This is a One Name Study to collect together in one place everything about the Heathcote surname (including variant spellings). The hope is that other researchers like you will join our study to help make it a valuable reference point for people studying lines that cross or intersect, to establish the links (if any) between the various branches.
How to Join
Please contact the project leader Stephen Heathcote or post a comment at the foot of the page. If you have any questions, just ask. Thanks!
Surname Variants
Heathcoat, Heathcott, Heathcock, Ethcuit
Surname Origins
The Heathcote surname originates in England, and derives from a place name. The place called Heathcote in the Domesday Book (1086) is in South Derbyshire, and is now absorbed into the town of Swadlincote, surviving as Hearthcote Road. There is also a small hamlet called Heathcote in West Derbyshire, in the parish of Hartington. One or both of these places appears to be origin of the surname.
Branches
The separate branches present here on WikiTree are listed below. Evidence on how they are linked is still sought.
Ashbourne, Derbyshire
- Category:Ashbourne, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of John Heathcote (abt.1736-) of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and Mayfield, Staffordshire.
Ashfield, Nottinghamshire
- Category:Ashfield, Heathcote Name Study
- A long established family in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire. A Henry Heathcote was churchwarden of Kirkby in Ashfield in 1587.
Aughton, West Lancashire
- Category:Aughton, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of Thomas Heathcote who died in Aughton by Ormskirk, Lancashire, in 1761.
Bedfordshire
- Category:Bedfordshire, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of Josiah Heathcote who died in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, in 1745.
Brampton, Chesterfield
- Category:Brampton, Chesterfield, Heathcote Name Study
- Originating in Brampton, Derbyshire, and rapidly climbing the social ladder, this line includes many of the most famous Heathcotes. Rev. Evelyn Dawsonne Heathcote belonged to this branch, and it is the subject of the bulk (Chapters III to VIII) of his book (see "Resources" below).
- The branch includes two baronetcies:
Buxton, Derbyshire
- Category:Buxton, Heathcote Name Study
- A landed family originating in the Peak District, described in Chapters XI and XII of E. D. Heathcote's book (see "Resources" below).
- Solomon Heathcote (abt.1640-1745), son of Anthony Heathcote (bef.1620-bef.1677), butcher of Buxton, became a carpenter in Edensor, Derbyshire:
Edensor, Derbyshire
- John Heathcote of Wormhill, Derbyshire (dates uncertain: see his profile for outstanding research questions) was the ancestor of the
Lancashire Miners
- Category:Lancashire Miners, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of his grandson William Heathcote, who moved from Wormhill to Worsley, Lancashire, in about 1768 to work as a coal miner; his family remained in the Little Hulton and Farnworth area for several generations.
- At least two descendents emigrated to America:
- James Heathcote left in 1882; his entire family settled in Iowa, although his own fate is unknown;
- Ralph Heathcote left ahead of his wife and family, who followed in 1884.
Chapel en le Frith, Derbyshire
- Category:Chapel, Heathcote Name Study
- A family of Heathcotes originating in Chapel en le Frith, Derbyshire, in the 18th century, but later relocating to Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, and Macclesfield and Stockport, Cheshire.
Chesterfield Bellfounders
- Category:Chesterfield Bellfounders, Heathcote Name Study
- A prominent family in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in the 16th century, described in Chapter II of E. D. Heathcote's book (see "Resources" below). Ralph Heathcote 1782-1853 is the subject of a book, based on his letters to his mother, published by his granddaughter.
Countesthorpe, Leicestershire
- Category:Countesthorpe, Heathcote Name Study
- A family of shoemakers, descendents of Robert Heathcote or Heathcock of Countesthorpe, Leicestershire.
Derby
- Category:Derby, Heathcote Name Study
- A prominent family in Derby in the 17th and 18th centuries, descended from John Heathcote 1592-1657 and described in Chapter X of E. D. Heathcote's book.
Earl Sterndale, Derbyshire
- Category:Earl Sterndale, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of Ralph Heathcote of Greensides, Hartington Upper Quarter, Derbyshire.
Flagg, Derbyshire
- Category:Flagg, Heathcote Name Study
- A branch recorded in the Chelmorton and Monyash parish registers from 1600 onwards.
Great Longstone, Derbyshire
- Category:Great Longstone, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of Henry Heathcote of Great Longstone, Derbyshire.
Hartshorne, Derbyshire
- Category:Hartshorne, Heathcote Name Study
- A branch recorded in the Repton and Hartshorne parish registers from 1620 onwards.
Hoath Heathcote
- Category:Hoath Heathcote, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of John Heathcote and Mary Hoath, married in Merstham, Surrey, in 1789.
Hognaston, Derbyshire
- Category:Hognaston, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of William Heathcote, died 1758 in Hognaston.
Ludworth, Derbyshire
- Category:Ludworth, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of James Heathcote of Ludworth, Derbyshire.
Micklehurst, Cheshire
- Category:Micklehurst, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of John Heathcote of Mottram in Longdendale. The family became established at Micklehurst, where the historic counties of Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire all met. His great-grandson William Heathcote emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1826, founding Glen Rock. The family is described in Dr Charles William Heathcote's book (see "Resources" below), although the early pedigree set out on page 8 is incorrect.
Rainow, Cheshire
- Category:Rainow, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of William Heathcote who owned land in Macclesfield Forest, Cheshire, and Low Leighton and Ollersett, Derbyshire.
Sandbach, Cheshire
- Category:Sandbach, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of John Heathcote (1651-) of Sandbach, Cheshire.
Seal, Derbyshire/Leicestershire
- Category:Seal, Heathcote Name Study
- A branch originating in Overseal and Netherseal on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire boundary, close to the boundaries with Warwickshire and Staffordshire.
Yoxall, Staffordshire
- Category:Yoxall, Heathcote Name Study
- Descendents of Thomas Heathcote (abt.1660-1727), weaver of Thatchmore, Yoxall.
- Living Heathcotes in the Yoxall area are descendents of Edward Heathcote 1799-1876, for whom no birth record has been found. He was most likely to have been an illegitimate son of a daughter of John Heathcote (1734-1809), grandson of Thomas Heathcote, so Edward and his descendents have been included in this branch of the study.
Resources
Evelyn D. Heathcote, M.A., An Account of some of the Families Bearing the Name of Heathcote which have Descended out of the County of Derby (Winchester: Warren and Son, 1899)
Charles William Heathcote, Ph.D., The Heathcote Family 1580-1924 (Chambersburg, Pa.: Franklin Repository, 1924): available online https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/958736?availability=Family%20History%20Library
Gröben, Countess Günther, Ralph Heathcote; letters of a young diplomatist and soldier during the time of Napoleon, giving an account of the dispute between the Emperor and the Elector of Hesse (London: John Lane the Bodley Head, 1907); digitised copy at https://ia800306.us.archive.org/15/items/ralphheathcotele00heatuoft/ralphheathcotele00heatuoft.pdf