John Hyatt, Sr.

This surname of HIGHT was a nickname for a tall and distinguished person. The name is also spelt HIGHE, HEY, HEYE and HIGHT. The earliest of the name on record appears to be Robert le HEYE, who was recorded in County Buckinghamshire in 1273, and Robert le HEY was recorded in 1301. Later instances of the name mention William Sharpe and Cecily HIGHE (widow) who were married in London in the year 1585 and Peter HIGH and Jane Loxley were wed at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in the year 1804. The name was found early in Scotland and the first of the name there was probably William de Haya, Butler of Scotland, who was a cadet of the seigneurs de la Haye Hue in Normandy, and came to Scotland about 1166, married a Celtic heiress and became Baron of Erroll and who obtained the lands of Herrol in Gowrie from Richard the Lion in the year 1178-82. Thomas de Hayo made a gift to the Hospital of Soltre in 1202. Lord Charles Hay, hero of Fontenoy, belonged to the great Border branch that became Lords of Hay of Yester in 1488, now represented by the 11th Marquies of Tweedale, and including Hays of Haystoun, Alderstoun and Duns. The first people in Scotland to acquire fixed surnames were the nobles and great landowners, who called themselves, or were called by others, after the lands they possessed. Surnames originating in this way are known as territorial. Formerly lords of baronies and regalities and farmers were inclined to magnify their importance and to sign letters and documents with the names of their baronies and farms instead of their Christian names and surnames. The abuse of this style of speech and writing was carried so far that an Act was passed in the Scots parliament in 1672 forbidding the practice and declaring that it was allowed only to noblemen and bishops to subscribe by their titles. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe.

John Hight came to America as a headright passenger of William Byrd in 1656.