Origins of the name "Ellerton"

"A Dictionary of English Place-Names" (A.D.Mills, 1991) shows that the town name of Ellerton (Humber) was probably derived from a combination of elri (Old Scandinavian - the language of the Vikings) and the Old English (pre-1100) tun - the latter being an enclosure, farmstead, village, manor, or estate. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the name of the Yorkshire hamlet as Elreton.

However, various other publications show that a more likely derivation of the Yorkshire Ellerton is from eller meaning alder/elder tree and ton as an enclosure, etc: combining to mean "a clearing or hamlet in an alder/elder grove". The Staffordshire Ellerton is indicated as having come from the name of the founder, Eldred's town perhaps.

People

The publication "Ellerton" by William Mouat-Keith Ellerton (1863-1942) indicated that men bearing the name of Ellerton held high-office appointments such as abbots and priors in various monastic and religious houses during the 10th and 11th centuries. Similar research by The Rev. Francis George Ellerton (1861-1943) revealed many Ellerton/Elreton names in the 12th century.  The industrial revolution in the 18th/19th centuries saw many Ellertons moving out of the area, although there are still several living in the Dales. Click here to view the Ellerton "Heroes and Villains" page!

Places

Considerable confusion has arisen due to there being four places called Ellerton in England, three of them in Yorkshire - click on the hyperlinks below to go to the relevant map (courtesy of Multimap.co.uk):

• Ellerton, North Yorkshire - a small hamlet on the bank of the River Swale, in the parish of Downholme [see also Ellerton Lodge]
• Ellerton, North Yorkshire - 2 miles east of Catterick, on the bank of the River Swale [map ref SE 25 98]
• Ellerton (or Ellerton Priory), Humberside - 10 miles S.E. of the city of York, on the bank of the River Derwent [map ref SE 70 39]. Population in 1891 was 263.
• Ellerton, Shropshire - 12 miles west of Stafford [map ref SJ 71 25]

Research on my "roots" has shown a close affinity to the first-mentioned above, and many of my ancestors from the early-17th to mid-19th centuries were born and bred within ten miles of this hamlet. It is often referred to as Ellerton Abbey, had a population of  just 45 in 1911, and is the site of a Cistercian nunnery founded circa 1100.

There are at least three places called Ellerton in the U.S.A. - Frederick County (Maryland), Ohio, and Florida - and another in St George (Barbados). In Marlborough, New Zealand there is the interestingly-named "Ellerton Homestead". The town of Hallerton in Quebec, Canada was named after settler Charles Ellerton (b. Cottingham, Yorkshire in 1802) who applied for a permit to open a post office - but the name on the permit was misspelt! Closer to my native shores - in Ireland there is a "Vale of Ellerton", near Cong in County Mayo. If you know of any more please send me brief details by email.

In 1942 Montague David Ellerton's plane crashed on landing near Cooktown, Queensland, Australia. In September 2001 Tim Ellerton, his nephew, named the place where his uncle died so tragically "Ellerton Beach" and erected a sign in his honour.

Page last updated: March 2008