Stinson a.k.a. Stevenson, Stephenson, Stephinson, Stevenston, Steenson, Stenson, Steinson
Craig L. S.
If anyone can render futher assistance in my locating additional material I
would greatly appreciate it. One interest of mine is just what exactly is
the orriginal spelling of my Surname? As well as where my sept/clan exactly
orriginated from.
The Ancient History of the Distinguished Surname
~ STINSON ~
The ruins of tall craggy towers and castles are still scattered along the
Scottish/English border, home to this notable surname Stinson. Their
ancient history is closely woven into the rich fabric of the border
chronicles.
Through diligent research amongst some of the most ancient manuscripts such
as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, the Inquisitio, the Ragman Rolls, the
Domesday Book, baptismals, parish records, tax records and cartularies,
researchers found the first record of the name Stinson, in Northumberland
where they were seated from very ancient times, some say before the Norman
Conquest in 1066.
The name, Stinson, occurred in many references, and from time to time, it
was spelt Stevenson, Stephenson, Stephinson, Stevenston, Steenson, Stenson,
Steinson, Stinson, and others. Scribes and church officials spelt the name
as it sounded, and frequently the spelling changed even during the person’s
own lifetime.
The family name Stinson is believed to be descended from the Boernicians,
an ancient founding race of the English/Scottish border dating from about
the year 400 A.D. The border was also home to Clans such as the Sturdy
Armstrongs, the Gallant Grahams, the Saucy Scotts, the angry Kerrs, the
Bells, the Nixons, the Famous Dicksons, the bold Rutherfords, and the
Pudding Somervilles.
From these war-like clans of the border the surname Stinson was found in
Northumberland, where they were anciently seated at Knaresdale Hall, and at
Newcastle on Tyne. By 1150 they had moved north to Scotland in the parish
of Newlands in Peebleshire, where Stevene Stevenson rendered homage, along
with his kinsman John, to King Edward I of England on his brief conquest of
Scotland in 1296. The name north and south of the border at this time was
spelled “ph” and “v” alternately. Branches of the name appeared in Scotland
in Brechin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Irvine, and south of the border in
Middlesex, Lincoln, Derbyshire, and Cumberland. Sir William Stevenson was
Lord Mayor of London in 1764. George Stephenson, the inventor of the
locomotive was of Scottish parentage, but the main stem of the family
remained in the north east of England and southern Scotland. In Scotland
there was a small group in the Glasgow and Prestwick area which corrupted
the name to Stenson and Steenson and Steinson, Park Grange, Playford Mount,
and Braidwood. Notable amongst the family name during the early history was
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson, distinguished author, born in Edinburgh,
whose works included “Treasure Island”, “Kidnapped” and many more,
1850-1894.
Clan feuds became so intense that in 1246 A.D., 6 Chiefs from the Scottish
side and 6 from the English side met at Carlisle and created a set of laws
acceptable to the border territory and its people. These were unlike any
laws prevailing in England or Scotland or, for that matter, anywhere else in
the world. For refusal of assistance when called, a person could be hanged
on the instant, without a trial. While clans were on this “hot trod” to
recover stolen property, (from which we get the modern expression “hot to
trot”), they were protected from almost all eventualities.
When the Crowns of England and Scotland were united under James VI of
Scotland in 1603 the Border Clans were dispersed to England, northern
Scotland and to Ireland. Some were banished directly to the colonies.
In Ireland, they were granted lands previously held by the Catholic Irish.
They signed an “Undertaking” to remain Protestant and faithful to the Crown.
In Ireland the name assumed the variance of Steenson and Stinson, and they
settled in country Limerick, and were prominent patrons of Gaelic
literature.
The New World beckoned and the many settlers in Ireland, known as the
Scotch/Irish, became disenchanted. They sailed aboard the armada of sailing
ships known as the “White Sails” which plied the stormy Atlantic. Some
called them, less romantically, the “coffin ships”. Amongst the first
pioneers who could be considered kinsmen of the family name Stinson, of that
same Clan or family, was Joseph Stephenson who settled in Argentina, in
Newfoundland, in 1730; William and Mathew Stevenson settled in Harbour
Grace, Newfoundland, in 1760; Andrew Stevenson settled in Charleston Mass.
in 1630; Richard Stevenson settled in the Barbados in 1654; Robert Stevenson
settled in Boston Mass. in 1763; Christian and Anne Stephenson settled in
Virginia in 1637; Thomas Stephenson settled in Maryland in 1774; John
Steenson settled in Charles Town SC in 1767; David, Hugh, James, John,
Robert, Thomas and William Stinson all arrived in Pennsylvania from 1844 to
1857.
These pioneers became the nucleus of the first settlements from Maine to
the Cumberland Gap, from Nova Scotia to the Prairies.
The family name Stinson provided many prominent contemporaries; Sir Francis
Stephenson; Edgar Stephenson, Archdeacon; Professor Gordon Stephenson,
Architect; Colonel Sir Henry Stephenson; Jim Stephenson, Recorder; Sir Percy
Stephenson; Sir William Stephenson, Canadian Author; Dr. Alan Stevenson,
Researcher; Sir Aubrey Stevenson; Dame Hilda Stevenson; Air Marshall Leigh
Stevenson; Sir Matthew Stevenson; Sir Ralph Stevenson; Adlai E. Stevenson,
U.S. Vice-President.
The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms was researched as:
Red on a silver diagonal stripe three green leopards faces.
The Crest was:
A gold wheatsheaf.
The ancient family Motto for this distinguished name was:
“Sub Libertate Quietum”
Smag
Steinson and is derived from Stevenson (Son of Steven)
Reference Surnames of Scotland by George F. Black.
The name is first recorded in Scotland in 1388 and means 'son of Steven'.
The family originally farmed land in the parish of Neilston, Renfrewshire
but they spawned a hostof famous figures in history:
Robert Stevenson (1772-1850) and his son Alan (1807-1865), David (1815-86),
and Thomas (1818-87), father of Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94), novelist,
short story writer, and poet,
According to Scots Kith and Kin, Clan Stevenson was in Ayrshire in the 12th
Century, Moray in the 13th Century, and in Angus in the 15th Century.
Craig L. S. wrote in message
<#8dtJF2Q#GA....@upnetnews02.moswest.msn.net>...
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