Levett is a surname of
Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from [de] Livet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in
England and
British Commonwealth territories.
Origins
This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now
Jonquerets-de-Livet, in
Eure,
Normandy. Here the de Livets were
undertenants of the de
Ferrers family, among the most powerful of William the Conqueror's Norman lords.[1] The name Livet (first recorded as Lived in the 11th century), of Gaulish etymology, may mean a "place where
yew-trees grow".[2][3]
The first de Livet in England, Roger, appears in
Domesday as a tenant of the Norman magnate
Henry de Ferrers. de Livet held land in Leicestershire, and was, along with Ferrers, a benefactor of
Tutbury Priory.[4] By about 1270, when the
Dering Roll was crafted to display the
coats of arms of 324 of England's most powerful lords, the coat of arms of Robert Livet, Knight, was among them.[5] Some Levetts were early knights and Crusaders; many members of both English and French families were Knights Hospitallers,[6] and served as courtiers.[7]
English Levetts
A Levett family settled in
Derbyshire was extinct by the early sixteenth century.[8] A family of the name resident in Sussex at
Warbleton and
Salehurst[9] also held the manor of
Firle[10] until it passed from family control in 1440 due to the debts of Thomas Levett,[11] whose bankruptcy also necessitated the loss of Catsfield, East Sussex. Sussex deeds indicate instances of 'Levetts' attached to place names, indicating possession by individuals and families of that name.[12][13][14] In 1620, John Levett, of Sedlescombe, Sussex, was forced by financial hardship to sell his half-interest in Bodiam Castle, inherited family land and property across Sussex and Kent, including at Ewhurst, Salehurst, Battle, Sussex and Hawkhurst, Kent, to Sir Thomas Dyke, for £1000; this represented the end of these Levetts as prominent landowners.[15]
By the mid twentieth century, only two prominent Levett families remained; that of
Milford Hall, Staffordshire and that formerly of
Wychnor Hall, Staffordshire (and
Packington Hall).[19][20] Milford Hall passed in the female line to the Haszard family,[21] and Wychnor Park was sold by the Levetts to Lt-Col W. E. Harrison in 1913, this later becoming a country club.[22]
The Levett-Scrivener family (descending from a daughter of the Milford Hall family) retains the ruin of
Sibton Abbey, which they have made available to historical societies and researchers;[23] the Levett-Prinseps (a branch of the Wychnor Park family) were unable to maintain
Croxall Hall; it was sold in 1920 and the estate was broken up.[24]
By 1871, although family tradition of a common ancestor of the Milford Hall and Wychnor Park Levett families was mentioned in the latter pedigree, the earliest listed ancestors of each family were, respectively, William Levett of Savernake, Wiltshire, page to King Charles I at the time of his death in 1649, and Theophilus Levett, who died 1746.[25] Even the 1847 edition, produced at a time when Burke's publications were inclusive of vague, unproven 'family traditions' (a practice subsequently widely criticised),[26][27] makes no mention of any earlier ancestors or Norman origin in either family's pedigree.[28]
Individuals of the name of Levett (and its variants) appear in all social strata: John Levett, a guard on the London to Brighton coach, was convicted of petty theft and transported to Australia in the nineteenth century; English records reveal Levetts embroiled in bastardy cases or relegated to poorhouses.[29] A Francis Levett was a factor living in Livorno, Italy, travelling back and forth to Constantinople for the Levant Company. He subsequently failed at British East Florida as a planter; his son Francis Jr. returned to America, where he became the first to grow Sea Island cotton.[30]
A notable individual of the name was the unschooled Yorkshireman who, having worked as a Parisian waiter, then trained as an apothecary. Robert Levet returned to England, where he treated denizens of London's seedier neighbourhoods. Having married an apparent grifter and prostitute, Levet was taken in by the poet Samuel Johnson.[31] While Samuel Johnson adopted one Levet as boarder, he was apologizing to another better-placed Levett who held the mortgage on
Johnson's mother's home in
Lichfield.[32]
Levetts elsewhere
Today there are many Levetts (the spelling of the name varies) living outside England, including in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand,[33][34] Canada, and Ireland.
In a few cases Levetts were forced by religious belief to flee England for the colonies. Among these were tailor John Leavitt and farmer Thomas Leavitt, early English Puritan immigrants to Massachusetts and New Hampshire, respectively, whose names first appear in seventeenth-century New England records as Levet or Levett.[citation needed]
People surnamed Levett
Individuals bearing the surname of Levett include:
^Kerdu, Pierre Marie Louis de Boisgelin de (1805). Ancient and modern Malta, as also, the history of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. 2. London. p. 310.
^A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, ed. Sir Bernard Burke, 1871, vol. II, pp. 785-786
^A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Colonial Gentry, Sir Bernard Burke, ed. Ashworth P. Burke, Harrison & Sons, London, 1895, p. 878 (end matter p. 2)
^Time magazine, 'Twentieth Century Squires', 10 Dec 1951
^A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 1st edition, vol. I- A to L, John Burke and John Bernard Burke, 1847, pp. 724-725
^The 'Johanna, Countess of Pembroke,' named in this muniment is
Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke, as the identification of her husband William Marshall makes clear.
^Boston (Mass.). Registry Dept; Whitmore, W.H.; Appleton, W.S.; McGlenen, E.W.; Watkins, W.K. (1900).
Records Relating to the Early History of Boston ... Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers. p. 139. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
^The Parliamentary Papers reported a certificate of Archbishop Juxon that "the bearer William Levett was one of the five persons whom his late Majesty (Charles I) the day before his death did, in consideration of his loyalty and faithful service, recommend to the care and provision of his present Majesty."
[2]
^Levett Blackborne, grandson of Sir Richard, sold the Levett properties at Kew to the Royal family. Blackborne was a prominent
Lincoln's Inn barrister in
London,
Steward of the
Palace of Westminster, and of the
Board of Green Cloth. Blackborne was also longtime adviser to the Manners family,
Dukes of Rutland, to whom he was related, likely through an illegitimate child of the Duke, as well as an early investor in British colonies in
East Florida and
Nova Scotia.
Levett is a surname of
Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from [de] Livet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in
England and
British Commonwealth territories.
Origins
This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now
Jonquerets-de-Livet, in
Eure,
Normandy. Here the de Livets were
undertenants of the de
Ferrers family, among the most powerful of William the Conqueror's Norman lords.[1] The name Livet (first recorded as Lived in the 11th century), of Gaulish etymology, may mean a "place where
yew-trees grow".[2][3]
The first de Livet in England, Roger, appears in
Domesday as a tenant of the Norman magnate
Henry de Ferrers. de Livet held land in Leicestershire, and was, along with Ferrers, a benefactor of
Tutbury Priory.[4] By about 1270, when the
Dering Roll was crafted to display the
coats of arms of 324 of England's most powerful lords, the coat of arms of Robert Livet, Knight, was among them.[5] Some Levetts were early knights and Crusaders; many members of both English and French families were Knights Hospitallers,[6] and served as courtiers.[7]
English Levetts
A Levett family settled in
Derbyshire was extinct by the early sixteenth century.[8] A family of the name resident in Sussex at
Warbleton and
Salehurst[9] also held the manor of
Firle[10] until it passed from family control in 1440 due to the debts of Thomas Levett,[11] whose bankruptcy also necessitated the loss of Catsfield, East Sussex. Sussex deeds indicate instances of 'Levetts' attached to place names, indicating possession by individuals and families of that name.[12][13][14] In 1620, John Levett, of Sedlescombe, Sussex, was forced by financial hardship to sell his half-interest in Bodiam Castle, inherited family land and property across Sussex and Kent, including at Ewhurst, Salehurst, Battle, Sussex and Hawkhurst, Kent, to Sir Thomas Dyke, for £1000; this represented the end of these Levetts as prominent landowners.[15]
By the mid twentieth century, only two prominent Levett families remained; that of
Milford Hall, Staffordshire and that formerly of
Wychnor Hall, Staffordshire (and
Packington Hall).[19][20] Milford Hall passed in the female line to the Haszard family,[21] and Wychnor Park was sold by the Levetts to Lt-Col W. E. Harrison in 1913, this later becoming a country club.[22]
The Levett-Scrivener family (descending from a daughter of the Milford Hall family) retains the ruin of
Sibton Abbey, which they have made available to historical societies and researchers;[23] the Levett-Prinseps (a branch of the Wychnor Park family) were unable to maintain
Croxall Hall; it was sold in 1920 and the estate was broken up.[24]
By 1871, although family tradition of a common ancestor of the Milford Hall and Wychnor Park Levett families was mentioned in the latter pedigree, the earliest listed ancestors of each family were, respectively, William Levett of Savernake, Wiltshire, page to King Charles I at the time of his death in 1649, and Theophilus Levett, who died 1746.[25] Even the 1847 edition, produced at a time when Burke's publications were inclusive of vague, unproven 'family traditions' (a practice subsequently widely criticised),[26][27] makes no mention of any earlier ancestors or Norman origin in either family's pedigree.[28]
Individuals of the name of Levett (and its variants) appear in all social strata: John Levett, a guard on the London to Brighton coach, was convicted of petty theft and transported to Australia in the nineteenth century; English records reveal Levetts embroiled in bastardy cases or relegated to poorhouses.[29] A Francis Levett was a factor living in Livorno, Italy, travelling back and forth to Constantinople for the Levant Company. He subsequently failed at British East Florida as a planter; his son Francis Jr. returned to America, where he became the first to grow Sea Island cotton.[30]
A notable individual of the name was the unschooled Yorkshireman who, having worked as a Parisian waiter, then trained as an apothecary. Robert Levet returned to England, where he treated denizens of London's seedier neighbourhoods. Having married an apparent grifter and prostitute, Levet was taken in by the poet Samuel Johnson.[31] While Samuel Johnson adopted one Levet as boarder, he was apologizing to another better-placed Levett who held the mortgage on
Johnson's mother's home in
Lichfield.[32]
Levetts elsewhere
Today there are many Levetts (the spelling of the name varies) living outside England, including in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand,[33][34] Canada, and Ireland.
In a few cases Levetts were forced by religious belief to flee England for the colonies. Among these were tailor John Leavitt and farmer Thomas Leavitt, early English Puritan immigrants to Massachusetts and New Hampshire, respectively, whose names first appear in seventeenth-century New England records as Levet or Levett.[citation needed]
People surnamed Levett
Individuals bearing the surname of Levett include:
^Kerdu, Pierre Marie Louis de Boisgelin de (1805). Ancient and modern Malta, as also, the history of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. 2. London. p. 310.
^A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, ed. Sir Bernard Burke, 1871, vol. II, pp. 785-786
^A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Colonial Gentry, Sir Bernard Burke, ed. Ashworth P. Burke, Harrison & Sons, London, 1895, p. 878 (end matter p. 2)
^Time magazine, 'Twentieth Century Squires', 10 Dec 1951
^A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 1st edition, vol. I- A to L, John Burke and John Bernard Burke, 1847, pp. 724-725
^The 'Johanna, Countess of Pembroke,' named in this muniment is
Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke, as the identification of her husband William Marshall makes clear.
^Boston (Mass.). Registry Dept; Whitmore, W.H.; Appleton, W.S.; McGlenen, E.W.; Watkins, W.K. (1900).
Records Relating to the Early History of Boston ... Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers. p. 139. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
^The Parliamentary Papers reported a certificate of Archbishop Juxon that "the bearer William Levett was one of the five persons whom his late Majesty (Charles I) the day before his death did, in consideration of his loyalty and faithful service, recommend to the care and provision of his present Majesty."
[2]
^Levett Blackborne, grandson of Sir Richard, sold the Levett properties at Kew to the Royal family. Blackborne was a prominent
Lincoln's Inn barrister in
London,
Steward of the
Palace of Westminster, and of the
Board of Green Cloth. Blackborne was also longtime adviser to the Manners family,
Dukes of Rutland, to whom he was related, likely through an illegitimate child of the Duke, as well as an early investor in British colonies in
East Florida and
Nova Scotia.