There are four Hootons in South Yorkshire, the others being Hooton Pagnell, Hooton Roberts and Slade Hooton. The “Levitt” comes from the family who held the lordship of the manor in the Middle Ages and was added to distinguish this village from the others.
Domesday
Before 1066 Hooton had belonged to Buga. After the Conquest, it became part of the extensive estates granted by William 1 to his half-brother Robert, Earl of Mortain. Robert did not grant the manor to one of his knights but retained it in his own hands. Domesday Book records that there was a mill here (worth 28d), 8 villeins and 3 smallholders with 3 ploughs.
Lords of the Manor
In the 12th century Richard fitz Turgis (co-founder of Roche Abbey) was tenant of Hooton under the de Vesci family. His grand-daughter Constance married William de Levet and brought the manor to the family who were to give it their name. The Levets disappear during the reign of Henry V and were replaced as lords of the manor by the Clifford family, Earls of Cumberland. The third Earl sold Maltby and Hooton Levitt to Sir Edward Stanhope whose son sold them to Sir Nicholson Saunderson from whom they have descended to the Earl of Scarbrough.
There was no resident lord in Hooton Levitt at the time of the 1379 Poll Tax assessment. The most prosperous of the 30 tax payers were John de Whistan, cart wright, and John de Hundeschelf, cloth fuller.
Hoyle Family
In the late 18th and early 19th century, Hooton Levitt Hall was the home of the Hoyle family. William Hoyle, clerk to the Cutlers Company in Sheffield married Barbara, heiress of John Fretwell of Hooton Levitt Hall. His grandson William Fretwell Hoyle (b. 1801-86) was a prominent local lawyer with a practise in Rotherham.
Population
The population of the township has never been large. In 1901 it stood at 73 and throughout the 19th century the number fluctuated between a high of 109 in 1851 and a low of 57 in 1891. The population rose to 125 in 1921 but then fell once again to 92 in 1951 before climbing to 116 in 1981 and 125 once again in 1991.
(Extracted from:- R.M.B.C, Patchwork of parishes, 1997)
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