Herwin History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Herwin reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Herwin family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Herwin family lived in Normandy, France. The Normans frequently used the name of their estate in Normandy as part of their name.The family name Herwin was brought to England after the Norman Conquest, when William the Conqueror gave his friends and relatives most of the land formerly owned by Anglo-Saxon aristocrats.

Early Origins of the Herwin family

The surname Herwin was first found in Normandy, where Herluin was Vicomte of Conteville. This family is linked through marriage to William the Conqueror who established the Plantagenet rule of England.

Early History of the Herwin family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Herwin research. Another 122 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1086 and 1273 are included under the topic Early Herwin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Herwin Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Herlwin, Herluin, Hurlin, Herlewin, Herling, Hurling, Hirwin, Erlewyn, Erlwin, Harlewyn and many more.

Early Notables of the Herwin family

More information is included under the topic Early Herwin Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Herwin migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Herwin name or one of its variants:

Herwin Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

George Herwin, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1853 1

Citations +

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)