Where do the Kingshott family come from?
The family did not always have the Kingshott surname. There are many variations in the spelling, even through the 19th century when general literacy levels increased greatly. However, the earlier spellings were all variants of Kingett. Quite how you get Kingshott from Kingett is not easily explained, but I have several examples from various old documents where families who were recorded formally as Kingett were actually signing their name Kingshott (or variations thereof). Similarly, I have instances of Kingshotts signing their name Kingett. So, on this site, when I refer to Kingshott in general terms, I include all variant spellings of the name unless I say otherwise.
In previous centuries, literacy among the poorer classes was almost non-existent. Reading or writing did not lead to food being placed on the rural population's tables. It was not essential, so, for the most part, the poor working classes did not learn to do it.
The Kingshott family were almost exclusively agricultural labourers. There were a few farmers in there, some shoemakers, but almost all were relatively poor. The local clergy were the only literate people in regular contact with these families. So, at important events like baptisms, marriages and burials, the names of those involved were spoken to the clergyman (in a broad, local accent) and they had no option but to record the names down as they heard them. The name was, therefore, recorded phonetically. This is why there are so many spelling variations found throughout the parish registers, even with children of the same family.
An example of this is the family of William & Dinah Kingshott of Petworth, Sussex, England. They were married, under the name of Kingshott, at Wisborough Green, Sussex, on 11th June 1816. They had ten children and the spellings of the surname in order of their baptism were:-
William Kinshot, James Kinchet, Charles Kinchett, Lucy Kinchett, Eliza Kinchett, Jane Kingshot, Henry Kingshott, George Kingshott and Elizabeth & Ellen Kinchett.
Another example can be seen in the parish registers of Haslemere in Surrey. Looking at the 18th century, there were twelve different surname spellings for the same family. These were:-
Kingshott, Kinchat, Kingshet, Kingshot, Kingshut, Kinchet, Kincheet, Kingeet, Kinget, Kingett, Kinggett and Kingit.
This pattern is repeated throughout the various other branches of the Kingshott family and provides irrefutable proof of the links between various surname derivations, especially when cross-referenced with other primary source documents. Luckily, I have only once found a Kingshitt (!), and I am certainly glad that this did not become the accepted spelling!
So, an examination of the various spellings found demonstrates how it is possible to get from one name to another, but it is not proof that that is how it happened. I have already touched on some spelling variations that I have found, and this is just for the Kingshott-sounding names. There are even some more unlikely variations, such as Kinsett and Kincett. This sometimes makes it difficult to follow these families around. There are also clear regional variations. Those families from Hampshire, for example, often dropped the "g" and became Kinshott.
My own direct line can be traced back through Shackleford in Surrey, to the village of Bramshott, in Hampshire and then to the village of Fernhurst in Sussex.
The location of the village of Fernhurst, in Sussex, England
It is interesting to note that this area of the country has many villages and towns that end with the word "shot" or "shott" and I imagine that it is no coincidence that we come from this area. Examples of place names in that area are Grayshott, Hempshott, Bramshott, Oxshott, Aldershot and many others. Quite how this may have affected our surname is not clear. Any occurrence of Kingshott on a map tends to be because the feature is named after a particular person or family, and not vice versa. For a discussion on the supposed village of Kingshott, please click here.
I have recently found a newspaper article from the Reading Mercury, dated 19th November 1864, in which an unnamed correspondent discusses the village names in this area.
"In the counties of Surrey and Hampshire there are several places ending in "shot", including Aldershot, Badshot, Bagshot, Bramshot, Evshot, Empshot, Grayshot, Kingshot, Ockshot and Okeshot.. ...My own supposition is that it is derived from the Saxon "Holt" (a wood or a grove) which is strengthened by the fact that in some of the instances above-mentioned, the prefix gives the name of a tree, probably by which most of the wood was composed.....Holt is still used to express a wood or forest of trees. A short distance from Farnham is an extensive forest called Alice Holt."
It is interesting that he mentions the place name Kingshot isn't it? Especially since this pre-dates the supposed Kingshott village that I have found. (See here.) This leads me to believe that there was probably another village of that name. Interestingly, another newspaper article, this time from the Manchester Courier of May 20th 1914, talks about the King visiting Aldershot camp and visiting "the field ambulance, and afterwards Kingshott." I will be looking into this further.
WW Capes, a former Rector of Bramshott, in his book "Scenes of Rural Life in Hampshire Among the Manors of Bramshott" wrote:-
"A stranger from the “Kingsgate” at Winchester settles in later days at Bramshott, and brings his surname with him, which becomes, however, changed by Hampshire mouths to “Kingshott”."
Whilst this is obviously a possibility it is problematic in that the family did not arrive in Bramshott from Winchester but from Fernhurst. In addition, they did not (as far as I have found) inhabit Winchester prior to this at all. This explanation then, whilst neat, does not actually fit the available evidence.
My 10th cousin once removed, Terry Smithers has another take on the origin of the name. He points out that the earliest known name for Bramshott is in the Domesday book of 1086 where it is listed as Brenbresete. The first recorded mention of Grayshott is "Gravesetta", Oxshott is "Occesete", Aldershot is "Alreshete" and Empshott has been "Hibesete", "Imbesete" and "Yleshate". Terry states:-
"The name of Bramshott had some 42 different spelling forms recorded between 1086 and the latter part of the 15th century, all ending in varieties of "sete" with the 'h' gradually creeping into the spelling during the 13th century (including Brembelsshitte at one point !) Only once over that period, in the Bramshott court rolls of the late 14th century, was it referred to as Brambeschote and it was only during the 16th century that various forms of the suffix "shott" e.g. chote, shote, shutt, shut, shed, shotte, sot, etc., replaced the earlier 'sete' variants and became the norm. At no time has Bramshott or any of the other places mentioned ever been recorded with the suffix "holt" and there have been at least 62 variant spellings of Bramshott since 1086. When one considers this, and that the adoption of surnames began from around the late 1200s and over the following two hundred and fifty years or so, surely it follows therefore that if Kingshott is a surname which has evolved from a place name, it is most likely to be from a place with the earlier suffix 'sete', or similar, and not one with the later suffix 'shott' and certainly not 'holt'."
So, should I be looking for Kingsete or similar as a potential earlier ancestor to John Kingett? It is easier to see an obvious transition between Kingsete and Kingett than it is to see a transition from Kingett to Kingshott. The bottom line is that I just don't know where the name came from, or why it changed, but I will continue to look into it.
There are even some branches of the family, who were certainly born Kingshotts, who reverted back to calling themselves Kinggett or Kingett!
My earliest direct Kingshott ancestor was John Kingett, who seems to have appeared in the Fernhurst area in the late 1500s. He married, still in Fernhurst, in 1600 where he was described as "of this parish". He was my 9th Great-grandfather. I have not been able to find his baptism, or where he came from, and his sudden appearance does make me wonder if he was perhaps fleeing religious persecution on the continent. There is no direct evidence for this yet, other than faint rumours to that effect. There are, however, earlier van Kinschot's in Holland, and I do wonder if we originate there. Work is continuing here, and my current research on the Dutch family can be found here. Conversely, there are odd snippets of Kingett's in and around Sussex before my ancestors. Some are on the Isle of Wight, and others are in various other parts of the country, but I cannot link them to my family. The earliest local reference that I am aware of occurs in the Sussex Subsidy Rolls of 1296, which records a Robro Kynget, of Baldslow, East Sussex.
An old postcard of Midhurst Road, Fernhurst
So, what we can say for certain is that the area of origin for the Kingshott family (so far) is in and around the village of Fernhurst, Sussex, England. The area around the borders with Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey is Kingshott "ground-zero" and even as late as 1881, the vast majority of Kingshotts' were to be found there. Those that had gone further afield, can all be traced back to this area, and I will look at many of these branches in the coming pages.
The Fernhurst Society has an interesting website, which can be viewed here.
The signpost below is situated in the village of Lurgashall and has a number of Kingshott-rich villages written on it, including Fernhurst. It shows how close these villages were to each other. I took it when my dad, son and I visited the area in 2012. Lurgashall church is situated behind the screen of trees to the top right. A large number of Kingshotts were baptised, married and buried there (or hatched, matched and dispatched!), but there is only one single Kingshott buried there with a marked gravestone.
Photgraph taken by Jan Brian Kingshott.
You will read later about the Van Kinschot family of Holland. I don't know if they are actually related, but I talk about them here. However, working on the assumption - and I stress it is no more than that at the moment - that there is a relationship, the origins of the van Kinschot name may be of interest.
It is generally accepted that the Van Kinschot family originates from the important noble family Van Schooten, who also carried the name Van Breda. This family owned the 'Schootenbroek' loan in the 13th century in the 'prochie van Rijckevorsele'.
Some claim that the place name Kinschot comes from the family. They refer to Jan, 'kint van Schooten' , who, from 1280, was in possession of the loan Schootenbroek. Kinschot would therefore be a distortion of 'kint van Schooten' . On the other hand, the unknown author of the 'Genealogy of the Schooten family' (City Archives Turnhout) mentions a Petrus Van Kinschot, liege man of Duke Jan III of Brabant, as well as his father Jan, called 'kint van Schooten,' and his grandfather Jan Hendrixsone van Schooten, residing in Turnhout.
There they had a loan from the Duke of Brabant in their possession, called Kinschot. They go on to say that the place name is Kinschot composed of "chin", which means rough spruce, and shot or schot, indicating higher-lying land that protrudes into a swampy area.
Is this the origin of our name? More work needs to be done.