Lockweard History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Lockweard is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Lockweard family once lived in the place called Lockwood that was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The surname Lockweard is a habitation name that was originally derived from the Old English words loca and wudu, meaning enclosure and wood. 1 Therefore the original bearers of the surname lived in or near a forest in Yorkshire.

Early Origins of the Lockweard family

The surname Lockweard was first found in West Yorkshire at Lockwood, a chapelry, in the parish of Almondbury. The village is a rural suburb to the town of Huddersfield and is located in the vale of the river Holme. 2

One reference claims Lockwood was originally called North Crosland and part of the Crosland family estate but was taken over by the Lockwood family after a series of disputes between the both families.

However, this claim is rather dubious and should be questioned as the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 list Willelmus de Lokewod and Thomas de Lockewod holding lands at that time. 3 Lockwood is also a civil parish in the unitary authority of Redcar & Cleveland in North Yorkshire.

"The Lockwoods were well established in Ecclesfield parish [of South Yorkshire] during the reign of Elizabeth. Lincolnshire is another home of the name. Lockwood is a parish near Huddersfield [West Yorkshire]."

Early feudal rolls provided the king of the time a method of cataloguing holdings for taxation, but today they provide a glimpse into the wide surname spellings in use at that time. Henry de Locwode was listed in the Assize Rolls for Staffordshire in 1294. Later, Adam de Lokwode was found in the Feet of Fines for Yorkshire in 1352 and Richard Lokwood was in the the rolls for Kent in 1455. 4

There is a scant entry for the family in Scotland, that of "John Locwode, witness in Edinburgh, 1426." 5

Early History of the Lockweard family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lockweard research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Lockweard History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lockweard Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Lockweard family name include Lockwood, Lockward and others.

Early Notables of the Lockweard family

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

Migration of the Lockweard family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Lockweard surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Edmund Lockwood and his wife Elizabeth and child settled in Salem Massachusetts in 1630; Albert and Charles Lockwood arrived in Philadelphia in 1874; James and William Lockwood arrived in San Francisco in 1850..

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
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)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-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)