History

National Archives...

The earliest mention of the Etherton surname found in a search of the National Archives database dates back to 1493. A property description document features a William Etherton of Petworth, West Sussex. Another William Etherton, this time of Tortington, West Sussex gets a mention in a depostion transcript from 1621.

Early IGI entries...

The earliest entries in the IGI for the Etherton surname are concentrated around the Sussex area of England. These entries date from the mid-sixteenth century. Around the mid-seventeeth century Etherton surname entries start to appear additionally in both Essex and London. It is unknown at this stage whether these later families are linked to the earlier Sussex Ethertons. It is hoped that the Etherton DNA project will help in proving (or disproving) this hypothesis.