Maxfield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Maxfield family

The surname Maxfield 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 Maxfield family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Maxfield research. Another 113 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1535, 1590, 1616 and 1929 are included under the topic Early Maxfield History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Maxfield 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 Macclesfield, Macksfield, Maxfield, Mexfield, Mixfield and many more.

Early Notables of the Maxfield family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Thomas Maxfield (Macclesfield) (c.1590-1616), born in Stafford goal (jail), an English Roman Catholic priest and Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929

Maxfield Ranking

In the United States, the name Maxfield is the 4,627^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 4

Maxfield migration to the United States +

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 Maxfield or a variant listed above were:

Maxfield Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Clement Maxfield, who landed in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1658 5
Richard Maxfield, who landed in Maryland in 1665 5

Maxfield Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

William Maxfield, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1772 5
Mary Maxfield, aged 12, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1773 5

Maxfield migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Maxfield Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Maxfield who was convicted in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Circassian" on 4th November 1832, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6
Mr. Edward Maxfield, English convict who was convicted in Shropshire, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Augusta Jessie" on 10th August 1838, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Maxfield (post 1700) +

Mike Maxfield, American editor and actor, known for his work on The Pecos League (2014), The T.A.M.I. Show (1964) and Go Go Mania (1965)
Scott Maxfield, American head coach of the Henderson State Reddies football team
Max Maxfield (b. 1945), American politician, 18th Wyoming State Auditor (1999-2007), 20th Secretary of State of Wyoming (2007-)
Lee Maxfield, American businessman, founder of Maxfield Research, a Minnesota based real estate research company in 1983
Richard Vance Maxfield (1927-1969), American composer of instrumental, electro-acoustic, and electronic music
Mike Maxfield (1944-2023), English songwriter and guitarist, member of The Dakotas
Thomas Maxfield (d. 1784), English Wesleyan Methodist preacher from Bristol who traveled with Charles Wesley
Mike Maxfield (b. 1944), English songwriter and guitarist, member of The Dakotas
William Maxfield, British Whig politician, Member of Parliament for Grimsby (1832-1835)
Stuart Maxfield (1972-1990), retired Australian rules footballer who played from 1990 to 2005
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

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)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 8th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/circassian
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 23rd August 2020 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/augusta-jessie