Hawkins Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Hawkins Family History

Hawkins Family History

The family history of the ancient name Hawkins was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Meaning 'the son of Henry', Hawkins is a baptismal name with many variants including Hawkin, Hawking, Hawkings, Hawkes, Hawks and Howkins. This name is found most frequently in England in the West Country and West Midlands and is usually of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to the Celtic countries of Ireland, Scotland and Wales in early times. It is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout the above islands. Examples of such are a Henricus Hawkynne who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in 1379. A William Hawkys was registered in the University of Oxford in 1539. A family of Hawkyns has been established in Plymouth as far back as 1480.

In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland, especially during the seventeenth century. During the 'Plantations of Ireland' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Ireland was colonized by the English Crown with this period marking the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland. This period brought an influx of settlers into the country but, unlike the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century that resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.

Hawkins in Ireland is also an occasional variant of the name Haughan.The Hawkins family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Hawkins descendants.