Horton Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Horton Family History

Horton Family History

The family history of the ancient name Horton was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Horton is a locational name from a township in the parish of Bradford in County Yorkshire, England. This name is of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to the Celtic countries of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout these countries. Examples of such are an Emma de Horton who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in the year 1379. A Thomas de Horton from County Devon was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls' in the year 1273. A John Horton and Sarah Houghton were married at Saint Michael, Cornhill, in the Year 1680. Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for their overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired lands by either force or gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals.

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.

The Horton 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 Horton descendants.