SHAFTO. Two townships in the parish of Hartburu, co. Northumberland, are so called, and the family resided at the place named Shafto Crag. They are a known cadet of the ancient Norman house of Foliot, being descended from John Foliot, lord of Fenwick, 22. Henry II. Cuthbert Foliot married the heiress of Roger Welwick, lord of Shafto, and his son, in 10. Edward I. assumed the territorial name. The Shaftos formed a sort of Border clan, and their gathering cry was A Shafto ! A Shafto I

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.