Follow
Loxton Family
The Loxton family is far reaching with a number of branches all around the world. This project has been set up in an effort to amalgamate a number of trees on Geni and establish other trees, the object being to get the most accurate information available for all individuals.
It is important that all managers of profiles check the information added, and resolve any conflicts appearing under the Actions menu. There is often conflicting data and the aim is to amicably resolve these issues. If possible please add any source documents to the profiles or explain in the "About" section the reasons for the information added so that all managers can see it.
To participate in any project
You first need be a collaborator - so join the project. See the discussion Project Help: How to add Text to a Project - Starter Kit to get you going!
How to Participate
- Please add only the profiles of members of this family to this project! This is easily done from the profile page using the Add to project link.
- If you have any queries related to these families please start a discussion linked to this project. (See the menu top right).
- Please add related projects to the menu on the right.
- If you have links to related web pages that would be of interest to others please add them in the relevant section at the bottom of the page. In order to do this use the drop down menu at the top left of the screen and Join the Project. If this option is not available to you then contact a collaborator and ask to be added to the project. As a collaborator you will be able to edit this page.
- Add any documents of interest using the menu at the top right of the page, and then add a link to the document in the text under the heading below. If you do not know how to do this please contact one of the other collaborators to assist you.
Loxton name
Loxton is not a common name, it is the 5,027 th most common name in Great Britain, 1,643 people share the surname. 5% of the people whose name is Loxton live in the Vale of Glamorgan, conflicting with the widely held view that it is a Somerset name linked to the village of Loxton. However, a lot of people left the north Somerset coalfields to work in South Wales. The circumstantial evidence that links the name to Somerset is so strong that few people doubt the link between the name and the place. It is thought that the name of Locking, near Weston Super Mare, is also linked to the same source. Farming has been important in Somerset since the introduction of domesticated animals and plants and some Loxtons can be traced due to their links to the land. It may not be possible to prove direct family links but he concept of a ‘clan’ of people linked by a sense of place and social connections is appropriate.
Variations - Luxton and Laxton are common variations of the name which may have come from the same source or may have evolved separately. There is a village called Laxton in Nottinghamshire which may have been the root of the name of Richard of Loxley, better known as Robin Hood. Other variations are the phonetic ‘Lockston’ and ‘Lauchstone’ - others are found.
One theory regarding the origin of the name Loxton (or Laxton) is that it is derived from “lax ton” or salmon town. However, the Somerset village of Loxton is nowhere near any salmon rivers. Refer to the Loxton village website [www.loxtonsomerset.org.uk/ Loxton village website] for more information about the location of the village.
Another theory is that the name is derived from some Celtic description of a lake as in the Scotish ‘loch’, a variation of this theory is that it describes a pathway across swampy ground. A related theory is that it is the truncation of the name of a person so the villages could be named after somebody called Lock or Loki who could hae been a Celt, Saxon of even a Viking.
Loxton is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and was known as 'Lochestone'. Today, it is believed that village names in those parts of the kingdom, where hamlets and scattered farmsteads had flourished, were probably derived from the name given to one of the farmsteads or enclosures which were described in Old English as a (tun) and where later a community consisting of working families, living in simple dwellings had evolved. Perhaps it was derived from a farmstead belonging to a Saxon landowner whose name sounded like 'Lock', although it is claimed that many place names were derived in this manner even after the Norman Conquest.
http://www.loxtonsomerset.org.uk/origins.html
Loxton - Occurrences - people to explore - a fairly random list
(Bold Links are to profiles on Geni. Others are to pages and resources of interest.)
The following are early mentions of the name.
- Gervase de Lokeston, lord of the manor of Loxton, is mentioned three times in the Buckland Cartulary c 1250. Various spellings of his name were used and he was probably the Gervase de Sparkford who gave the manor of Lokeston as his daughter Jordana’s dowry to Philip de Insula. It was common for people to use a variety of second names in those days.
- A John Lokestone was a tenant in Emborough in 1448. He paid the substantial sum of £8 as an entry fee so he was a reasonably wealthy man. He was farming the ‘manor farm’ of Emborogh which further suggests that he was a substantial man.
- William Loxton obtained a tenancy in Ston Easton in 1490. He may hae been the William Loxston accused of illegally ploughing part of the Whitnel Common land in 1516.
- Nicholas Loxton of Shepton Mallet was fined for aiding the Cornish rebels in 1497. The cause of the rebellion was the objection of the Cornish tin miners to paying taxes. The Cornish tin miners were previously exempt from paying taxes. The Mendip lead miners may have enjoyed similar privileges which suggests that Nicholas had some interest in lead mining. He may have been the same man mentioned in wills dated 1511 and 1529.
- John Loxton took a lease of land from the Marquis of Bath in West Horrington in 1538. It was probably him who was listed as the oldest inhabitant of West Horrington aged 60 according to the Hobhouse map.
- William Loxton of Horrington was mentioned in a certificate of muster for 1569 as an archer. John Loxton [of West Bradley?] was mentioned as a pikeman and another William Loxton from the same place as John Loxton was mentioned as a billman.
- William Loxton of Montecute had twin daughters, Grace and Sarah, baptised in 1589. Henry Loxston took a lease in Wells in also in 1589.
England
Somerset,
Chewton Mendip
The Chewton Mendip vestry committee records ar full of references to Loxtons in the 18th century, mainly as recipients of poor relief. The Loxtons’ estate is mentioned frequently but this was farmed by other people in the 18th century. The King family were often mentioned as paying poor rates for part of Loxtons. A William Loxton was a regular recipient of money and clothing from 1730 to 1745 when he became ill and died. His sickness was not specified but small pox was a common killer and usually referred to by name. Cholera was known to have ben common at the time. The Chewton Mendip Loxtons appear in a range of roles and social classes.
- Gideon Loxton, who was baptised in 1753, married Hester Bush in Chewton Mendip in 1780. One of their sons married Mary Dando who was baptised in Chewton Mendip in 1795. Another son of Gideon and Hester was George Loxton who was baptised in West Harptree in 1795. George had a son, also called George, who was baptised in Chewton Mendip in 1819. He married Eliza Guppy of North Wooton who was baptised in 1818. George died in 1897 and Eliza in 1906 and is buried in Priddy. Eliza’s brothers, Walter and James Guppy emigrated to Australia.
- Martha, the daughter of Martha Loxton was baptised in North Wooton on 25/6/1760. No father is listed in the FreeReg record and no link to Christopher Loxton has been proven. A Martha Loxtone was buried in North Wooton 0n 29/6/1761 who could have been either the mother or child born in 1760.
- Christopher Loxton was buried in North Wooton in 1766. He is a good prospect for the father or grandfather of Christopher Laxton or Loxton.
Emborough
John Lockstone - a tree as yet not verified - - John Lockstone had several children baptised in Emborough from 1594 onwards. He married Dorethe Cheesman in Emborough in 31/5/1594. The record of Loxtons in Emborough is fairly consistent from that date up to -
- Peter Loxton of Emborough married Susanna Blanning who was the sister of William Blanning. Susanna was the daughter of Samuel and Mary Blanning and was baptised in Chewton Mendip on 20/3/1811. Peter Loxton was born in 1805 and married Susanna Blanning some time before 1843 when they had two sons baptised in Binigar. Peter Loxton is often identified as the earliest erifiable member of a cluster of Loxtons based in the North Somerset part of the Mendips.
- Samuel Loxton was probably Peter’s brother and was born about 1811 and died in 1867. The vicarage, which they probably renamed Pleasant House, was put into trust to Samuel Loxton probably because William Blanning had remarried to Rebecca
North Wooton
- George Loxton, the son of George born c1801 was born in North Wooton c1837.
Pilton
- A Christopher Laxton or Loxton was having children baptised in Pilton from 1786 and North Wooton from 1803. They may have been the same person because Ann or Anne was specified as the wife of all of the children.
- George the son of Thomas Loxton and Betty Parsons who married in 1807 in Pilton, was born in 1813 and some records show he lived in Chewton Mendip for a while. This branch of the Loxtons were involved with the Turnpike roads which may explain their presence in Chewton Mendip.
- Samuel Loxton (1704-1786)
Ston Easton
There were also Loxtons in Ston Easton, Litton, the Harptrees and Priddy.
Wells
- Sarah Millard Married Christopher Loxton in St Cuthberts church, Wells on 29/7/1792.
West Pennard
- George Loxton was born in West Pennard c 1801. He could have been the son of Christopher and Sarah Loxton but there were also families of Loxtons in West Pennard, Pilton and other villages. His wife was probably Mary Stevens who he married 5/5/1831 in North Wooton.
Hampshire
The Hampshire archives contain records that show that a Richard Loxton was living in Chewton Mendip in the 1690s. These records are the earliest definition of what was the Loxton Estate but there are earlier accounts of people called Loxton living in th area. The limited information about the property suggest that Richard Loxton was a reasonably wealthy man. The wealthy branch of the York(e) family took over the estate and they continued to be responsible for the Loxton’s estate for the next 100 years or so.
Scotland
Australia
- Wm Charles Loxton who was born in 1848 in Staines, Middlesex near London, established the town of Loxton in South Australia. He was the son of Albert Richard Loxton who born in North Wooton in 1821 and baptised in Southover, Wells in 1822. Albert Loxton married Grace Lintern in 1846. They had 13 children and the Wm Charles who founded Loxton in Austrailia . Some sources trace him back to Thomas and Betty Loxton from Pilton (see above).
South African connections
- The Cape Archives of South Africa identify Loxtons in that country as early as 1834. There is a town in the northern Cape called Loxton named after them. Loxtons were also recorded in the Transvaal in the 20th century. Some sources trace the South African Loxtons back to Thomas and Betty Loxton who may have lived there for a while.
- Jane Loxton married Joseph Dicks on 5 December 1836 at Wynberg, Cape, South Africa. She was the daughter of Thomas Loxton and Elizabeth (Betty) Parsons.
- Rev. James Loxton married Emily Nutter (born 1809 - daughter of Timothy and Ann Nutter) just prior to their leaving England for the South Seas where James was to be a missionary for the London Missionary Society. James died within months of their arriving at Raiatea and was buried there according to native custom. Emily decided to return to England, but had to break her journey at Huahine for the birth of her daughter, Emily Loxton on 16 September 1834. Mother and daughter arrived back in England in June 1835. Emily Loxton then met the Rev John Locke in England, shortly before he too was posted as a missionary to South Africa, sailing for Cape Town in May 1837. They moved to Grahamstown in 1838. Emily was widowed again in 1848, and died in Grahamstown at the age of 80 years in December 1889, having outlived her daughter Emily by ten years.
Emily Loxton is believed to be the first European child born in the South Sea Islands. Her early life would have been taken up with the long sea voyages from the South Seas to England, and again on a three month voyage from England to Cape Town in 1837, with another sea voyage or possibly overland trek by ox wagon to Grahamstown in 1838.
Emily married Charles Horatio Nelson in December 1852 in Grahamstown. Charles became virtually blind in 1860 and the family decided he should go to England for medical care to try and restore his sight. He travelled alone to England, Emily being busy caring for five young children in Grahamstown. Operations only partially restored Charles sight, and they decided that the family should settle in Crediton, Devon. Emily and the children joined him there and a further eight children were born in England, three died young. One son, James, fell severely ill while studying to become an ordained minister. On her way to visit James in London, Emily was run over by a horse and carriage and was buried in Abney Park Cemetery in 1879.
United States
- Joseph Henry Loxton was born in 1860 in Wells. He ran away from home and joined a crew of a ship when he was between 13 and 15 and arrived in Galveston in Texas. He joined a wagon train to San Antonio in Texas. He worked as a cowboy which included a stint shooting buffalo in Montana. He eventualy returned to Texas and married Mary Slaughter and settled down to have a family. This story is based on the memories of his grand daughter, Susan Loxton Clines who recorded the story in 1990.
Famous Loxtons
- Wilfrid William Loxton (20 January 1909 – 2 November 1992), known as Bill Loxton, was a British Royal Air Force pilot during the Battle of Britain. Loxton was born in Gretton, Gloucestershire, the son of Ernest Robert Loxton and Mary Ann Loxton (née Minett). After training as a carpenter, he joined the RAF on 30 April 1930.
- Daniel Loxton is a Canadian writer, illustrator, and skeptic. He is the Editor of Junior Skeptic magazine, a kids’ science section bound into the Skeptics Society's Skeptic magazine. He writes and illustrates most issues of Junior Skeptic.
- David R. Loxton (January 28, 1943 – September 20, 1989), was a producer of documentaries and other programs for public television in the USA.
- John Harold Loxton, Australian mathematician
- Samuel John Everett "Sam" Loxton, OBE (29 March 1921 – 3 December 2011) was an Australian cricketer, footballer and politician.