This unusual and interesting name of English origin is locational from places so called in Cambridgeshire and Leicestershire. The former is recorded in 1080 as 'Herlestona' in Canterbury inquest records, and is a derivative of 'Heoruwulf' (a given name of unknown origin) and 'tun', a farm. The latter place is recorded as 'Herstan', the Domesday Book of 1086 and is derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century 'harastan', meaning grey stone, or grey boundary stone. In Croxton Kyrial Leicestershire one Elizabeth Herston was christened on 25th December 1763, and in All Saints Cambridgeshire, Ann Harston married John Newby in 1788. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Harston married Ed Mannering, which was dated 10th February 1651, London, during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, the Great Protector, 1649 - 1660. 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.

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