The Origin of the Croston Surname in County Cork, Ireland

There are 2 theories about the origin of the Croston surname in County Cork, Ireland. The first is that they were Huguenots who settled in Ireland in the late 1600’s and the second is that the family came from Croston, Lancashire, England. Both of these theories are based on the sound of the name- it does not sound Irish and that most of the Croston early lines in County Cork were Protestant/ Church of Ireland.

The Huguenots were French protestants who fled their homeland in fear of religious persecution in the mid to late 1600’s. Many Huguenots who settled in western County Cork adopted the principles of the Church of Ireland and 2 examples of these families had the surnames Dukelow (originally Duclos) and Camier. The Huguenot families lived on the same land and went to the same church as the English settlers. They were part of the same community and the groups intermarried for generations.

Here the use of DNA testing has been extremely informative. The Y-DNA of 4 men: my father whose ancestor was of Schull, a male Croston of Skibbereen, a male of Durrus ancestry and a male of Bandon ancestry has proven that they all share the same paternal line. This answer itself is a huge leap forward. Prior to testing it was unknown if they were related at all. In fact the testers DNA is so close that it is clear that they are of the same family that immigrated to Ireland and not several family branches that went at different times. Their Y-DNA haplogroup (or ancient clan) suggests that the male line has English origins within the past 1500 years. Based on this we can rule out the Huguenot theory and turn to England.

The surname Croston is very rare compared to other surnames and almost all of families of this name come from Lancashire, England.

Most people associate English emigration to Ireland with those who settled in Northern Ireland or Ulster. This was the most commonly known English settlement. To date I have found no evidence of Croston’s living in Northern Ireland or anywhere north of County Cork prior to 1800.

In the 16th-17th century the English Crown confiscated land in the county from the native Irish population as an attempt to colonize the region. This occurred around the time of the Cromwellian Land Confiscation Act and the Act of Settlement 1652. Plantations were established and the land was granted to English families and Parliamentarian soldiers. These grants required that the new landowners settle the land with English tenant farmers and tradesmen to boost the English/ protestant population in the area. As you can imagine this created great conflict in the region.

There was a substantial area in West Cork that was resettled with English and Huguenot families between Bandon and Bantry and points south. These families included surnames such as Attridge, Swanton, Dukelow, Levis, Kingston, Gosnell, Wolfe, Johnson, Shipsey, Young, Evans, Newman, Bradfield, Varian, Baker, Vickery, Roycroft, Wilkinson and Croston among others.

The Croston family arrived sometime before the oldest record that survives - a transcribed record from The Cole Family of West Carberry pg 13. This is a transcription of the (now destroyed) Census of 1766 shows a John Croston (family of 7 Protestants) living in Ringarogy. Their neighbors surnames were: Cole, Hodnett, Baker and Marmion. Ringarogy is a island in County Cork, north of Baltimore harbor.

Location of Ringarogy

The next oldest record is the marriage of Rosanna Croston to Richard Baker somewhere in County Cork 1769- likely they married close to Ringarogy- perhaps in Creagh or possibly in Durrus. This record was also transcribed from the original parish register by a historian Albert Eugene Casey prior to the Dublin records office fire.*

* In this catastrophic fire on June 30, 1922, during the Irish Civil War nearly all of the historical records (birth, marriage, burial, census etc…) were destroyed. Luckily there were some records that survived the fire, were previously transcribed by researchers or remained in the local parishes. Most of the lost records were for dates prior to 1850. This makes it difficult to find documents that connect the Irish family to England and to know how exactly the various family trees in Ireland fit together.

The Baker and Cole families would have other marriages and connections to the Croston family in the following years- suggesting a close friendship or family tie.

In the 1820’s and 1830’s several Crostons appear in the Tithe Applotment Books. These books recorded the name, residence and amount of land and the sums to be paid in tithes. Tithes were a tax paid by tenants on agricultural land to support the Protestant church and clergy.

Crostons appear again in the 1850’s in the Griffith Valuation. This valuation was to determine one's liability to pay the poor rate (the support for the poor in each Poor Law Union).

By the 1850’s Crostons were living all over West Cork: Durrus, Crookhaven, Skibbereen, Schull, Creagh and points around and in between.

The Crostons of West Cork were not landowners, they were mostly tenant farmers and weavers. In later years some took on a trade such as house painter, mason, laborer or mariner. A few joined the British Army or Navy.

These early records are the only clues we have to where and when the Croston family first settled in Ireland and what their motivation for leaving England might have been.

There are several Irish lines that have the story that the family came from Croston, Lancashire:

In “The History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York, from the Earliest Historic Times to the Beginning of 1907” by William F. Peck, there is a biography of Frank Croston who was a real estate developer and politician in Rochester New York. Frank’s parents Francis Croston and Avisa Levis emigrated in 1858 from Durrus, County Cork.

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Most of this biography is not true- his family was from Ireland, not England as proven by older census records and a ships passenger list. At the time there was much prejudice against the Irish immigrant population in the United States. Being a successful businessman and politician he might have felt he had no choice but to alter his story. The mention of the family member that served in parliament and was Governor of Chester is on the assumption that Croston and Croxton were of the same surname. I have found nothing to lead me to think that Croxton was ever Croston. There was a Thomas Croxton who was a colonel in the parliamentarian army and was governor of Chester. To me these references are a clear sign that Frank or someone in his family had attempted to do some genealogy. But it’s possible that they knew the family was from England and that’s where they began their research.

The second example comes from a letter received November 1976 from a John Croston* of Riverdale, NY, USA sent to researcher Ann Croston.

*John’s father was John Brangan Croston, born 16 Feb 1868 in Bandon, County Cork and immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts around 1887. His father kept in touch with the family that remained in Ireland. John was 11 when he and his parents traveled to Ireland in 1906.

After the families arrival in Ireland to the year 1900, about 300 Crostons are on record as having been born in Ireland. Likely many perished in the great famine and records of them are lost. All but 1 family line (who still remains in the Skibbereen area) emigrated to England, USA, Canada, Australia and Scotland or moved north to Dublin.

Many families emigrated to the same towns in the USA as their neighbors- creating several West Cork heritage communities overseas.

Skibbereen family- emigrated to New England manufacturing towns: Boston, Bradford/ Haverhill and Lawrence MA and Providence RI, USA as well as Ontario Canada, England and Scotland.

Creagh family- emigrated to Boston, Peabody and Lawrence MA, USA as well as England.

Schull family- emigrated to Boston and Bradford/ Haverhill MA, USA

Durrus family- emigrated to Rochester NY, USA and Ontario Canada

Bandon family- one family group emigrated to Philadelphia PA and then later to Iowa and another family group emigrated to Maine and later to Iowa USA

All of these families share a common ancestor who is unknown. Unfortunately the records that would explain the connection did not survive the fire. But there are some clues that suggest relationships between branches and I will go into more detail when I talk about the individual family lines.

The next step is to try to find the link to England. For this I am working with several Croston lines from England to see if we match one branches' Y-DNA more closely than the others. From there and other research I hope to determine who left England to settle in Ireland. 

If your Croston family is from County Cork or you have any stories about where the family came from before Ireland, please send me a private message and I will add your story to my records.