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![Show Contents]() MacClesfeld History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
Early Origins of the MacClesfeld familyThe surname MacClesfeld was first found in Cheshire East at Macclesfield, a market town in the parish of Prestbury, and hundred of Macclesfield. Prior to the Norman Conquest, this place constituted a portion of the demesne of the earls of Mercia, who held a court here for the ancient hundred of Hamestan; thus, in the record of Domesday, it is represented to have been one of the seats of Earl Edwin. 1 The Domesday Book records the place name as Maclesfeld 2 and probably meant "open country of a man called Maccel," and Old English personal name + "feld." 3 An ecclesiastical council was held at Macclesfield in 1332, and another in 1362, by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 1 Early History of the MacClesfeld familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our MacClesfeld research. Another 113 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1535, 1590, 1616 and 1929 are included under the topic Early MacClesfeld History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. MacClesfeld Spelling VariationsIt is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like MacClesfeld are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name MacClesfeld include Macclesfield, Macksfield, Maxfield, Mexfield, Mixfield and many more. Early Notables of the MacClesfeld familyAnother 27 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early MacClesfeld Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the MacClesfeld familyFaced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name MacClesfeld, or a variant listed above: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
- Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
- Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
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