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![Show Contents]() Heafield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
The name Heafield is part of the ancient legacy of the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It is a product of when the family lived on a heath, which is an area of level, uncultivated land with poor, coarse, undrained soil and rich deposits of peat or peaty humus. The surname Heafield belongs to the class of topographic surnames, which were given to people who resided near physical features such as hills, streams, churches, or types of trees. The name was originally derived from the Old English words hæth, which meant heath, and the word feld, which meant field. Early Origins of the Heafield familyThe surname Heafield was first found in Sussex at Heathfield, a parish, in the union of Hailsham, hundred of Hawkesborough, rape of Hastings. 1 The Feet of Fines of 1265 in Norfolk list the first record of the name as Walter de Hethfeld. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list: Lynot de Hethefeld and Livesa de Hethfeld in Oxfordshire. 2 Heathfield is the scene of a severe battle in the year 635, between Cadwallo, and Edwin of Northumbria and his son Osfrid, on a spot since now named Slaughter Common. Early History of the Heafield familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Heafield research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Heafield History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Heafield Spelling VariationsThe first dictionaries that appeared in the last few hundred years did much to standardize the English language. Before that time, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. The language was changing, incorporating pieces of other languages, and the spelling of names changed with it. Heafield has been spelled many different ways, including Heathfield, Heatfield, Heethfield, Heathfeild, Heatfeild and many more. Early Notables of the Heafield familyMore information is included under the topic Early Heafield Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
 Heafield migration to the United States | + |
Thousands of English families in this era began to emigrate the New World in search of land and freedom from religious and political persecution. Although the passage was expensive and the ships were dark, crowded, and unsafe, those who made the voyage safely were rewarded with opportunities unavailable to them in their homeland. Research into passenger and immigration lists has revealed some of the very first Heafields to arrive in North America:
Heafield Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- John Heafield, who arrived in New York in 1816 3
| Contemporary Notables of the name Heafield (post 1700) | + |
- Margaret Heafield Hamilton (b. 1936), née Heafield, an American computer scientist and systems engineer, Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for the Apollo space program, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
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Heafield migration to the United States 
