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Kitching
The surname
Kitching is generally accepted as being of occupational
origin.
It is quite
an old surname, found -either directly or in the form of its derivatives
- at early dates in the English counties of York, Oxford, Hereford,
Lancaster, Derby, Middlesex, Hertford, Westmoreland, Durham, Somerset,
and Norfolk, as well as in the city and vicinity of London. Derivatives
and variations include:
Kychene, Kychen,
Kychin, Kychine, Kytchen, Kytchin, Kytchinge, Kytching, Kytchings,
Kechin, Kechen, Kechyn, Kechynge, Keching, Kytchynge, Kytchyng,
Kytchyn, Kichynge, Kichyng, Kitchynge, Kichen, Kiching, Kitchyn,
Kichin, Kitchins, Kitching, Ketchen, Ketchin, Cichim, Caitcheon,
Kitcheon, Kitchin, Kitchens, Kitchen, and others.
Of all the variations
listed, the most common spellings are Kitchen, Kitchin or Kitching.
The surname
is said to be a shortened form of the old English surname of Kitchenman,
which was derived from the occupation of its first bearers, who
were employed in the great kitchens of the manor houses and castles.
It is thought
that the name dates back to before the Norman Conquest, but Among
the earliest records of the Kitchen family in England date back
to 1235 in Lancashire. In about the year 1300, there are references
to Henry atte Kychene and Richard del Kechin. It is about the same
time that records of the family in Yorkshire appears, with references
to Johannes (John) del Kechyn or Kychyn of Yorkshire.
By this time,
the family were primarily yeomen - owners of free land valued at
more than forty shillings. They probably resided in manorial villages
and worked as stewards for the nobility. The ownership of this free
land provided certain rights and freedoms that may not have been
available to some of the other citizens of England at that time.
There are still
significant numbers of Kitchin/Kitchen/Kitching families in the
north of England, but many have emigrated. Some of the first settlers
of this name or its variants to emigrate to the Americas were John
Kitchen, who settled in Salem in 1630; Nicholas Kitchen settled
in the Barbados in 1654; Joseph Kitchin settled in Virginia in 1635;
John Kitchin settled in New England in 1635.
Coat
of Arms
There are a number of Coats of Arms associated with the Kitchen
family of England. The most ancient and frequently used is as follows:
ARMS
- per chevron argent and sable, three water bougets counterchanged.
CREST
- is an arm in armour embowed, issuing from a cloud in the
sinister, holding a sword, all proper. |
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| In
addition to the Kitchen Coat of Arms, there is also a Kitchin
Coat, also belonging to the family. It is described as follows: |
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Kitchin
of Meales, co. Lancaster, England
ARMS:..Gules
(red), a chevron paly of four Argent (silver) and Sable (black),
between three bezants, each charged with a lapwing of the
third (i.e., black).
CREST:..N/A.
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Kitchin
of London
ARMS:..Argent
(silver), on a pile Azure (blue), between two crosses crosslet
Gules (red), an eagle displayed of the field.
CREST:..A
pelican's head erased Azure (blue), beaked Or (gold), vulned
Gules (red). |
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The above descriptions
for the Coat of Arms may be referenced in the "Burke, General
Armory, 1884".
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