.
Mapstone Genealogy
including Mapston
Designed & written by Stan Mapstone © 2008
this information is copyrighted and not to be reproduced for distribution, sale, or profit.
My Ancestors
The Mapstones appear to originate from North East Somerset in two main groups, located on either side of the Mendip Hills.
The earliest reference found so far is to a John Mabston, in a document at the PRO 1377-1558.
Current Research
Registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies, Member 3543.
On going research into the Mapstone/Mapston family world wide.
Mapstone families located in England, Wales, Scotland, Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
I have a detailed database of 7,608 individuals including 2,759 named Mapstone (and , variants) in a number of family trees, dating back to c1600, which is being constantly updated. Please contact me for more information. EmailThe MAPSTONE Name
Derivation & Distribution
© Stan Mapstone 2008
The English surname Map(b)stone is probably of locative origin, deriving from the name of the place where the initial bearer once lived or held land, thus affording him a suitable means of identity in his local community.
If you consider all the names in Somerset that end in TON(E), then I would say that the derivation is from Mabs Tone, the Homestead or Farm of Mab, from the Old English tun, enclosure, farmstead, village, manor, estate, although strictly speaking ‘place’ is the only safe rendering.
The only genuine variant of Mapstone is Mapston, and the original Mabstone. Mabson and Mapson are not connected.
Some publications refer to these names that appear in Kent, Maplesden, Maplesdon.
In the 1881 census there are 149 Maplesden with 74 born in Kent, of the 3 born in Somerset all are wives There are 157 Mapleston(e), with only one born in Somerset and she is a wife. All are definite surnames now, and have no connection with Somerset. I'm of the opinion that there is no apparent connection with Kent.
Mapleston and Maplestone are mainly Lincolnshire and Lancashire surnames. The rare Mapleton is probably a variation of Mapleston.
This entry is from “The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames”, 1981 by Basil Cottle.
Mapstone (Local Name)
“Maetta’s (his name is related to “degree, honour, state”) pan-stone (the big haystack-like granite block that the road has to bend round)” OE, place in Newton Abbot, Devon, called Mattepanston in 1249. Chiefly a Somerset surname.”
Information from the Devon Record Office.
Mapstone is Mattepanson in 1249, the first part of the name is an old English personal name and the 'panson' element relates to the large block of granite round which the road has to bend. In 1330 it was Mappestone.
There is a Mapstone Hill, and a Mapstone Estate, of about 18 acres, near Lustleigh, near Newton Abbot, Devon, and this is where the above reference comes from. However, the distribution of the MAPSTONE name shows a remarkable concentration in Somerset and almost none in Devon. In the 1881 Census, there are only two Mapstones in Devon, a husband, and wife.
From 1837 to 1996, there were only 15 Mapstone births and 8 deaths in Devon as compared to 505 births and 275 deaths in Somerset. If the name originated in Lustleigh then you would expect a much higher concentration in that area.
Research carried out by Devon Record Office Ref. GAF/5732, October 2002, can find no evidence of a Mapstone family in Lustleigh.
Entries in the Wedmore Parish Register show that the name was spelt as MABSTONE up to about the middle of the 18th Century, being gradually replaced with the MAPSTONE spelling. In the Register the last example of MABSTONE is that of George baptized in 1796, and the first example of MAPSTONE is that of Henry baptized in 1719.There are no MABSTONES in the 1851 Somerset Census Index or the whole of the 1881 Census for the UK. The spelling MAPSTON is now a distinct variant, but earlier examples can be MAP (B) STONE, with the final E missing.
The first Map(b)stone marriage in Wedmore was in 1624,[from 1561]. The first baptism was in 1628, and the first death, a wife, in 1634.
Domesday Book
There are two names similar to Mapstone in the Index to the Domesday Book, given in “A General Introduction to the Domesday Book” by Sir Henry Ellis, 1833. These are
Godric Mappesone, a ‘Tenant in Capite’ in Hereford, that is a tenant at the
Time of William the Conqueror who held lands immediately from the King.
Aluricus Mapesone, a ‘Tenant in Chief’, or an ‘Under Tenant’ in Worcestershire.
Castles of Britain
http://www.castles-of-britain.com/castle10.htm#G
Goodrich Castle
Location: Herefordshire (S0 579199) Type: enclosure Date: 12th century
Built by Godric Mappestone. Nothing remains of the original castle. The
current castle was built over it. Much of the work of the keep is
attributed to William Fitz Baderon and William Marshal built the enclosing
wall. William de Valence built much of the castle in the 1280's. Goodrich
was slighted in 1646.
Public Record Office
There is a Document in the PRO Catalogue ref. C 1/1052/20-21, Court of Chancery,
Richard II to Philip and Mary. 1377-1558.
John PARRETT of Ashburnham, yeoman, v. John MABSTON and Elizabeth his wife, late the wife of Robert A Myll. Detention of deeds relating to lands at Wartling and Pevensey bought of John, son and heir of the said Robert.: SUSSEX.
1881 CENSUS
The population in the 1881 Census was 25,974,939, and there were 283 Mapstones that is 1 in 91,784.
In the 1881 Census for Glamorganshire, page 05826, there are two entries for MAPSLINE, husband and wife, both born in Somerset. This is almost certainly a transcription error for MAPSTONE, as no other examples of this name exist.
World Wars
There were only 5 Mapstone Servicemen killed in the First World War, and 4 in the Second, including one Air Raid Warden, and one Mapston. (excluding the USA)
World Wide
There are 703 with the MAPSTONE name and 51 with the MAPSTON name in the UK today, registered with the N.H.S. (1 in 72,000). About 395 in the USA, 80 (73 in phone books) in Australia, and 22 in Canada (from Phone Books)
Australian Phone Books
New South Wales 36
Queensland 16
Victoria 8
Canberra 2
South Australia 1
Western Australia 10
Fictional Mapstones
The David Mapstone mysteries are written by Jon Talton and published in the USA. There are five titles
"Concrete Desert"
"Camelback Falls"
"Dry Heat"
"Arizona Dreams"
"Cactus Heart"
In "The Scouring of the White Horse" by Thomas Hughes (the author of 'Tom Brown's School Days') published by Macmillan in 1859, there is on page 149 the phrase "... I guv my head to young Mapstone, ..." apparently referring to Backsword Players.
The Sunderland Mapstones
All the Mapstones in Sunderland are descended from the four brothers, EDWIN, HENRY, GEORGE, and ROBERT, the sons of George Mapstone and Eliza Radford of WEDMORE, in Somerset.
The brothers moved to Sunderland between about 1874 and 1880.I as understand it a great agricultural depression had set in in the early 1870’s as a result of a series of very wet summers and autumns, with a consequence of very bad harvests. Labour left the land, and the villages and went into the mines of South Wales or overseas, and the village industries and businesses collapsed.
The old Offices of M. Mapstone & Co. Ltd. in Ladywell Walk, Birmingham
England. Photograph courtesy of "Birmingham Daily Photo"
Location and Number of Mapstone & Mapston Birth Registrations 1837-1999
by Historic Counties
Map produced with GENMAP