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1100 -1250 Surnames begin to be used in Britain and Sept names in Ireland. The Rushen name and derivative spellings dot the landscape of the British Isles. The Rushing surname develops in this time frame in Ireland's County Monaghan.

1585  Rushing, Rushen and Rushin are spellings of a surname found in the Clare Church records in Suffolk County, England. By 1597 variant spellings of these three names have migrated southwest in eastern England through Essex to the London area.

1625 William Rushen Christened to father William Rushin, Jr. and mother Martha in Clare Church, Suffolk County, England. Mathew, Thomas and John were his brothers names.

1638- 1648 William and John Rushen were listed in the muster rolls for Suffolk County, England, They are fighting for the King and the Protestant faith. in 1848 these soldiers were captured, shipped to the West Indies. No individual records of their transport appear to have survived. The Rush surname first develops around this timeframe and is not related to Rushin.

1654 James Rushen marries Ursala Waltmoll in Christ Church Parish, Barbados they will go on to have two children of record named Francis and Prudence. One of the first families of record in America ( Barbados being part of the Virginia charter at the time). Rushen, Russin, Ruskin, Rushem, Rushin, & Rushlin are the spelling variations of this James' surname in the Barbados records. Thomas Russin was a major land owner in Barbados well before James turns up, many Barbados records exist of Thomas. When his will is probated his sister shows as a Ruffin in Isle Of Wight, England records (please look at the record sample of Mathew Rushing's scribed name below to see how this mix up comes about).

1650 - 1689 Over 40,000 Tobacco farmers were forced out of Barbados by the Sugar farmers in "The Sugar Revolution". They came to Virginia and The Carolinas, leaving mostly slaves to work the plantations there. Virginians were given 'Headrights' landgrants for transporting these refugees to the other colonies.

1661- 1662 Mathew Rushing is on a Jury Panel in Charles City County, Virginia. This sets the time frame for the first American mainland Rushing records.

1667 James Russhin acquires an indenture (debt or purchase) in New Kent County, Virginia.

1679 William Russhin dies and leaves an estate to his orphan named Mathew Russhin in Charles City County, Virginia

1690 Mathew Russhin comes of age and claims his fathers estate.

1714 Mathew Russin and Edward Goodson given a Virginia 'Headrights' land grant by the Royal governor of Virginia. This Edward Goodson has many land dealings with Matthew Rushing. "Matthew Rushing and wife Elizabeth" is how he diligently spelled his name in all records prepared by him or his lawyer, but in abstracts his last name is spelled Ruskin or Russin and often the second t dropped from his first name.
<- This is handwriting sample from the original land grant document click on it to see it's full text and why these names were spelled so differently in abstracts and translations. Use your browser's Back button to return here.

1742 David Russan comes to Virginia aboard the ship Duke of Cumberland from Bristol, England. Could one of the lines we attribute to the Carolina Rushings be from him?

1750's The Rushing surname with some variations in spelling begin to appear in Anson County, North Carolina land records. William appears to be one of the first names.

1790 At a time when there were only eight hundred families enumerated in the Fayette district of Anson County, North Carolina fifteen of them are Rushings. The 1790 Virginia Census is lost but the Rushing surname appears to be gone from Virginia by this time.

2005/6 seven Rushings from the USA and from widely varied unconnected lines of the U.S. surname Rushing and one Rushen from England test with DNA showing that the we all share a common genetic ancestor. This proves the origins of this Rushen from England and the Rushings in the USA are the same and that most, if not all, U.S. Rushings have a common ancestor. The sample includes known descendants of the North Carolina and South Carolina Rushings that went to Alabama.