Jewhurst Family History

Probably from one of the three places called Ewhurst in Sussex or possibly one of those in Surrey or Hants. The place-names derive from Old English īw ‘yew tree’ + hyrst ‘copse wood’. Alternatively, it may be a variant of Dewhurst; compare Jewsbury for Dewsbury.

Dewhurst is historically located in N England, especially Lancs and WR Yorks, and a small number of surnames from these counties appear in mid-17th century Sussex (Surnames of Sussex p. 118). However, Dewhurst does not occur in Sussex, Kent, and Surrey before the 19th century.

In contrast, Jewhurst occurs already in 16th-century Sussex and is not found in N England until the 19th.