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![Show Contents]() Olford History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
The origins of the Olford name come from when the Anglo-Saxon tribes ruled over Britain. The name Olford was originally derived from a family having lived in Holford, a place-name found in Somerset and Sussex. The place-name is derived from the Old English elements hol, which means hollow or valley, and ford, a shallow place where a river may be crossed by wading. Fords were very important in medieval England, as bridges were very expensive to both build and maintain. Any place where there was a ford across a river was bound to become a settlement of one sort or another, especially if it was a long way to the next ford up or down the river. In this particular case, the place-name Holford means "ford across the river in a valley." Early Origins of the Olford familyThe surname Olford was first found in West Somerset in the hundred of Whitley at Holford, a village and civil parish that dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was listed as Holeforde. The place name literally meant "hollow ford, ford in a hollow," from the Old English words hol + ford. 1 The River Holford which runs through the village flows to the sea at Kilve. Early History of the Olford familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Olford research. Another 202 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1541, 1587, 1588 and 1717 are included under the topic Early Olford History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Olford Spelling VariationsBefore English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Olford include Holford, Holfords and others. Early Notables of the Olford familyNotables of this surname at this time include: - Lady Elizabeth Holford, who in 1717, gave £500 in support of a school in Stanton St...
- Blessed Thomas Holford (sometimes called Thomas Acton) (1541-1588) was an English Protestant schoolteacher who became a Catholic priest during the reign of Queen Elizabeth...
 Olford 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: Olford Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century- Miss Elizabeth Olford, (b. 1856), aged 27, Cornish cook departing on 28th July 1883 aboard the ship "Doric" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 14th September 1883 2
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Olford migration to New Zealand 
