Longuvile History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Longuvile family was an integral part of Britain's Norman legacy, a legacy that began in 1066 with the Conquest of the island. Longuvile was a name given to a tall person. The surname Longfellow is derived from the Old English word lang, meaning long or tall, and the Old English word felagh, which meant partner or shareholder.1

Early Origins of the Longuvile family

The surname Longuvile was first found in Huntingdonshire, now part the district of Cambridgeshire where in 1165, Henry de Longavilla held lands from Nigel de Luvetot. He descended from a branch of the Gifford family, barons of Langueville and Bolbec near Dieppe, Normandy. Osberne de Longeville or Bolbec gave the church of Pictariville, Normandy c. 990.

Other early listings of early variants of the name include: Richard de Logvil in Buckinghamshire in 1199, and Roger de Longavilla in Huntingdonshire c. 1200. 2 Longville as a place name occurs in a few places throughout Britain including: Newton Longville is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire; Weston Longville is a civil parish in Norfolk; and Cheney Longville is a small village in Shropshire which is home to Cheney Longville Castle a much restored 14th century fortified manor house.

The Longfellow variant may have been a nickname, 3 but this variant was almost always found in Yorkshire. Indeed, the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's family claims descent from the Yorkshire branch. 3 Early Yorkshire rolls revealed Peter Langfellay during the Corpus Christi Guild and Elizabeth Longfellow during the Deposition from York Castle. Margery Langfellow was listed in the Corpus Christi Guild in 1491. 4

Early History of the Longuvile family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Longuvile research. Another 80 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1689, 1797, 1807 and 1882 are included under the topic Early Longuvile History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Longuvile Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Longfellow, Longuville, Longville, Longfield and others.

Early Notables of the Longuvile family

Another 38 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Longuvile Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Longuvile family to Ireland

Some of the Longuvile family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 96 words (7 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Longuvile family

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Longuvile or a variant listed above were: William Longfellow arrived in New England in 1630.

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
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)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. 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)