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Hort History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Hort History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

In ancient Scotland, the ancestors of the name Hort lived in the Kingdom of Dalriada. In those days the name Hort was used to indicate a person who brave person. This surname is a nickname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Nicknames form a broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, and can refer directly or indirectly to one's personality, physical attributes, mannerisms, or even their habits of dress. The surname Hort comes from the Old French and Old English word hardi, which means brave. 1

Another source claims that the name was originally Norman as the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae lists Roger, Hunfrid, Robert and Nicholas Hardi in Normandy, 1180-1195. 2

Early Origins of the Hort family

The surname Hort was first found in Lanarkshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) a former county in the central Strathclyde region of Scotland, now divided into the Council Areas of North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and the City of Glasgow.

"The home county of the MacHardies is the Highlands of Aberdeenshire and the immediate neighborhood north and south, but with some few unimportant exceptions they did not own land on Deeside. They were, however, numerous and influential. The Strathdon branch counted themselves of the Clan Chattan and followed Macintosh as their chief. Dr. Macbain suggested that the name came from Pictish Gartnaigh, pronounced Gratney, a well-known name of old in Mar. (There was an earl of Mar called Gartney or Gratney about 1300.) He thinks it was developed to MacCardney or MacCarday, and ultimately before 1587 to MacHardy." 3

Further to the south in England, the root of the name was more often than not found. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed Thomas Hardi (with no place of origin) and later, Thomas Hardy was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 4

"We learn from the Hundredorum Rolls that six centuries ago, Hardi or Hardy was also an east country name, occurring then in the counties of Norfolk, Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Huntingdonshire, etc. " 5

Over in Ireland, "the ubiquitous English surname Hardy in Ireland often conceals an ancient Gaelic Irish name MacGiolla Deacair. Deacair is the Irish word for hard. The early Anglicized form of this name was Macgilledogher. This is now obsolete and in the absence of a reliable pedigree, or at least of a well established family tradition, it is not possible to distinguish between Hardys of English and Hardys of Irish origin. " 6

The famous English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), hailed from Stinsford, Dorset, England where his father Thomas Hardy (1811-1892) worked as a stonemason and local builder.

Early History of the Hort family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hort research. Another 259 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1505, 1519, 1529, 1560, 1566, 1586, 1606, 1613, 1618, 1633, 1636, 1643, 1651, 1666, 1667, 1670, 1676, 1680, 1682, 1691, 1696, 1705, 1732, 1744, 1797 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Hort History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hort Spelling Variations

The translation of Gaelic names in the Middle Ages was not a task undertaken with great care. Records from that era show an enormous number of spelling variations, even in names referring to the same person. Over the years Hort has appeared as Hardy, Hardie, Hardey, MacHardy and others.

Early Notables of the Hort family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Nathaniel Hardy (1618-1670), Dean of Rochester, son of Anthony Hardy of London, born in the Old Bailey, 14 Sept. 1618, and was baptised in the church of St. Martin's, Ludgate. 7 Samuel Hardy (1636-1691), English nonconformist minister, born at Frampton, Dorsetshire. 7 Sir Thomas Hardy (1666-1732), English vice-admiral, grandson of John Le Hardy (1606-1667), solicitor-general of Jersey, son of John Le...
Another 66 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hort Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Hort family to Ireland

Some of the Hort family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 110 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hort migration to the United States +

The descendants of the Dalriadan families who made the great crossing of the Atlantic still dot communities along the east coast of the United States and Canada. In the American War of Independence, many of the settlers traveled north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. Clan societies and highland games have allowed Canadian and American families of Scottish descent to recover much of their lost heritage. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Hort or a variant listed above include:

Hort Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

George Hort, who arrived in Maryland in 1668 8
Nicholas Hort, who landed in Maryland in 1668 8
John Hort, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1682 8

Hort Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Mathias Hort, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738 8
Ludwig Hort, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1767 8

Hort Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

A Hort, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 8

Hort 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:

Hort Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

A. Hort, aged 25, who arrived in Port Nicholson aboard the ship "Oriental" in 1840
Mr. Abraham Hort, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Oriental" arriving in Port Nicholson, Wellington, New Zealand on 31st January 1840 9
A W Hort, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1842 aboard the ship New York Packet
Abraham Hort, aged 40, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Prince of Wales" in 1842
Abraham Hort, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1843 aboard the ship "Prince of Wales"
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Hort (post 1700) +

Admiral Sir Day Hort Bosanquet GCMG, GCVO, KCB (1843-1923), 16th Governor of South Australia from 18 February 1909 until 22 March 1914
Edmund Hort New (1871-1931), English artist

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
MacLysaght, Edward, Supplement to Irish Families. Baltimore: Genealogical Book Company, 1964. Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html