and 1733 are included under the topic Early Wolstowne History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Wolstowne Spelling VariationsSound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Wolstowne family name include Woolston, Woolton, Wolston and others. Early Notables of the Wolstowne familyNotables of this surname at this time include: John Woolton (or Wolton) (1535?-1594), English Bishop of Exeter. He was born at Whalley in Lancashire about 1535 (according to Godwin he was born at Wigan), was the son of John Woolton of Wigan, by his wife Isabella, daughter of John Nowell of Bead Hall, Whalley. "He was admitted student of Brasenose College, Oxford, on...
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Wolstowne Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Wolstowne familyFor political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Wolstowne surname or a spelling variation of the name include: John Woolston settled in New Castle, Delaware in 1677; and moved in the same year to New Jersey; William Woolton settled in Virginia in 1639.
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
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