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VIKING
ORIGIN?
Local legend at Monkwearmouth, England, where Hylton Castle still stands state that The Hylton family were of Viking origin. "In the year 787 A.D. three ships of Northmen came from Haeretha land to Northumbria, and the king's reeve rode to the place, and would have taken them prisoners, but they slew him then and there" "A rover from the north, wooed and won a saxon maid with all her lands and towers" Recently discovered research into the origins of the Hilton family in Norway help to prove the point. Hylton Castle at Monkwearmouth, is situated close to St Peter's church, built on the site of a monastery founded by Benedict Biscop in 674 A.D. It is one of the oldest Christian churches in England and contains the Hilton monument. It was here that some of the first ever books were written and it became a Center of Learning and the Cradle of Christianity in England. In 716 A.D. Ceolfrith, the Abbot of the Monkwearmouth monastery left for Rome and took with him a copy of Jerome's Vulgate translation of the bible transcribed by the monks at Monkwearmouth which is now in the Laurenziana Library in Florence, Italy. The monastery at Monkwearmouth became "an island of Mediterranean Culture in a barbarian sea" and one of the wealthiest monasteries in England. As such it became a target for the pagan Vikings!
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Map of England 885 In 885 A.D. Britain was a divided country. The Anglo Saxons ruled in Northumbria, but the Danish Vikings ruled further south in Danelaw and. The Norsemen ruled in Ireland and on the northwest coast of England.The Anglo Saxons ruled the Midlands and the south of England. In 793 A.D the Vikings devastated the monastery on Lindisfarne, an island off the Northumbria coast, and during the course of the latter half of the 9th century large scale Viking invasions of England resulted in a general cessation of monastic life. Wearmouth was one of the monastic houses which evidently ceased to exist.Research carried out in the sixties by Conrad Hilton, founder of the Hilton Hotel chain whose family emigrated from Norway to fulfill the "American Dream" uncovered an amazing connection with the Hiltons of Norway, and the Hiltons of Monkwearmouth, England. A letter of Conrad Hilton dated 11th Jan 1962 states; "I note that you have asked the Chief Herald and Court Historian of Norway to ascertain whether and when Hiltons joined and intermarried with the Hardanderfjord Vikings, later called Norsemen. Ullensaker is a settlement that my father came from" This is in response to a letter from a Mr Tony A. Horak of Denver, Colorado on January 3rd 1962, which states "because Ullvik, Ullensvang, Ullensande, UIllensaker etc. were their (the Hardangerfjord Vikings) sally-ports and settlements. They accepted Christianity in the 9th and 10th century, quit pirating and became conquering settlers in England and Ireland. They held also intermittingly the Danish Kingdom of Dublin for 300 years from about 900 A.D. on. And as an - alternate winter - overland route the 60 miles between the Tyne Ports and the Solway Fjord on both sides of the ancient Pict wall (- the Roman Wall built by the Emperor Hadrian) Monkwearmouth was one of the "Tyne" ports and Biddick in Washington, where William Hilton who sailed to America on the "Fortune" in 1621 came from, was originally known as "Ullkills" - the furthest point up river that the Viking longboats could sail. |
It would have been from here that the Vikings would have marched across country via Dere Street, the old Roman Road and the Roman Military road following Hadrian's wall, to the Solway. From there they sailed over to their kingdom in Dublin in Ireland. DEVELOPMENT OF THE "HILTON" NAME IN NORWAY. The "Hilton" name was recorded in Norway as follows;
Hilton Reunion May 2007 Join fellow descendents of the Helton/Hylton/Hilton family from around the world at a unique International Reunion to celebrate over 1000 years of family history;
For more information on the history of the Helton/Hylton/Hilton family in the UK; follow this link; www.AncestryUK.com/HiltonAncestry.htm To reserve your places at the Hilton Reunion at Monkwearmouth, England in July 2004, please e-mail your requirements to; ANCESTRY OF HELTON-HILTON-HYLTON ORIGINS OF THE HELTON-HYLTON-HILTON NAMES HELTON -HILTON OF WESTMORELAND
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