Hallfithey is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in Halford, a place-name found in Devon, Shropshire, or Warwickshire, or in Haleford, a lost place in Kent. Despite the similarity of the place-names, they are derived from different sources. The Halford name which was found in Salop (now called Shropshire), for example, is derived from the Old English words haforce, which means "hawk," and ford, a word that means "shallow place where a river may be crossed by wading." [1]
It was rendered as Hauerford in 1155. Another Halford, this one in Warwickshire, was listed as Halchford sometime in the 12th century; it is derived from the Old English words halh, which meant "remote nook or corner of land," and ford, a shallow place where a river could be crossed without a bridge. [1]
"Halford was a Devonshire surname in the reign of Edward I. (H. R.). There is a Warwickshire parish of the name." [2] [3]
The surname Hallfithey was first found in Kent where Thomas de Haleford was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1200. Later, Robert de Halford was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Leicestershire in 1327. [4]
The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had two listings for the family: William de Halford, Devon; and William de Holeford, Oxfordshire. [5]
Robert de Haleford, was listed in Warwickshire, Henry III- Edward I, according to the source Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III- Edward I. [6]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hallfithey research. Another 238 words (17 lines of text) covering the years 1580, 1658, 1844, 1580, 1658, 1641, 1679, 1663, 1690, 1689, 1690, 1695 and 1727 are included under the topic Early Hallfithey 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 Hallfithey family name include Halford, Hallford, Halforde and others.
Notables of the family at this time include Sir Richard Halford, 1st Baronet (c.?1580-1658), Sheriff of Leicestershire in the 19th year of James I's reign, created a Baronet on 18 December 1641, notable for his allegiance to Charles I...
Another 38 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hallfithey Notables 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 Hallfithey surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Henry Halferd, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1822; Thomas Halford, who settled in Boston, Massachusetts in 1634; Nancy Halferty, who came to St. John, N.B. in 1838.