These pages give the current status of the research into the Hewstone family as compiled by Gordon L. Hewstone with more than a little assistance from Frank & Maxine, Keith, Ivor (and his father, Ronald), Dave, Winifred, Victor, Ronald, Carlos, Cristian, Felipe, Graham, Christine and Barbara, Gary, David, John David, Matthew, Estelle, Terence, Jacqueline and many others. Thank you all for your contributions!
There are perhaps two possible origins of the "Hewstone" name:-
EITHER:-
"Hewstone" is derived from the trade of stonemason, literally a "hewer of stone". Indeed, Graham has a family story of Hewstones who were stonemasons in the early 1900s... until one of the partners disappeared with the money belonging to the firm, sending it into terminal decline;
OR
According to the information provided by Cristian Hewstone Oliger, the name is derived from "Hugh's Settlement" (or 'tun'). The information and family coat of arms provided by Cristian is as follows:-
"The Scottish surname Hewstone, and its variants Huston(e) and Houston(e), is of toponymic origin, that is, it belongs to the category of surnames derived from the place where the initial bearer once lived or held land. Here the name indicates "one who came from Houston", the name of an old barony in Lanarkshire near Glasgow. The toponym Houston is derived from the personal name Hew, a variant of Hugh, derived from the Germanic "hugis", meaning "spirit, wind, heart", which was introduced into England and Scotland by the Normans. The second part of the name is derived from the Old English "tun", originally meaning "enclosure" and, in time, also "settlement, village, town". Thus the name can literally be translated as Hugh's settlement.
The ancient family of Houston was originally called Paduinan, but in the reign of Malcolm IV Baldwinde Bigre gave the lands of Kilpeter to Hugh de Paduinan, who appears as a witness in the foundation charter of the Abbey of Paisley between 1165-73. Hugh's son, Reginald, obtained from Robert, son of Haldey, son of Baldwin, a confirmation of these lands. The barony thus took its name from the settlement of the first Hugh.
Late in the thirteen century the Finlay of Hewitston, who was a witness to a Renfrew charter, is the same Finlawe de Hustone, knight of Lanarkshire, who rendered homage in 1296;
John of Huston was canon of Cambusaynell in 1341;
In 1406 Johannes de Houistone was a witness in Paisley;
Patrick de Hoystone was cannon of Glasgow in 1415;
Alan Hawystone held a tenement in Glasgow in 1435.
Mungar Hawstoun was burgess of Glasgow in 1527.
BLAZON OF ARMS: Or, a chevron chequy azure and argent between three martlets sable, beaked gules.
Translation: The martlets denote suffering for a Faith and Perseverance. Or (gold) represents Power and Splendour and sable (black) denotes Constancy.
CREST: An hourglass proper
MOTTO: In time"
Unfortunately, although the crest is very impressive, it appears firmly linked with the HOUSTON derivation of the name and while many misspellings and corruptions of the family name have been observed, the HEWSTONE name to which we claim allegiance seems to have remained relatively unchanged and unrelated to HOUSTON or any other variation.
The London Connection...
Following these early references to Scotland (which may or may not be linked to us!), we next encounter the name Hewstone in a list of christenings and marriages compiled from various genealogical libraries by Frank & Maxine, the earliest being the Christening of Sarah Hewstone, daughter of Ralph Hewstone of Westminster in 1613.
From this time forward, a connection with London and its environs is maintained down to the present day, despite the many relocations and upheavals that have occurred in the intervening 400 years. The author lived in Walthamstow, East London, until 1978 when, during his second year at Southampton University, his mother and sister moved to Southampton, so that his home "moved" to Southampton to join him. Coincidentally, Ivor Hewstone moved TO Walthamstow in around 1988, not because he had relations in the area but because he felt "at home" there! All the major strands of the Hewstones so far identified are linked with England's capital; mainly with the areas of Islington, Cripplegate, Whitechapel, Shoreditch and Stepney. Graham was born in Romford; Dave still has family in Ware, Hertfordshire; Gordon seems likely to share a common ancestry with Keith, Graham and Ivor in the Cripplegate area.
...and the South American connection
The link with London is perhaps not so surprising, nor the links to Australia, USA, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand; these were and remain common destinations for emigrants. But Chile seems to be a somewhat unusual destination. Letters sent to members of Ivor's family line seem to explain the link; William Lovett Hewstone (b1837 on Gordon's line) was invited by the President of Chile to undertake the wiring of the Monedas House (Chile's equivalent to Buckingham Palace). He obviously stayed and prospered and there are now numerous Hewstones in Chile together with some in Venezuela. Felipe Hewstone Oliger has related that there is an (unconfirmed) family story that William Lovett Hewstone took part in the first ever football match to be played in Chile...
Other Hewstones...
The Hewstone name may not always stretch back deep into the historical past; in January 1999 the author found the address of one Rosa Hewstone, only to discover that she had died in September 1998. She was the widow of the late Jacob (Jack) Hewstone, who was of Swiss origin. Jacob's family name was Haughenstein and he adopted the English version of the name when he moved to the UK.
Jewellery manufacturer, Stigmania Wappenwelt of Darmstadt, Germany, give the name "Hewstone" to one of its styles of cufflinks in honour of social psychologist Miles Hewstone as Jack Nasher of that company once read psychology and decided to name a product after him.
Some intriguing uses of "Hewstone"...
A search of the Internet has trawled up some unexpected (and as yet unexplained) uses of "Hewstone":-
As an aircraft call-sign by C130 Hercules diagnostic aircraft flying with the 552nd AEW&C Wing, US Air Force;
How did Harry Stephen & Hazel Goodwin Keeler come to title their novel "Report on Vanessa Hewstone" (Ramble House publishers)? Apparently Harry Stephen Keeler (1890-1967) kept files of unusual or interesting names but where did he find ours? Keeler's papers may provide an answer and these are available for inspection at Columbia State University Rare Book and Manuscript Library if anyone happens to be in the vicinity...
Hewstone Pty Ltd. 365 Melaluka Road, Leopold 3224, Australia. This is reported to be a "shelf company"; its current owner has no idea regarding its origins So who did form this company?? - it seems highly unlikely that they picked the name at random!
It's time for the story to be told...
For those Hewstones with a history, one other factor links the strands... the reluctance on the part of some of the older generation to "discuss family matters". There may be many reasons for this, it is known that the author's grandfather ran away to sea at the age of 13 to escape the violence of his father; perhaps the scandal of the stonemasons mentioned above caused a veil to be drawn over all matters relating to family. One thing is certain...if the full story is not told soon it may never be told and the fragments of the Hewstone family may forever remain just that.
Click here to go to the Family Trees
Notes on the Family Trees
Where uncertainty exists, it is indicated. Dates are in the form day/month/year.
A WORD version of this family tree and an EXCEL spreadsheet featuring the principal family trees in a more traditional diagrammatic form are available as email attachments on request. If you can add to the information on these pages please contact from G. L. Hewstone at: glhfamily@accesslaw.co.uk
