The Pickering name first appeared in ancient medieval records in Yorkshire, located in England. That from very early on the Pickering family not only held lands and estates in Yorkshire but were also actively allied with other influential families. They also branched out into other territories and holdings, before taking the long voyage to the new world.

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This long-established surname recorded in the spellings of Pickering, Pickerin, and the dialectal spellings of Pickring, Pickin, and even Puckrin(g), is of Anglo-Saxon origins. It is a locational name from a place called Pickering in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and a place which in order to have created such a wide range of surnames, must have been 'cleared' under the 15th century Enclosure Acts. Under these acts people having rights of grazing on common lands were dispossessed, and forced to look elsewhere for their livelihood.

The town name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century tribal name "Piceringas", or possibly from "Picoringas", meaning the sharp point (pic) of a hill, with "ora", edge, and the suffix "-ing" This translates as 'The people living on the ridge of the pointed hill", a fair description of Pickering. The placename was recorded as "Picheringa" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Pikering" in the Close Rolls of Yorkshire. The surname dates back to the mid 12th Century (see below), and other early recordings include: Henry de Pikeringes (1246), in the Feet of Fines of Oxfordshire, and John Pykeryng (1327), recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset. Recordings from English Church Registers include: the christening of Anne, daughter of William Pikering, on March 4th 1551, in Aberford, Yorkshire, and the marriage of Richard Pickering and Anne Swynerton on February 10th 1562, at St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, London. A Coat of Arms granted to a Pickering family is silver and red chequy, a black bend.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Reginald de Pichering, which was dated 1165, in the "Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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Pickering Coat of Arms and Crest

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Our family coat of arms has shown up in many of our family's possessions. The black and white drawing (top right) shows Charles William Harrison Pickering's [1815-1881] (CWHP) name below. This coat of arms and crest was sent to me in 1970 from a cousin who inherited the art from his ancestors.

The full-colored coat of arms (below right) was sent to me from Alfhard Kowallek who lived in Berlin, Germany until his death in 2004. He was a descendant of Peter Pickering of Danzig, Prussia. Peter and William (my ancestor) were brothers who married two Steffens sisters in Danzig. Two rings and the molds that created those rings were also passed down to Alfhard through Peter's descendents.

The blue lapis ring (above) was handed down to Matthew David Rothamel in a family gathering at his parent's home in Michigan, August 2010. Connie Pickering Stover inherited the ring after her brother John Jeffery Pickering, the only male descendant of Alexander John Pickering, died in 2003 in Phoenix, Arizona. It's a safe bet that the ring originates from at least the mid 1800's and probably comes from CWHP based on the silver chalice which also has an engraving of his monogram along with the crest of a lion's gamb in ducal crown. The motto on the scroll of the ring reads "SIMILIS TUI SIS". The very loose translation, according to a cousin, Skip Pickering of Salina, KS, is "Thought before Action" . . . Look before you leap? We'll keep you up to date on this and let you know.

The silver chalice was handed down through Alexander John to his son William Harrison Pickering. It now belongs to Carol, Alexander's great-granddaughter. LEARN MORE»




The sign hangs on the Pickering Arms Inn in Thelwall, Cheshire (near Warrington). The sign closely matches our ring and drawing even in the details of the "eight plates" surrounding the lion. Thelwall is located very near Frodsham which is where our family originates.
The pedigree at the Herald’s College lists “Pickering de Walford” which was the name of the estate within the chapelry of Daresbury. Pickering de Walford, b. Circa 1545; married Alice, only daughter of William Mathew, gent., and dying in 1602 left issue.
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This is a beautifully embroidered tapestry depicting the Pickering Coat of Arms was created by a Sarah Pickering and dated 1753. It is still hanging in the entry of the old Pickering house in Salem, Massachusetts. LEARN MORE »



Click on image above to enlarge notebook. This was sent by Alfhard Kowallek in 2000, and he writes, "In 1941 died in Berlin a very old unmarried aunt of mine: Florence Pickering. She was born in 1858 in Melbourne. She was very interested about the history of the family and I got from her a notice-book. In this book she had drawn the coat of arms."


Pickering of Yorkshire (left) and Nottinghamshire contributed by Ken Pickering.

Among the numerous descriptions of Pickering arms in Burke's General Armory, Third Edition with a Supplement, London, 1844.

"PICKERING (Walford, co.Chester). Erm. (ermine background) a lion ramp. az. crowned or, within a bordure of the second, charged with eight plates. Crest - A lion's gamb erect and erased az. enfiled with a ducal coronet or."