Featherstone One-Name Study

Featherstone
One-Name Study

Topics

About the Featherstone One-Name Study
Variants
Origin of the surname
Historical occurrences
Distribution of the name
Data
Links
Contact Details

About the Featherstone One-Name Study

A worldwide study of the surname and variants, which comes together in a One Named Society with members from, England, Canada, United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Variants

Featherston, Fetherstone, Fetherston, Fetherstonhaugh, Fetherstonehalgh,Featherstonehaugh, Featherstonehalgh are just some of the variants I have found.

Origin of the surname

A DNA project was started in 2004 to try and give some insight into the origins of the name, we started on the presumption that the name may have come from the Castle, first results indicate that this may not be true, but more results are needed to draw any conclusions at this stage of the project.

Historical occurrences

Helias Federstonhaugh owned the Castle Featherstone around 1215 near Haltwhistle in Northumberland.

Distribution of the name

The name can be found in greater numbers in the English counties of Durham, North & East Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Kent, Devon- Back to when Parish records began. The first known Featherstone in the U.S.A. was around 1612, although he was known to have died during the expedition, many have followed. There are many in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Ireland is thought to have the name via a settlement after the English civil war.

Data

To date I have collected Births Deaths and Marriages from the beginning of Civil registration up to 1901, Many family tree's from around the world, and lots of census material, this collection keeps growing.

First World War records and parish records are being developed.