"Az a chev between three suns or"

This phrase describes the "Hinson Coat of Arms." Az refers to the color 'azure' a dark blue. "between threes suns or" refers to three suns between a chevron..."or" refers to gold the color of the chevron. So a chevron separating three suns or tells us there is a field of blue divided by a gold chevron. If you will take note of the coat of arms to the top right, you will see the the product of the description provided. Can anyone guess why I used dark blue and gold for the website colors?

Purpose of this site

The purpose of this website is to simply provide a central point of information in reference to our family from the past to current. Many times facts concerning geneology can get confusing or provide inaccurate information. A good example is the advertisement for a popular geneology and DNA source where the man said for all his life he was told his family was of German decent, but upon DNA analysis from this company found they were Scotch. I have noted this in our family, because...things didn't add up. For example, I was told our Great Grand mother on our Grandmother Hinson's side was German, however, in checking I found from one of our cousins in South Carolina she was Dutch. So it goes. If we have a cental point of interaction (website) information can be added, changed or corrected as need occurs. Also, it's a good way to keep everyone together hopefully and stay in touch.

Where do you start?

Usually the best place to start is at the beginning. This is easily said, but where is the beginning? There are several clues that give you a point of origin when looking. If records had been written specific to your family origins carried on by the family would be fantasic, however this is not a common thing unless you happen to be a member of the royal families of Europe. Even then, the story could be at the least sketchy and inaccurate. So things you start with of course are race, known facts about your family history passed down by credible sources, geographical location and of course your name. People have always moved or migrated because of economic circumstances, wars, disasters, and sometimes just to change their lives. So, where one lived is not necessarily where one originated, this is particularly true in Europe, England, Scotland and Wales. For example, after the Norman Conquest many Saxons were refugees fleeing to Scotland because William the Conqueror wanted to make sure any claims or heirs to the throne or just against him would be killed; particularly male children, but back to the basics, I started with the family name of which I will explain in the following section, different peoples had their language and names. Our family ancestors didn't leave much written history and not many records were maintained until William the Conqueror ordered the most massive tax recordings and records in history; this is called the 'Dooms Day Book.' You can go online and look at it...in fact on the references page I will post a link. Every persons cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, geeses and etc were listed to pay taxes to the new king, William the Conqueror. As we move along, I will include issues I have noted in our family as far as christian names and other tel tale signs of our history. Let me mention this as we get started, if anyone knows something or can add information you are welcome and encouraged to share it with me so we can have as complete record as possible. This is in no way an effort for me to rewrite our history, just to get as many facts as possible and let those know in the family that are interested an accurate as possible historical account. This belongs to us all.

Where the name comes from

The name 'Hinson' is patronomical in nature, meaning it refers to a male ancestor with the suffix 'son' indicating 'son of.' This was common in the Germanic tribes, the Irish did this with the 'O' in front of the name as in O'Neil meaning 'son of Neil.' The same with 'Mac' or 'Mc' in Scotland, it means 'son of', so you can see how names gives you an idea of where you family were from. The name 'Hinson' is a Saxon name, the Saxons are a germanic tribe in Northern Germany. In about 407 A.D. the Romans left England to defend Gaul (now France) against the Huns and other barbarian invaders...this left Brittania defensless against hostile invaders, one of which was the picts. The picts were a tribe of peoples in Scotland; they were called picts because they 'painted' their bodies. Brittanic chieftans hired paid merceneries, the Saxons to protect them against the picts. This all went well until payment was not made for the protection. At that time the Saxons brought their families to England to claim and settle the island. At the same time the coastal area they lived at in Saxony was flooding because of climate change giving the Saxons all the more reason to look for a new homeland, thus the invasion and conquest of England. The Saxons carried a knife or 'small sword' called a 'seax.' This is where the Saxons got their name. The Saxons and Norse peoples were basically the same people. Denmark was right across a small strip of the North Sea from the Saxons. The language was similar, they worshipped basically the same gods and had fought against each other and formed alliances for years.

My personal findings through 23andMe

Maps of concentration of our family

In this section I have links showing you the concentrations of our family name in the 'old country' and here in the United States. It's not a common name, certainly not Smith's or Jone's but this will show you where your relatives are and where they most likely originated from in England. There are also Hinson's in Scotland as you will find out, not many and those there probably are immigrants from England. As I mentioned earlier, people moved for various reasons, and many Saxons migrated to Scotland after the Norman Conquest to escape the wrath of William the Conqueror...or maybe they moved there because of marriage, or just to get a good job. To see the concentration of Hinson's in the United States and where they are, England and Wales, and Scotland go to this  link. You can click on the United States, England and Wales as well as Scotland. North Carolina has the largest concentration and other states are Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Texas. As a matter of interest, if you look at the area of England that Hinson's are in the most concentration it is Eastern England. This co-encides with the area of England that was in the Dane Law. I have furnished a link to this map for your viewing. In England New Castle-upon-the-Tyne, York, Notingham, Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Cambridgeshire and London; Norhumberland was not included in the Dane Law, it stayed under Saxon Rule.

Click References to see the maps.