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| Origins Available: |
| | England |
The Newark surname is a habitational name taken on from a place name, such as Newark in Cambridgeshire or Newark on Trent in Nottinghamshire. These place names derive from the Old English "niwe" meaning "new," and "weorc," meaning "fortification," or "building."
The surname Newark was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the 13th century when they held estates in that shire.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Newark research. Another 128 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1394, 1415, 1420, 1455, 1487, 1510 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Newark History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Newark family name include Newark, Newarke, Nework, Newock, Newoke, Newick and many more.
Distinguished members of the family include
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Newark surname or a spelling variation of the name include: