The Conn families of Yorkshire

Pickering   Upleatham   Whitby   York

The records of the Conn families in Yorkshire are quite extensive. I have divided them into four areas, Upleatham, Whitby, Pickering and York, and although dealt with as separate entities, they in some cases are clearly related. The Whitby family, for example, had its origins in Upleatham. The Conn name can be found in both Upleatham and Pickering in about 1300, but whether the two families were linked further back in time is not known. Because of the extensive and early nature of the Conn records in Yorkshire - and more particularly in the North and East Ridings - it is tempting to believe that these families are the origin of many of the other Conn families around England. Some are clearly of Irish descent (Cumberland, Devon/ Cornwall), whilst others may have migrated southwards with the invading Scots in the period 900-1300 and colonised Yorkshire. For some this may be an appealing idea, for it provides a link with Conn of a Hundred Battles, the first High King of Ireland in the 2nd century. I must say that this is highly speculative, and certainly for the time being I would prefer to believe that the name originated with the Danish invasions of York in the 10-12th. century.

The following map shows parts of the North Riding where the Upleatham and Whitby families lived (shown in yellow), along with parts of the East Riding. The diagonal black line across the map is the border between the two Ridings. The Pickering family (shown in green) started on the borders of the two Ridings, but then moved northwards. The blue parishes show the wide range of the Conn families along the Vale of Pickering. They have been included with the Pickering family, but just how they are related is not known.