The Ancient History of the Distinguished Surname Fleet No. 1

Throughout the dark ages as Rome slowly faded, the written word was preserved by men of the church. Documents such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles were preserved within the sturdy walls of the monasteries. These records have survied to this day in order that we may study the history of Anglo-Saxon surnames.

The first record of the Fleet surname was found in Kent where they were seated from ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

History tells us that Saxons were a teutonic tribe of people originally from what is the Schleswig-Holstein regon of Germany. They begin to settle in southeastern England in about 400 A.D. Over the next 400 years they forced the ancient Britons to the edges of the island, into Wales,Cornwall,Cumbria in southern Scotland.

During the early development, the Fleet family was found in Kent where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated and took there name from the River Fleet a tributary of the River Thames, with manor and estates in that shire. They flourished in this county for several centuries intermarrying with the distinguished families of that county. They also branched to Hollow in Worchestershire and to London where they held a town mansion. The family seat was at Darenth Distinguished members of the family include the celebrated Jurist Fleta.

Turmoil at home lead many families to risk the hazzardous journey accross the oceans to the newly discovered lands in North America. Yet the new world was no paridise for the earliest English settlers. Early attempt to eastablish a new colony at Roanoke Island, North Carolina met with disaster. In 1591 supply ships found the colony deserted with the fate of the settlers remaining forever a mystery.

Migrants bearing the Fleet surname, include in Benjamin Fleet who settled in Virginia in 1774; Elizabeth Fleet settled in Maryland in 1742; Elizabeth Fleet settled in Montserrat in 1685; John Fleet settled in Virgina in 1652; Henry Flete settled in Maryland in 1634.*

Some of the immigrants made there way to Canada but not until the American war of Independance. Settlement in Canada was mainly concentrated in the Maritime common St. Lawrence and Great Lake regions until after confederation.

Contempoary notables of the surname Fleet or variable spelling of the name include the distinguished contributors, as they continued to make important contributions to the political and cultural life of the societies on both sides of the Atlantic.

During the courses of our research we also determined the many Coat of Arms granted to different branches of the family name.

The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms found was: Silver with two black horizontal bars and three silver shellfish. The Crest was: A left arm holding a club.

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* Henry Fleete (1600 to before 5-8-1661) was the first settler to Virginia in 1621 of the Fleet Family History.

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