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Raynfeart is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Raynfeart family once lived in the chapelry of Rainford in the parish of Prescot in Lancashire. The surname Raynfeart is a habitation name which forms a broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. In this case the surname Raynfeart was originally derived from the Old English Regnaforde which refers to those individuals who lived by the ford. However, there is also evidence that the name in fact referred to Danish settlers, who came from Randers Fiord, Denmark.
The surname Raynfeart was first found in Lancashire where they were found since ancient times, perhaps even predating the Norman Conquest of England by Duke William of Normandy in 1066 A.D. Early records, and the church cemetery show bearers of the name in Little Crosby, Lancashire.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Raynfeart research. Another 202 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1150, 1469, 1482, 1529, 1537, 1538, 1559, 1605, 1632, 1652, 1660, 1663, 1680, 1690, 1700, 1701, 1709 and 1933 are included under the topic Early Raynfeart 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 Raynfeart family name include Rainford, Rainsford, Raynsford, Raynsforde, Reinsford, Reinsforde, Raynesford, Rainesford, Rainesforde, Ranford, Ranforde, Randsford, Randford, Randeford and many more.
Distinguished members of the family include Sir John Raynsford of Bradfield Hall, Essex; and his son, Sir John Raynsford (by 1482-1559) was an English politician, High Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire (1537-1538), Member of Parliament for Colchester in 1529; John Raynsford, an English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Colchester during the 16th century; and Sir Richard Rainsford SL (1605-1680), an English...
Another 61 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Raynfeart Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Another 51 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Raynfeart surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Edward Rainsford and his wife, who settled in Salem Massachusetts in 1630; Captain Rainford, who settled in Jamaica in 1774, with his wife and three children.