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The General Armoury of England Scotland Ireland and Wales A Registry of Amourial Bearings. Vol. 1 published 1878 by Sir Bernard Burk. Caton Binbrook, co.Lincoln, and Carr House Howden, Co York. Originally of Thorpe Abbotts co.Norfolk; the name previously to 1599 was spelt CATTON. Per fesse gu. and az. two cats-a-mountain pass. guard in pale ar. pellettée, on a canton or a cross crosslet fitchée sa. Crest- issuant from a castle with two towers ar. charged with three crosses croslet fitchée in fess sa. a saracens head affontée ppr. wreathed round the temples or. and gu. Motto Cautus metuit foveam lumpus. A more ancient crest: issuant from a ducal coronet or. a sarecen's head affrontee ppr. wreathed round the temples or. and gu.

This surname undoubtedly derives from the several places named CATON and CATTON in England. There are Catton's in Derbyshire, Norfolk, and the East & North Ridings of Yorkshire owing to their origin, according to the Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names, to "Catta's Tun", or homestead and in Northumberland owing it to "Wildcat Valley", while CATON in Lancashire and Devon is from "KATI'S TUN". The dictionary explains that there was an Anglo-Saxon personal name C(e)atta, an old Scandinavian one Kari which are sometimes difficult to distinguish from Catt in the sense of wild cat, which is possibly the first element of a good many place names.

With so many diverse geographical origins it is not surprising to find the modern London Telephone Directory (in England) yielding 14 CATTON, 32 CATON, 5 CATTEN and even 1 CATTIN and going back nearly 500 years, the London Commissary Court wills include a probable CATON husband and wife in William of All Hallows Barking-by-the Tower, and Isabel of the same, widow of William. Both of these appear in 1497 (Register 1, Folios 53/4)

The only published book on surname distribution (H P Guppy's) titled "Homes of Family Names in Britain." (1890) based on counts of farmers names in Victorian County directories mentions the CATONS of Essex, in particular as being probably a branch of the ancient family of CATON or CATTON of Norfolk, whence they were located from time immemorial until the middle of last century. Guppy adds that CATTON is a Norfolk parish in which lies CATTON Hall.

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The British "Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) records one Walter Catton or Chattodunus (d. 1343) a Franciscan friar of Norwich who was an author of some repute in his generation, but none of these works have survived. Toward the end of his life he was summoned to Avignon by the pope and died a penitentiary there.
Two of the other three CATTON'S in DNB were from Norwich, Charles the elder (1728-98) who was a successful coach-painter in London, later becoming a landscape painter. His son Charles the younger (1756-1819) who went on sketching tours in England and Scotland and emigrated to the United States in 1804. The other CATTON was Thomas the Astronomer (1760-1838) who was a curator of the St. John's College, Cambridge Observatory.

There is also one CATON in DNB: this is WILLIAM the Quaker (1636-65) of Lancashire who traveled as a preacher in England, Scotland and Holland and married a Dutch woman in 1662. His autobiography was printed in 1689.

Despite the frequency of the surname-sound, there is little in print on CAT(T)ON according to the genealogical bibliographies. Burkes Landed Gentry series includes the pedigree of CATON of Binbrook Lincolnshire, descended from Thomas, owner of lands in Windling, Norfolk, and at Denham, Suffolk, in 1548, and
Carthew's "Hundreds of Launditch" Part 111,p.467 gives another pedigree.
Burk's "General Army" (1884) gives the arms of 5 CATTON and Two CATON families, those identified including ROBERT CATTON, Prior of Norwich in 1519, and of course, the CATON family of Binbrook etc.
While there are no papers on CAT(T)ON in the Document Collection of the Society of Genealogists, London, the slips in the Great Card Index were typed up in 1928 and are appended to this report.
It will be noted that they include the KETTON variant which is now rare and has not been treated in this report. Only half-a-dozen slips have been added since 1928, as the Index was not augmented further after outbreak of war in 1939. These do however, include a reference to one ANN CATTIN, age 7, who was a resident of Christ Church parish, Barbados in 1715-16, as also ROGER, age 10. SIR JOHN KETON, Supervisor of Works in 1370 is also listed, but he is not in DNB.

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The leopard, as has been shown, in ancient heraldry meant a lion passant guardant, but in modern heraldry it is found as a separate charge, and was true to nature as a supporter of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
The leopard's face, like the lion's face, is affronte, and may be jessant-de-lis. A leopard's head may be in profile or affronte; if the latter, it differs from the leopard's face because it shows part of the neck. The Tiger, when drawn true to nature, is termed a Bengal tiger. This is to distinguish it from the heraldic tiger (sometimes spelled tyger)which is sometimes dealt under "Monsters" Tasmanian tigers are the supporter of Tasmania (399)
The Panther also has heraldic characteristics, which places it among the monsters. THE CAT is usually blazoned as a wild cat, mountain cat, cat-a-mountain, and is usually depicted as tabby. It appears in the arms of CATT, CATTON, KEATS, and TIBET. Care must be taken to distinguish from the general term "CAT" those animals of the cat family which from separate charges in heraldry, e.g. the lynx, borne by the famly of Lynch and the crest of the city of Coventry (186).

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The ancient name CATTON is one of the old English family names, and it is believed to be of Saxon origin. The name comes from two counties in England: Norfolk and Lancashire, and each county has hamlets and villages by that name. There are also two villages in Yorkshire by the name.

The first records of the family names shows them holding estates in Norfolk, Huntingdon, and Lancashire in the year 1273, the year of the Hundrendorum Rolls census. Later they branched to Yorkshire. During the middle ages their family seats were at Binbrook in Lincolnshire, and at Carr House, Howden Yorkshire. The branch with these seats was formerly of the county of Norfolk. The family name Coat of Arms has a red and blue background, with two mountain cats of silver. The crest shows three crosses emerging from two castle towers. The family motto is "Cautious metuit foveam lupus" Authority for the Arms. "Burke's General Army." Translation: The cautious Wolfe avoids the trap.

Catta's or Kate's tun.
Old English Catt, in the sense "Wild Cat" is probably the first element of a great many place names. In all probability it was also used as a by name and personal name. In place names where the second element is a word such as leah, slatier the like, the meaning of "WILD CAT" is as a rule to be assumed. There was also an old English personal name C(e)atta, which is evidenced once in Saints. (The Saints of England) it must be assumed in Ceattan maere and Ceattan hoc 983 kcd (Codex diplomaticus aevi Saxonici) 636 Wiltshire CATTAN ege 966 BCS (Cartularium Saxonicum) 1176 Oxfordshire. There is also the old Scandinavian personal name KATI (Old Norse, old Danish KATE) which it is sometimes difficult to distinguish from CATT.

Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names.
Catton:  Northumberland
CATON:   Devenshire, Derbshire
Chetun:  Domesday Book 1086
Catiton: Curia Regis Rolls 1208
Catton:  Feet of Fines (for the county of Norfolk 1198-1202) 1236 the Book of Fees 1242
Catton:  East Riding of Yorkshire
Cattune: Doonsday Book
Cattuna: Feet of Fines--1200
Catton:  North Riding of Yorkshire
Catune:--Doomsday Book
Cattun:  tem. Hanry 2--1247--Charter Rolls
Cada's   tun-Lancashire-Catun-Doomsday Book
Catton   1186-Pipe Rolls
Kate's   tun

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