Hepburn (surname)

This article is about the Scottish family name. For discussion of the system for the Romanization of Japanese, see Hepburn romanization.

Hepburn is a Scottish family name that is also associated with a variety of famous personages, eponyms, places, and things. Whilst a Scottish name, its origins are widely suspected to lie south of the border in the north of England. Specifically, the name is thought to have derived from either the town of Hebron or Hebburn, both of which are in the Northumberland area. The origins of the name are suggested to be the same as that of Hebburn from the Anglo-Saxon words heah, meaning high and byrgen, meaning burial place. Alternatively it could mean something along the lines of "high place beside the water", as the word burn is a still widely used Scots word to mean river.

Next to Chillingham Castle there remains a Bastle Tower where the family originated. This was the seat of a line of the family until the eighteenth century when that branch died out having left only a female heir. However, it is as the Earls of Bothwell that the Hepburn family are perhaps best remembered. This branch of the family originated in Lothian when a Hepburn was granted land having saved the Earl of March from a horse that had lost control. This family first became the Lords of Hailes before being granted the Earldom of Bothwell.

There were also Hepburns of Waughton, thought by some to have branched off from the Hailes line, thought by others to predate it. Another line was the Hepburns of Beanston, and yet another was the Hepburns of Athelstaneford. All of these families were prominent in various ways at various junctures of Scottish history, but all were primarily located around the East Lothian area.

Scottish nobles

Hepburn is a family of Scottish nobles:

• Patrick Hepburn, 1st Lord of Hailes
• Adam Hepburn, Master of Hailes (son of Patrick, 1st Lord of Hailes)
• John Hepburn (son of Patrick, 1st Lord of Hailes)
• Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell (son of Adam, Master of Hailes)
• Adam Hepburn of Craggis (son of Adam, Master of Hailes)
• George Hepburn (son of Adam, Master of Hailes)
• Adam Hepburn, 2nd Earl of Bothwell (son of Patrick, 1st Earl of Bothwell)
• Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell (son of Adam, 2nd Earl of Bothwell)
• James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell (son of Patrick, 3rd Earl of Bothwell) - lover and third husband of Queen Mary I of Scotland.
• Francis Stewart Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell (nephew of James, 4th Earl of Bothwell)

Politics

• Alonzo Barton Hepburn, was a banker and politician.
• Bernard Rickart Hepburn, was a member of the Canadian House of Commons.
• James de Congalton Hepburn, was the Speaker of the Ontario Legislature.
• Mitchell Hepburn is the youngest ever Premier of Ontario.
• Patrick Buchan-Hepburn was a Scottish Conservative politician.
• Stephen Hepburn is a British Member of Parliament.
• William Peters Hepburn was a Repbulican Representative for Iowa and author of the Hepburn Act of 1906.

Academia

• Alexa Hepburn, is a social psychologist.
• Andrew Dousa Hepburn, was a president of Davidson College.
• Charles A Hepburn, was a Glasgow based mercantile philanthropist who donated a large collection of books and manuscripts to the University of Glasgow.
• James Bonaventure Hepburn, was a Scottish catholic scholar.
• The Reverend James Curtis Hepburn was a linguist who devised the Hepburn romanization system which was used to transcribe the Japanese language into the Roman alphabet.
• Ronald William Hepburn is a philosopher.

Arts and entertainment

• Katharine Hepburn was an actress.
• Audrey Hepburn was an actress.
• Barton Hepburn was an actor.
• Cassandra Hepburn is an actress.
• Dee Hepburn was an actress.
• Hepburn was an all-female British pop band.
• Doug Hepburn was a Canadian weightlifter.
• Ralph Hepburn was an American racecar driver and motorcycle racing champion.

Literature

• Robert Hepburn was the writer of the Edinburgh Tatler and a member of the Faculty of Advocates.

Military

• Arthur Japy Hepburn was an Admiral in the United States Navy.
• Sir John Hepburn was the founder of the Royal Scots regiment.

Trade Unions

• Thomas Hepburn, was a miner and founder of Hepburn's Union, a trade union for miners across Northumberland and County Durham.

Geography

• Hepburn Shire is an area of Victoria in Australia.
• Hepburn is a town in Saskatchewan in Canada.
• Hepburn is a small community in Iowa in the United States.
• Hepburn Township is a town in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States.

External links

• The Hepburn Family
• Clan Hepburn