Happer is a name that was formed by the Anglo-Saxon society of old Britain. The name was thought to have been used for someone who once worked as a dancer. The surname Happer is derived from the Old English word hoppian, which means to hop, to leap, or to dance. [1]
"The name of Hopper is also established in Cambridgeshire and Devonshire. In the 13th century it occurred as Le Hoppere, or Le Hopper, in Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, etc." [2]
The surname Happer was first found in Wiltshire, where Edric le Hoppere was listed in the Pipe Rolls for 1203 and later in the Curia Regis Rolls for Worcester in 1204. [3]
The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had three listings for the family: Richard le Hoppare Oxfordshire; Gerard le Hopper, Suffolk; and Reginald le Hopper, Cambridgeshire. [4]
Further to the north in Scotland, "Robert Hopper received the acre of land called Stampardesakyr in the territory of Coldingham, and in 1275 witnessed a charter of lands in Raynigton to the Abbey of Coldstream. The name of a burgess family of good standing in Edinburgh from beginning of the fifteenth century. David Hopper held a tenement in the burgh in 1486, and Adam Hoppar was a notary public in the diocese of St. Andrews in 1524." [5]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Happer research. Another 159 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1220, 1275, 1540, 1559, 1593, 1254, 1628, 1388, 1668, 1687, 1581, 1799, 1834, 1803 and are included under the topic Early Happer History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Happer include Hopper, Hawper, Happer and others.
Another 35 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Happer Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Happer family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 58 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Happer were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records: