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My EMPSON Family Line Page

The Name and Family of EMPSON
(General information about origins of name & family.)

The following is from THE EMPSON FAMILIES IN AMERICA
Compiled and Edited by: Donald Lawrence Empson & Amy Eileen Empson 1984

Empson is an English surname. It is, according to most sources, derived from "Emma's Son," and is of the same derivation as Emson, Emeson, and Emerson. The name dates from the Danish invasion of England between the years 800-1000 A.D. when many Englishmen adopted the Scandinavian suffix "son." There are many other English surnames such as Thompson, Simpson, and Wilson that date from that same period and have the same construction.

The first common use of the name in its present form is probably also the most famous. Sir Richard Empson was born in Towcester, Northampton, England around 1440, the son of a wealthy merchant. He was educated as a lawyer; he was Speaker of the House of Commons in 1491, and he was a minister to King Henry VII for whom he collected taxes. He was not popular with the people among whom he was known as a "ravenous wolf." When Henry VIII came to the throne, he gained popularity with his subjects by hanging Sir Richard Empson in 1510.

The other well-known person with the name of Empson is much more recent; in fact, he died within the last 15 years. He was William Empson, born in 1906 in Yorkshire, England. He became an internationally famous poet and writer, and his biography appears in most of the biographical dictionaries as well as the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Empson is not a common name, even in England. A few Empsons can be found in almost any country, buit is a good guess that there are only a few root families.

Using information gathered from the Empson families in the US, they can be divided into 15 families, some of which may have been interrelated. All of these Empsons had come from England.

If there was to be a single place where the first Empson family originated, it would be in the ancient parish of Snaith in the city of Goole, at the conflux of the rivers Ouse and Dutch near the port city of Hull, Yorkshire, England. As early as 1540, the name occurs in land documents in this area. It was from this place that the first emigration to America took place.

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Last updated May 2000 by Web Genealogist Chris Stefanovich.