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Mackworth is one of the thousands of new names that the Norman Conquest brought to England in 1066. The Mackworth family lived in Mackworth, a town in Derbyshire. The place name was rendered Macheuorde in the Domesday Book, a census taken by William the Conqueror twenty years after his conquest of England to determine the extent and value of his holdings for taxation purposes in 1086. It is a compound of the Old English personal name Macca and the suffix worth, which meant enclosure, or farm. Therefore the place name translates as "Macca's farm." It is from this name that the family name is derived.
The surname Mackworth was first found in Derbyshire where this Gaelic sounding name held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Mackworth at the time of the taking of the Domesday Book in 1086 A.D. In 1086 the manor was held by Earl Hugh of Mackworth and there is still evidence of the ruined castle.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Mackworth research. Another 103 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1619 and 1803 are included under the topic Early Mackworth History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled McWorth, MacWorth, Mackworth, Worth, Macwirth, McWirth, MacWirth, MacWurth, McWurth, McWyrth and many more.
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Mackworth or a variant listed above: