THE DISPERSAL OF THE EACOTTS
From the available records the following patterns emerge.
The Eacotts, Eycotts etc. with the exception of the very rare marriage did not leave the valley of the Churn river, north of Cirencester until well into the 1600's. The " Ea " spelling was rare but not unknown in Rendcomb and North Cerney. The "Ey" version was exclusive in Bagendon and Cirencester.

At one time it was not possible to leave the home county and move to another county without special permission. Poor laws required proof you were not going to be a burden to society. After that time movement became easier. The records however become more complex as to who came from where. When Eacotts moved abroad it became even more difficult to establish links.

Just before and after 1700 several movements took place. One group originating from "Ecott" and becoming Eacott focussed on Cromhall and later Alveston area. Another group located in South Cerney and shortly after Purton and Warminster. Until the mid 1700's all of the Eacotts were living between Cheltenham and Warminster in Gloucester and Wiltshire. The only exception were a few after 1710 appearing in London and later in Surrey. After 1740 several appear in adjacent Berkshire and subsequent to that they appear in very, very few counties of England. Most of the Wiltshire branch is Eacott as is the Cromhall/Alveston branch.

At the time of the reformation some Eycotts possibly remained Catholic supporters. The Eycott version is very small today 27 were located in 2002 and it was thought to be a revival of the name.

More on specific families is found on the last page.
Counties of South England
The Eacott's of Bisley and Chobham, Surrey

Southwest of London lies the small village of Chobham and the smaller village of Bisley. Sometime before 1740 John Ecutt and his wife Ann became resident at Chobham where he bought a house, lands and premises from Robert Stimpson. It is not known whence they came. Perhaps Ann was a local girl. John evidently had some money. Their children William 1760, Sarah 1766, and John 1766 were baptised at Chobham St. Lawrence church. This may have been to meet the law since later Eacott's were baptized at the Chobham baptist church. Not all were baptist dissenters because some went to live in nearby Bisley around 1800. Thomas Eacott had been born in 1780 came to Bisley and married Mary Martin in 1801. He was an agricultural labourer who in retirement lived at Noah's Ark residence with his wife Mary and son Thomas ( b. 1825). This family were Chobham Baptists. . Marcy Eacott ( William Glashier) and William Eacott (Sarah Emlyn or Glaser) also were married at the Bisley Anglican Church of St. John the Baptist 1806 and 07 respectively. It appears their father William Acot was church warden at the
time. Ann Eacott died in 1799 leaving her estate to son William. His will of 1842 showed he had a lot of land in the Bisley parish which went to his 4 children, William, Stephen and Ann wife of John Harding and Sarah wife of Daniel Gosden. For most of the 1800's the Eacott name was well known in Bisley. In 1819-29 William Eacott was churchwarden and from 1840-3 another William Eacott had the position. 1854-6 Stephen Eacott, a farmer was warden who lived with his wife Mary and 4 children at Chatters Row farmed 24 acres nearby. His hired man lived with them. Lastly William Eacott was warden in 1865. William Eacott and his wife and son George ran a pub "the Yew Tree" at Bisley in the 1870's. John Eacott b 1808 was a retired butcher living in Bisley in 1881.
Another person Sarah Eacott wife of William in her old age lived with her daughter Sarah (Daniel ) Gosden.
William Eacott a farmer and beer retailer held 13 acres of land at Bisley in 1871.
Only 2 Eacotts were ever buried at Bisley, Henry age 27 in 1838 and Hariett age 36 in 1858.
Sometime after 1886 the Eacotts are no longer connected with Bisley as George the Inn Keeper and farmers son Albert George was the last record of Eacotts at Bisley.
St. John's Church
  Bisley Surrey
More on The Eycotts of Stonehouse and Stroud

Records exist of Eycotts in the 17 and 18 hundreds who were in the cloth manufacturing and milling business. How they got into this line of work is not clear. One clue is that Jonathan Eycott born 1736 was a miller at Woodchester. The proximity of the following places indicate likely family ties. They are all within 6 miles of each other: Stroud, Eastington,Stonehouse,Woodchester, Leonard Stanley, King's Stanley, Minchinghampton,
Horsley. And just east are Avening, Cherington which might also connect to Tetbury Eacotts.
Henry Eycott is a central figure in the milling business. Also possible in this is Thomas Eycott who lived east of Cherington near Cirencester at Coates. (His will). A number of the people who ran the Mills after the Eycotts were connected by marriage or descent from the Eycott family. Unfortunately not enough evidence exists to do convincing connections.. See the reference section for history of the mills at Stonehouse. A list of families in this area. There are some other marriages recorded not included.
Cherington
Joseph b 1703
children
Thomas 1732
Sarah 1734
Graciana 1738
Joseph 1739
William 1742
Nathaniel 1746
Lucy 1748
Mary 1750
Mary 1753
Sarah 1759
Stonehouse
Henry d. abt 1801
Wife Ann Clutterbuck
Henry bef 1775
Sarah bef 1765 m 83
Samuel b. 1767
Henry & Mary
Henry d. abt 1821
Elizabeth Mary 1794
m Richard Martin
Joseph William 1796
Mary Ann 1797 -1832
Matilda 1798
Frederick 1803 - 1884
Joseph 1805
William 1807
Woodchester
James Eycott bef 1745
wife Susannah Fowler
Samuel 1767
Job 1771
James 1773
Hester 1777
Olive 1780

Mary Eycott 1784 of Tetbury
& John Lusty m 1805
Stroud
F. Eycott, mason,1734
Henry Eycott & Hannah came abt 1744
with Mary,Catherine
William b 1744

Samuel Ecot 1713 Amp Cru & Mary Wallis Tetbury m 1751 Stroud
Others
Married at Avening
from Ampney Crucis
Hester 1742 m 1761
Thomas b 1736 m

Thomas m. Mary Willis
1795 King's Stanley
-
Mary Eycott m William Walker 1790 Stonehouse
(Bro ? of Henry)
As an assemblage of other selected areas is created this section will be expanded.
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Points of Origin

From the evidence it appears that Eacott was derived from Eycot also known as Eycote, Aicote, Eyot or Eugkote, Eycot became or was parallel with Ekot or Ecot. The names all are intertwined in several small parishes adjacent to each other, Rendcomb, North Cerney, Bagendon, Colesbourne and Winstone. The names go back to the 1300's in association with these places.

Commencing with the late 1500's and early 1600's Eacott arises. This variant appears most closely connected with the version Ekott or Ecott and more limitedly with Eycott, all are still with the same parishes. Just before 1700 the name in association with Ecott appears about Cromhall and appears regularly in several parishes south of Cromhall, most notably Alveston. At the same time the name as Eacutt, Eacott becomes known at South Cerney and later about Purton and adjacent parishes in Wiltshire. Elsewhere in Wiltshire a line of Eacotts occurs at Warminster in the 1600's.
Likewise a small group appears in Berkshire, Surrey and London. Other Eacotts before 1800 are almost none existent in all other areas of Britain. Until 1800 nearly all the Eacotts lived in
these few places. Notably, the Eacott variant never was strong in the places where the name first appeared.


By the time of census taking in England in the last half of the 1800's Eacott and its variations had this distribution. Eacott was concentrated in Avon, Wiltshire, Berkshire, and London. Eakets were only in Glocestershire. Ecott was found in Bedfordshire and Gloucestershire. Ayott in London and Bedfordshire. Eycott in London, Berkshire, Yorkshire. Eckett London, Reading and Basing towns.Acott in Lpndon, Kent, Gloucestershire, Oxford. Eccott in London and Basing towns.

The first record of an Eycott abroad was John Eycott, recorded in the south Carolina Gazette as having a license to trade with the Creek Indians in South Carolina and Tennessee from 1750 to 54
.
The first records I have of an Eacott emigrating from Britain was William Eycott (30) of Gloucester a mason who went with his wife to Jamaica in 1774 and Thomas Eycott who went to South Carolina about 1750.


Since 1800 a worldwide migration has taken place.