Preston

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Preston, of Gormanston, Co. Meath, a Catholic noble family founded by Roger of Preston who arrived from Lancashire in 1326 to pursue a legal career in Ireland. His son Robert, who purchased Gormanston in 1363, became lord chancellor. Another Robert was created the first Viscount Gormanston after being appointed deputy lieutenant in 1478. Although a Geraldine backer of the Yorkist pretender Lambert Simnel, he was again deputy lieutenant in 1493–4. His son William led the Pale forces at Knockdoe and was lord justice in the absence of the 8th earl of Kildare in 1515.

When Kildare hegemony ended and as the Old English position deteriorated, the Prestons frequently found themselves in opposition to the government. Christopher, 4th viscount and father of Thomas Preston (d. 1600), opposed cess; Jenico, 5th viscount (d. 1630), led an Old English delegation to London after the farcical first session of the 1613–15 parliament, and Nicholas, 6th viscount (d. 1643), was an opponent of Wentworth and a Confederate Catholic commander. His son Jenico, 7th viscount (d. 1691), was a Jacobite, but his nephew Anthony, 9th viscount (d. 1716), managed to regain the family estates under the treaty of Limerick. Jenico, 12th viscount (1775–1820), was an active member of the Catholic Committee.

In the 19th century the Gormanstons became part of the United Kingdom establishment. Edward, 13th viscount, was sheriff of Meath and Dublin and gained a UK peerage in 1868. His son Jenico, 14th viscount (1837–1907), was a colonial governor in various minor territories terminating with Tasmania (1893–1900).

Hiram Morgan

Preston, a common name, ‘farmstead of the priests’, OE prēost + tūn; examples include: Preston Dorset. Prestun 1228. Preston E. Loth, see Prestonpans. Preston E. R. Yorks. Prestone 1086 (DB). Preston E. Sussex. Prestetone 1086 (DB). Preston Lancs. Prestune 1086 (DB). Preston Northum. Preston 1242. Preston Bissett Bucks. Prestone 1086 (DB), Preston Byset 1327. Manorial affix from the Biset family, holders of the manor from the 12th cent. Preston Capes Northants. Prestetone 1086 (DB), Preston Capes 1300. Manorial affix from the de Capes family, here in the 13th cent. Preston Gubbals Shrops. Prestone 1086 (DB), Preston Gobald 1292. Manorial affix from a priest called Godebold who held the manor in 1086. Preston, Long N. Yorks. Prestune 1086 (DB). Affix refers to the length of the village. Preston-under-Scar N. Yorks. Prestun 1086 (DB), Preston undescar 1568. Affix means ‘under the rocky hill’ from OScand. sker. Preston Wynne Herefs. Prestetune 1086 (DB). Manorial affix from a family called la Wyne here in the 14th cent.

Preston city (1991 pop. 166,675) and district, Lancashire, N England, on the Ribble River. Preston has an active port and is a center of cotton and rayon manufacturing. Some mills have closed, but work has been created in the areas of engineering, as well as aircraft, motor vehicle, industrial machinery, and electrical appliance production. A guild-merchant festival has been held in Preston every 20 years for more than four centuries. One of the oldest administrative regions in England, Preston has sent representatives to Parliament since the 13th cent. It was the scene of a victory by Oliver Cromwell in 1648 and of the surrender of the Jacobites after the rising of 1715. The Gothic town hall was completed in 1867 from designs by George Gilbert Scott . The Harris Museum and Art Gallery is a notable attraction. The city is the birthplace of Richard Arkwright and Francis Thompson .

Preston, Australia, Canada, UK, USA UK (England): a very common name, the city in Lancashire formerly had the spelling Prestetune and Prestune. The name means ‘Village, or Manor, of the Priests’ from the Old English prēost ‘priest’ and tūn. The city in Lancashire received city status in 2002, the year of Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee.

Preston ♂ Transferred use of the surname, in origin a local name from any of the numerous places in England named with Old English prēost ‘priest’ + tūn ‘enclosure, settlement’.

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