THE ORIGINS OF WINNETT FAMILIES OF THE WORLD

Introduction

The surname Winnett is rare. For instance, out of the 26 million people in England and Wales in 1881 only 237 people had the name. Similarly, in the US census of 1880, out of the population of 50 million, 250 people were called Winnett or a close variant. It is not listed at all in A dictionary of English surnames (Reany et al 1997) or English sunames (Bardsley 2000). It appears in Surnames of the United Kingdom (Harrison 1969) where it is given the dubious etymology of "winn" (Gaelic for white, fair or blessed) plus the French diminutive. It is also mentioned in Welsh surnames (Morgan and Morgan 1985) where it states in a section about the name Gwynedd "in the present day registers Gwinnett, Winnett, Gwinnutt are found in fairly large numbers in the border counties.

Most of the families detailed here have English origins, an exception being the descendants of the Huguenot Barthelemy Vinet. Huguenot origins can also be claimed for an early variant of the name in 1524 with John Wynet being listed as an Immigrant to London from the Duchy of Cleves on the present Dutch-German border (Huguenot Society Proceedings #10 Part 3). He also appears as John Wynett of Southwark, London in 1545 (HSP #10 Part 1). The name appears in various forms from then on in London. Similar names are found in Gloucestershire from very early times, where they seemed interchangeable with the name Wynniatt. William Wynnyett was a landowner in Kempley, Gloucestershire in 1514 (History of Kempley Manor and Church). Another example is Margaret Wynett, christened at Whittington in the same county in 1544. The usual modern spelling can first be found in the early 1600s. John Winnett married in Barnstaple, Devonshire in 1628. A Jeffrey Winnett was christened in Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire in 1641. Examples of the name also appear frequently in Bedfordshire from the 1500s onwards, but most descendants from these families spell their name Whinnett.

One method used for this research was to identify family groups from the censuses of the USA and of England and Wales. David Turvey's The Winnett family: seven genealogies of Winnett families in Canda, Australia, the United States, England and Ireland (1974) has also been used.

This site is an attempt to account for all the people who have the surname in modern times. There are bound to be some inaccuracies and omissions and additional information is always welcomed.