Grafton

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Grafton, a common name, usually ‘farmstead in or by a grove’, OE grāf + tūn; examples include: Grafton Herefs., near Hereford. Crafton 1303. Grafton N. Yorks. Graftune 1086 (DB). Grafton Oxon. Graptone [sic] 1086 (DB), Graftona 1130. Grafton, East & Grafton, West Wilts. Graftone 1086 (DB). Grafton Flyford Worcs. Graftun 9th cent., Garstune [sic] 1086 (DB). Affix from the nearby Flyford Flavell. Grafton Regis Northants. Grastone [sic] 1086 (DB), Graftone 12th cent. Latin affix regis ‘of the king’ because it was a royal manor. Grafton Underwood Northants. Grastone [sic] 1086 (DB), Grafton Underwode 1367. Affix ‘under or near the wood’ (OE under + wudu) refers to Rockingham Forest.

However the following has a different origin: Grafton, Temple Warwicks. Greftone 10th cent., Grastone [sic] 1086 (DB), Temple Grafton 1363. ‘Farmstead by the pit or trench’. OE græf + tūn. Affix refers to early possession by the Knights Templars or Hospitallers.

Grafton, Australia, USA 1. Australia (New South Wales): Grafton and South Grafton, both named after Augustus Henry Fitzroy (1735–1811), 3rd Duke of Grafton, British prime minister (1768–70), merged to form a single city and port in 1956.2. USA (Massachusetts): founded in 1654 with the Native American name of Hassanisco, it was renamed after Charles Fitzroy (1683–1757), 2nd Duke of Grafton, when the first English settlers arrived in 1718.3. USA (North Dakota): settled in 1877 and named after Grafton County in New Hampshire, the place of departure for the pioneers moving west. The county was named after the 3rd Duke of Grafton.4. USA (West Virginia): settled in 1852 by railroad construction workers of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad who ‘grafted on’ a branch line to Wheeling here.

Grafton ♂ Transferred use of the surname, in origin a local name from any of several places named with the Old English elements grāf ‘grove’ + tūn ‘enclosure, settlement’. In the United States it seems to have been adopted as a given name in honour of the third Duke of Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, who served as British Prime Minister 1767–70 and who favoured conciliation with the American colonies.

Grafton town (1990 pop. 13,035), Worcester co., S central Mass.; built on the site of a Native American village; est. by Puritans c.1654, inc. 1731. Leather products and abrasives are made there.

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