Everything that you
ever wanted to
know about the
Covington name
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WHERE ARE WE FROM?
Before we
look at the actual historical transition of our name, it is interesting to first
look at how names have evolved and why, indeed, we need surnames at all. In
early times when the population was smaller and few people would ever travel
far from their respective settlements, people would be known only by their
given name and place of habitat e.g. Harold of London, Peter of Bedford etc. It
was only when the population grew and the undoubted confusion caused by there
being more than one William of York in one's midst, that individual surnames
originated for the purpose of more specific identification.
The four
primary sources for second names or surnames were;
Occupation, for example, Baker, Butcher, Smith etc. In
some cases though time has changed the shape of these words and such names as
Baxter, a derivative of Baker, have emerged. As a simple rule of thumb, many
names ending in -er, have derived from this source.
Father's name plus relationship, for example, Johnson,
Patterson, Jones etc. Again names have evolved from the original source and
such names as Dawson are now quite common, but is in fact from the same origins
as Davidson, with Daw being an olden days shortened version of David.
Personal characteristics, for example, Longman,
Short, Small etc. Some names were derived from a persons manner, for example
Dukes and Abbots probably were given to somebody who acted in a "dukely or
abbotly" manner. Many names derived from less complimentary distinguishing
characteristics, such as Shufflebotham and Crookshanks. Names such as
Goodfellow, Wisdom and Fairman are perhaps somewhat kinder to those who now
carry the name. It does seem somewhat unfair that anybody should have to
inherit a name with such obvious characteristic connotations as Boldass,
particularly when one may grow up to be a 6 stone ballerina!
Places or localities for example York,
Bradford, and of course Covington, even Churchill which derived from those who
lived near a church on a hill. By far the largest group of surnames is drawn
from names of places, from whence a person came, or occasionally was going to,
or from the geographical detail of his place of habitat.
Much of these spelling changes were due to
illiteracy rather than some wish to confuse latter day genealogists. In the
early days even the most educated had their problems spelling words when
pronounced by a rural speaker. More of this later when we look at the different
derivatives of Covington.
Welsh variations, the same basic rules apply for Welsh
names, except many more are derivatives from their father's name, eg Davies,
Jones, Williams etc, all being translation as "son of". Another
variation is the old Welsh prefix of "ap", again meaning "son
of". This has spawned names such as Pritchard (ap Richard) and Pugh (ap
Hugh) etc.
Scottish variations. Like the Welsh, many Scots share
the same few names, having taken their chosen name originally from the powerful
clans with whom they sought protection, as a sign of allegiance. Even today the
inhabitants of one Scottish island all have the same name, though they are not
all related by blood. To rectify this confusion many added place-names to their
surnames, and although this initially was started by the lairds and barons, it
soon spread to farmers and the like. Today Scottish names can be found
throughout the world, thanks to the Scots great tradition of colonisation,
however many 18th Scots fearful after the Jacobite Rising, travelled south and
adopted less obtrusive English local names.
Irish variations. The surname prefix "Mac" is of
both Irish and Scottish extraction and like "Ap" in Welsh and
"Son" in English means "son of" and is placed before the
father's name. An interesting additional note is that O' before a name is
usually linked with, and placed in front of, the grandfathers name, and again,
roughly translated means "of".
Royalty - According to the Marquis de Ruvigny in 1911,
there were about 100,000 living descendants of Edward III. Today that figure
must have grown substantially and would suggest that over 20 out of every 100
Englishmen born are a royal descendant. If you are fortunate enough to link in
with a member of the royal family, much of your future genealogical research
work will have been done for you. Sadly, it is unlikely to mean that you will
be invited to Sunday tea with the Royal Patron, but it does make interesting,
after dinner, small talk at your next candle-lit supper.
My main research has always been limited to
those actually named Covington, or its derivatives. No doubt anybody wanting to
trace back descendants of each spouse of a Covington will eventually find their
way into the Royal circle. Please let me know if you are successful in any
legal claim for part of the Duchy of Cornwall.
One of the great challenges for any genealogist
is to come up with the definitive answer to the question "Where did my
name come from?" Not surprisingly there can sometimes be a difference of
opinion between one genealogist and another. I'm pleased to say that the same
applies to the Covingtons, be it that we don't seem to be too far apart in our
version of the grassroots origin. Detailed below are a number of versions of
the answer to the "Where are we from?" question. Because this is my
website, I'll go first !!
The Covingtons of England, a collation of data from various sources
by Martin H Covington
The location origins of the Covington name are
believed to be associated with the English translated phrase "One who came
from
Therefore, breaking down the original
Cufingatun name, piece by piece, we have:
Cufa
(Anglo Saxon tribe name)
Inga (of the)
tun
(estate) or ton (Anglo Saxon for a place surrounded by a hedge or
palisade, i.e. a town or village).
Many Anglian names containing the -ingtun
prefix were established in the Northumbria/Berwickshire area. It seems that the
connective particle "-ing" is only found with "-tun" in
both English and Scottish forms. Examples are given of Edington, Edrington,
Mersington, Regington, Thirlington and Upsettlington as being first recorded
around 1095 in Berwickshire and meaning " farm associated with ... ".
This is a similar explanation to that as described for Covington,
Huntingdonshire. There may also be links with Covenham & Coveney.
The earliest examples to be found of the
Covington name, or spellings similar, are as follows; Covintune and Covesgraue - 1086 Domesday Book, Kuvintone -
1226 Episcopal Registers, Coutngton - 1260 Assize Rolls for Hunts,
1331 Feet of Fines for Hunts by G.J.Turner, 1493 Calendar of Inquisitions Post
Mortem, Covinton - 1272 Feet of Fines for Hunts, 1279
Rotuli-Hundredorum 2 vols 1812-1818, 1285 Feudal Aids 6 vols 1899-1920, 1303
Feudal Aids 6 vols 1899-1920, 1303 Exchequer Subsidies for Hunts 1303, Coventon
- 1478 Feet of Fines for Hunts
Covesgraue (Domesday Book) may have developed
into Cosgrave which is in Northamptonshire near Stony Stratford on A508, just
outside Milton Keynes, where, there is said to have been a strong form of the
Covington name in the past.
It is most interesting to note that the majority
of early examples found were recorded in the Huntingdonshire area. Covington, the
village, is no more than a hamlet, although it does have a fine example of a
Norman church, suggesting that it was once a relatively important settling
place.
Covington, Hunts
The Covington name evolution in
Scotland
There is also a small town in Lanarkshire,
Scotland named Covington. It is believed that the place name could have
originated from Scandinavia. It is also suggested that Covington, Colinton
& Cobbinshaw could be linked, as all 3 have as their first elements the CO
personal name Kolbeinn (Scandinavian), an adaptation of the Irish name Columban.
Covington, Lanarkshire
Kolbeinn may have given rise to the Villa Colbani, circa 1190 (Colban's Estate)
and the following extracts from Scottish History detail how the name has been
developed to the present day.
Colbaynstoun, Colbayn, Colban & Colbanus
- 1120 (Kelso)
The earliest form found was Colbaynstoun, i.e. the vill or tun of Colbayn or
Colbain, perhaps the Colbanus who was a witness to the charter by Earl David
founding the Abbey of Selkirk (later Kelso), circa 1120.
Colbainestun - 1187-89
Villa Colbani - 1189-1196
Colbaynstoun - 1204 (Dryburgh)
Colbanstone, Colbanston & Colbenstone - 1296
Margaret de Colbanstone and Isabele de Colbanston rendered homage for their
possessions in 1296. The seal of Isabele bears the Virgin & Child &
S'Isabelle de Colbanesto, and that of Margaret bears a device like a shuttle in
pale between 3 stars and a legend S'Margar' d' Colbanst (Nain 2, p198,534,550)
Colbeynston - 1297
Colbaynston & Colbayneston - 1304
In 1304 Sir John de Colbaynston held the successful farm of barony of
Colbayneston of the King (Bain 2, p232,428
Cowantoun - 1434, Covingtoun - 1480 & Colbinshaw - 1512
(Abbreviations; Bain - Calendar of documents relating to Scotland preserved in
Public Record Office, edited by Joseph Bain, Edinburgh 1881-84, Kelso - Liber
S.Marie de Calchou, registrum cartarum abbacie Tironensis de Kelso 1113-1567
Edinburgh 1846 (2 volumes), Dryburgh - as Kelso but "Premonstratensis de
Dryburgh", Edinburgh 1847, REG - Registrum episcopatus Glasguensis,
Edinburgh 1843 (2 vols), SCM - Miscellany of the Spalding Club, Aberdeen
1841-52 (5 vols))
So, the Covington name has derived from one of
two locational sources, one English and the other Scottish. From my research, I
believe the English version to be the one that has spawned the majority of
today's people named Covington, whereas, the Scottish name has remained purely
as the place name of a little village in Lanarkshire.
Few Covingtons live, or have lived, in, or close to, Scotland, so it is seems
highly unlikely that the personal name developed from there.
At some stage, a Covington
coat of arms was produced. More details can be found here.
The earliest person named Covington that I have
been able to trace was that in 1297, a "Royal Message" was sent by
Edward the First of England to a William de Covington of (Colbeynston) in
Scotland. The next was Sir John de Covington of Colbeynston, Scotland. He held
a successful farm in the Barony of Colbeynston for the King in 1304.
The earliest English Covington found was the
rector of Covington Church in Hunts, Edmund Nicol de Covington in 1350. Both
are named as "of Covington", so can be considered as being from the
pre-surname era, as can one Abbut of Covington, who I have recorded as born,
circa. 1520. The latter examples are actually more likely to be describing the
job location, as The Rector or Abbot of Covington, so genealogically speaking
are of little real interest as they would not have passed the name onto their
children, if they had had any. The earliest “proper” Covington surname, that I
have on file is Abraham, born circa 1430 in Norfolk, England (ref 12502).
The following item is somebody else’s view. One
Zella H Nesbitt, grand-daughter of Berrill Covington (ref 2505), a 19th century
Brit who became a member of The Church of Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as
The Mormons, and moved his family from Bedfordshire, England to Utah in the
U.S.A. Click on link for more details of The
Covington Mormons.
Covington History, the opinions of Zella H Nesbitt, during 1984
The name "Covington" can have two
origins and it is now impossible to separate them
The older place was probably named for the
Colbanus who witnessed a charter by Prince David around 1120. This Colbanus was
probably the ancestor of Thomas de(of) Colbainestun who witnessed a charter by
King William the Lion around 1180. He is probably the Thomas de Colbanyston who
was a charter witness in 1204 and who witnessed a charter by King William the
Lion a few years later. William de Colnanyston was a witness to a land
charter granted by Brice, Bishop of Moray around 1210.
Margaret de Colbanstone and Isabele de
Colbanston rendered homage for their property to the English Crown in 1296. The
seal of Margaret bears a device like a shuttle between three stars and the
legend “S’Margar'd'Colbanst”. The seal of Isabele depicts the Virgin and Child
and the legend "S’lsabele de Colbanesto”
Edmund de Colbenstone also rendered homage the
same year. All of the foregoing lived in Lanarkshire and were probably related.
A royal message to William de Colbeynston from King Edward I of England was
delivered in 1297. Sir John de Colbaynston held the farm or the Barony of
Colbayneston by direct grant from the King around 1327.
There is also a Covington in Huntingdonshire,
England, which was spelled Covintune in the 1086 Domesday Book, Kuvintone in
1226 and Couyngton in 1260. The meaning is “homestead of Cufa's people".
Cufa is probably of Scandinavian origin and the meaning is unknown.
The foregoing information was researched for me
by a Mr.J.C. Downing. I am not sure if we are related to our Scottish Cousins
but Huntingdonshire is very close to Bedfordshire and it is quite possible that
we could claim a future connection to them.
The first man by that name emerging from the
shadows or unknown and unidentified ancestry is a John Coventon probably born
around 1612-16. His wife was Ann and we find three children listed in St Pauls
as belonging to them. Elizabeth - Christened 1633: William 1640 and Mary 1643.
Then at this time all of the entries in St Pauls are missing as they are in
many other parish registers of England at this time. We have to turn to History
to understand why, for a period of nearly 20 years there were no Baptisms,
marriages or burials recorded.
History tells us that this was the period of
the civil wars when Cromwell ousted the Kings and became Lord Protector of
England. In order to understand why this affected the church records we need to
go back to about 1330 when King Henry VIII separated from the Roman Catholic
Church in order to be able to divorce Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn.
The Pope & the Catholic Church did not allow divorce. At least this was
more logical than simply beheading her, which of course became the fate of poor
Anne Boleyn and then latterly Catherine Howard. He confiscated church
properties and made such changes as suited his purposes. They then became known as Church of England
or Protestants. When his daughter Mary
Tudor came to the throne after his death she reinstated the Catholic Religion
and executed so many protestants that the Catholic Church fell into disfavour
and in 1558 when Henry's other daughter Elizabeth came to the throne she
appointed an Archbishop of Canterbury and began to unify the two extremes of
religion and this brought about what is termed the golden age of English
History.
About this time it became a law for all the
Parish Ministers of all the churches to begin keeping a written record of all
the Christenings (Baptisms), Marriages and Burials which took place in their
jurisdiction and these became known as the Parish Registers. Some began right
away and others took a little longer and we find that the five churches in
Bedford, England began about 1565. This began the period when those trying to
locate their ancestors in England began their golden age, so to speak. Many of
these old registers are a gold mine of information. This continued until about
1642 when the rebellion of the Civil Wars began
By 1649 the Roundheads as the rebels called
themselves finally succeeded in having King Charles I beheaded and Cromwell, their
leader, became Lord Protector of what is known as the Commonwealth period.
From 1653-1660 the records were kept by a
registrar who was appointed by the government and while some of them did a
fairly good job, others were careless as is the case in St. Pauls. In 1660,
Charles II was crowned and many of the ministers returned to their Parishes. In
St Pauls, Bedford the entries begin again in November 1660.
What this means to our Covington Family is that
John and Ann were having their family right in the middle of this terrible
time. We will probably never know
exactly how many children they had, but this John seemed to be the only one at
that time.
Brief Covington Story- From 831 A.D.
to the 1976 Bicentennial by Vaden Covington
“The name Covington originates from
"Kolbin" which the Norseman, Turgesin brought with him when he
invaded Northern Ireland in 831 A.D. It was translated by the Irish as
"Covan." In the migration to Scotland the name became
"Cova." In the further migration to England the name became
"Cov" the name: "Ing" meaning people and "Ton"
meaning town. Thus town of Cov's people or Covington.
Covington appears in Baiamund's Roll as
"Covingtoune" - in the 1086 A.D. Domesday Book as
"Covintune" - in the 1126 A.D. Episcopal Register as
"Cuvintone" and in the 1260 A.D. Assize Rolls of Huntingdonshire as
"Couyngton."
The town of Covington is located 65 miles north
of London, England and 3 miles from the famed Kambolton Castle where Catherine
of Arragon was in exile, while King Henry VIII formed the Church of England, so
he could divorce her.
The Covington Church was built in Covington in
1171 A.D. and is still used and in good repair. My wife and I were there in
1971 to help celebrate the 800th year since the Church was dedicated.
(Covington Church which has served the parish of Covington, England for over
800 years. Its fine Norman doorway and ancient heraldic glass gives a direct
link with the Norman Conquest of England. One of its early ministers was Nicol
de Covington.)”
Subsequent to this, I received the
following e-mail in July 2007 from Victoria Chulkova (hornsea@printwho.com)
Dear Madam / Sir,
My name is Victoria Chulkova.
On your web site I have known some information
concerning the name Covington - Kolbin.
My mother's name was Tamara Kolbin. Her father
was Victor Kolbin and her grandfather was Vasiliy Kolbin. The family was
living in Kotelnichi near Viatka, Russia. The name Kolbin is very rare in
Russia, as it is not Russian one. I don't have any information when Kolbins
came to Russia, and I don't have any information about Kolbins before Mr.
Vaisily Kolbin. He left Russia in the beginning of XX century to UK and was
leaving in Hornsea (York) till his death in
earlier 60's.
Do you have any information how Kolbins got to
Russia.
Thank you in advance,
Kind regards,
Victoria Chulkova (Mrs.)
Opinion as to the
true root of the Covington name appears in a file contributed for use in US Gen
Web Archives, by Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 4, 2008 - Author: B. F.
Johnson
"The Covington family goes
back to a very ancient period in both Scotland and England. The Scottish
founder of the family was said to have been Colban, who nourished about the
year 1120. From him came the local name of the parish which in 1190 was called
Colbani. In 1212 it appears on the record as Colbaynistun. In 1396 it is called
Colbanstoun. In 1480 it appears as Covington. This evolution in names and
variations in spelling are very common in all of our English and Scotch names.
The original meaning of the name was Col, black, ban, bone or leg. Colban,
therefore, was "the blacklegged." In those days in Scotland the men
wore kilts, and were bare as to the greater part of the leg. It is therefore
clear that Colban was of dark skin, and as the majority of those around him had
fair skin it was very natural for them to seize upon this personal peculiarity
by which to designate him, tthis being a custom in all primitive nations. This
is the Scotch derivation.
The English family
originated in Huntingtonshire of that country. The early name was Coventon,
afterwards changed into Covington. Coven or Covan was derived from the Latin
conventus, a convent, and Coventon or Coventon thus means a convent town, the
family evidently taking its name from some convent town. The old form of Coventon
survived down to the seventeenth century, and Covent Garden, London, is a relic
of this old spelling. In Englandwhile the family name was spelled Coventon, a
coat-of-arms was granted which is described as follows: "Az. fretty
argules a saltier parted of the last between four estoiles or." Crest.
"An heraldic tiger rampant gu. semee of estoiles armed and tufted or,
supporting a tilting spearppre." Motto, "Invidere
Sperno."
So, all in all, a mix of opinion, some in
agreement & other’s not. Of course, we should not be surprised by this,
bearing in mind that the best and most concise definition of history is: “The bodies of knowledge about the past produced by
historians, together with everything that is involved in the production,
communication of, and teaching about that knowledge.”
Please send e-mails to: covingtonhistory@mhcovington.plus.com
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