Surname: Elliott
This interesting surname has a number of possible origins. Firstly, it may derive from the medieval given name "Elis" the normal vernacular form of "Elijah" meaning "Jehovah is God", plus the diminutive suffix "ot". It may also be from the Middle English given name "Ely(a)t", which represents at least two Olde English pre 7th Century personal names which have fallen together; "Athelgeat" (male), composed of the elements "athel" noble and "Geat" a tribal name, and "Athelgyth" (female), composed of the elements "athel" and "gyth" a battle. In Scotland, the name derives from the Olde English given name "Aelfweald", "aelf", an elf and "weald", a ruler, or as an Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname "Elloch" or "Eloth", a topographical name for a "dweller by a mound", from the Gaelic "eileach", a dam, mound or bank. The surname is first recorded in the mid 16th Century (see below). In the modern idiom, the surname has four spelling variations, Eliot, Eliott, Elliot and Elliott. On July 11th 1563, Agnes Elliott married Christopher Wightman, in St. Mary at Hill, London. Ann, daughter of George Elliott, was christened on August 22nd 1563, at Allhallows, Bread Street, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Elyot, which was dated 1257, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Somerset", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling. http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=Elliott
ELIOTT A BORDER REIVER NAME
Eliott the surname is thought to derive from an Anglo-Saxon forename Elewald which means 'the elf ruler', although the name could also be a diminutive of the name Elias. After the Norman conquest the name occurs as a forename in the form Heliot. Earliest records of the surname include a William Elyot mentioned in the Assize Rolls for Somorset in 1257 and a William Eliot mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1327. It is thought that these south country Eliots have a surname which derived from Elias and that the Elliott families of the north were descended from an Elewald who lived in Cumberland in the year 1279. Until the fifteenth century the Elliott surname of the Anglo-Scottish border still occasionally occured in the form Elwald or Elwold. Spellings were inconsistent and other forms including Elwuad, Elwat, Elwood, Eluat, Eluott, Elioat and Elwand are recorded. Even today there are at least seventy derivatives of the surname including four different spellings of the basic name which are Eliot, Eliott, Eliot and Elliott. The last spelling is said to be frowned upon by the Scottish border Eliotts where according to an old rhyme 'The double L and single T descend from Minto and Wolflee, the double T and single L mark the old race in Stobs that dwell, The single L and single T the Eliots of St Germains be, but double T and double L, who they are nobody can tell.
http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/Surnames.html
Elliot (also spelled Elliott, Eliot,or Eliott [1]) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name was historically given to males, females named Elliot have seen an increase in recent years. The origin of the surname is obscure. Some sources suggest it may be derived from a French form of Elias, which is itself derived from the biblical name "Elijah".
Clan Eliott, the Scottish lowland clan that has branches with Eliot, Eliott, Elliot and Elliott spellings.
From "Scottish Clans and Tartans"
The Elliots were a famous, indeed notorious, Border clan, like the Armstrongs. Their territory was around Upper Liddesdale, where they conducted their more or less profitable banditry for many centuries. The principal family in the early days was the Elliots of Redheugh, who often held the captaincy of Hermitage Castle -- still to be seen, squat and impregnable, on the moors south of Hawick. One of the Elliots of Redheugh, forefather of the Elliots of Arkleton, fell at Flodden (the beautiful lament for that disaster, The Flowers of the Forest, was written by Jane Elliot, sister of Sir Gilbert Elliot, first Baronet of Minto in the 18th century).
The Elliots of Stobs go back to Gawain Elliot of Stobs in the late 16th century, who was descended from the Elliots of Redheugh. Since the 17th century, when Border plundering was finally suppressed, they have been the principal among the many cadet houses. Gawain was succeeded as Laird of Stobs by Gilbert, known as "Gibbie wi' the gowden gartens", and from one of his sons the baronets and earls of Minto are descended.
Of this line, several of whom were distinguished as judges and empire builders, the most famous were George Elliot, vegetarian and teetollar, who as governor of Gibraltar in 1779 conducted the heroic and successful defence of the Rock when it was besieged by Franco-Spanish forces, and Gilbert Elliot, first Earl of Minto, a notable Governor-General of India in the early 19th century.
His great grandson, Gilbert, fourth Earl of Minto (1845-1914), is remembered in the sporting world for having broken his neck riding in the Grand National. The mishap had no permanent effects and he was Governor-General of Canada before succeeding Lord Curzon as Viceroy of India in 1905. He was the chief architect of the Morley-Minto Reforms, regarded as dangerously radical in some circles at the time though, as it turned out, insufficient to stem the tide of Indian unrest.
The seat of the Earl of Minto is Minto House, in Hawick, and of the Eliot of Stobs, chief of the clan at Redheugh.
http://www.elliotclan.com/history.html
The Flight of the Earls
The history of Manorhamilton Castle is interwoven with the overall history of Ireland and Northern Ireland in particular.
In the early 17th century land in the Ulster area had become available for distribution by the Crown as a result of defeat of the Irish Nobles culminating in the ‘Flight of the Earls’ in 1607. This was one the most defining incidents in Irish History marking the final overthrow of the old Gaelic aristocracy. With their power broken Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone and Rory O’Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, together with many other chieftains fled to Europe to escape capture by the English.
Now that the Irish leaders were no longer organising resistance the English took the opportunity to consolidate their control. They quickly settled the land with loyal subjects from Britain who would not present a threat of rebellion.
Sir Frederick Hamilton
Manorhamilton Castle was built between 1634 and 1638 by Sir Frederick Hamilton, a Scotsman and British courtier, who had been granted land in this area of Leitrim in 1621.
The colonisation or ‘plantation’ was part of what is now known as the Plantation of Leitrim. Hamilton’s estate comprised of 6,300 acres of arable land and 10,650 acres of bog and waste.
The Plantations
Prior to the arrival of Hamilton the land had been in the hands of the O’Rourke clan forming part of the heartland of Breifne. The Plantation involved the granting of land across Ulster to colonists from Scotland and England. The Northern part of Ireland had been the most rebellious part of the Crown’s dominion and the planting of loyal subjects had previously proved successful in pacifying other parts of Ireland. The planters swore allegiance to the crown and in return for suppressing native rebellion the land was their’s to profit from in whatever way they pleased.
The Irish Rebellion
The Castle was built from granite-like stone and a contemporary source considered it “the largest, strongest and finest in the county, as well it might”. However rebellion broke out nationwide in 1641 against the new planters. Irish forces unsuccessfully tried to destroy Manorhamilton but Hamilton responded with devastating raids on the countryside and in a night attack succeeded in surprising Sligo and burning the town including Sligo Abbey (photo), killing 300 people. Subsequent Irish raids failed to remove Hamilton or destroy his Castle.
The Castle Destroyed
The outbreak of the English Civil war, also in 1641, between the royalist forces of the King Charles 1st and the Parliamentarians resulted in fighting in Ireland as well. Hamilton who sided with the Parliamentary forces later moved to Derry where he had interests and then to Scotland where he died in 1647.
Manorhamilton Castle continued to be a Parliamentary outpost throughout the 1640’s but was destroyed by the Royalist Earls of Clanrickard in 1652 in one of the final engagements of the Civil War.
Lord Leitrim
On the death of Hamilton his estate passed to his son James and subsequently to James’ grandson Sir Ralph Gore. Sir Ralph’s son Ralphe married into the Clements family to whom the estates passed in 1789 as he died without any direct descendents.
In 1878 William Sidney Clements, Lord Leitrim, was murdered while on his way to Manorhamilton to evict tenants. The Castle remained in the possession of the Clements family until 1956 when Robert Elliott bought the house and Castle grounds.
The Present Owners
In 1974 the Elliott family sold their interest in the Castle to Frank O’Rourke who remained in possession of the Estate until July 1993 when is was acquired by the present owners, Anthony and Maura Daly.
http://www.manorhamiltoncastle.ie/a-brief-history/