Hesselwood History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancestors of the name Hesselwood date back to the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Hesselwood family lived in Hazelwood, a township, in the parish of Duffield, union of Belper, hundred of Appletree in Derbyshire. 1 This place name dates back to 1306 when it was known as Haselwode and literally meant "hazel wood." 2

Hazlewood is also a district in the parish of Tadcaster, Upper division of the wapentake of Barkstone-Ash, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. "Hazlewood Hall, a fine old mansion, is pleasantly seated on a lofty eminence, commanding very extensive views; and near it is a Roman Catholic chapel with two painted windows, and having several handsome monuments to the Vavasours." 1

Early Origins of the Hesselwood family

The surname Hesselwood was first found in Yorkshire where Ernald de Heselwude was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1191. Years later, John Haselwod was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1332. 3

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included: Ricardus de Hesilwode; Robertus de Heselwode; and John Hesilwode as all holding lands there at that time. 4

Early History of the Hesselwood family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hesselwood research. Another 60 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1320, 1380 and 1553 are included under the topic Early Hesselwood History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hesselwood Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, early Anglo-Saxon surnames like Hesselwood are characterized by many spelling variations. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages, even literate people changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Hesselwood include: Haslewood, Haselwood, Hazlewood, Hazelwood and others.

Early Notables of the Hesselwood family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Thomas Haselwood (fl. 1380), English historian, a canon regular at the monastery of Leeds in Kent, where he was employed as a schoolmaster. "Bale, on the authority of William Botoner or William of Worcester, asserts that he lived about 1320, but Weever in his ‘Funerall Monuments’ quotes from Haselwood...
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hesselwood Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hesselwood migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Hesselwood Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mary Hesselwood, aged 21, who arrived in Westland aboard the ship "Gainsborough" in 1878 5

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 3rd November 2011). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html