Plant Family History Group Homepage
This study considers only Staffordshire. It should be noted however that, in these early modern times, it has been estimated that there were similar numbers of Plants in Cheshire (approx. 30%) and in Lincolnshire (approx. 20%) as there were for Staffordshire (approx. 25%).
The 1666 hearth tax returns show occurrences of the Plant name mainly in the northern districts of Staffordshire (adjoining east Cheshire)..
Northern Hundreds: Totmonslow 19, Pirehill 5 Southern Hundreds: Seisden 0, Cuttleston 1, Offlow 2
A 1532-3 list of Staffordshire people shows that the Plants were already numerous, with 15 families in the northern half of the county.
The data above appears largely in the following reference, apart from an error. The reference below states that there were 10 occurrences in the 1666 hearth tax returns for Pirehill, but the correct value is 5 as given above.
Reference: David Hey (1998) The Distinctive Surnames of Staffordshire in Staffordshire Studies, Vol.10, pps 1-28 (The Nineteenth Earl Lecture, delivered at Keele University, 6 November 1997).