Hareward History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsHareward is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in Lincolnshire. The name is derived from the Old English word har which means "grey" and the word wudu which means "wood." 1 "Prior to the latter half of the XIV. cent. the name was written Harward and Hereward, and tradition derives the family from the celebrated Hereward, the patriot Saxon, who a few years after the Conquest headed his oppressed countrymen against the forces of William. He was the younger son of Leofric, earl of Mercia." 2 Another source provides more about Hereward. His history "fills a larger place in legend than in authentic history. A few references to him in the chronicles and an account of his possessions in Domesday are all that we really know of him. But his exploits in defending Ely from the Normans caused the generation succeeding his own to regard him as the popular hero of the English resistance to their French conquerors. Popular songs commemorated his wonderful deeds, and were the sources of many mythical histories which disagree with each other, and with known history. They are written with obvious exaggeration, though some of them are not sixty years subsequent in date to the time when Hereward in all probability was still alive." 3 Early Origins of the Hareward familyThe surname Hareward was first found in Lancashire at either Great Harwood or Little Harwood; and or in West Yorkshire at Harewood, all villages. 4 An early record of the family was found in Cheshire in the twelfth century: Hubert de Harewda was listed there in 1176. Bernard de Harewode was listed in 1242 Fees and Alice Harewode was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset in 1327. 5 Up in Scotland, the name was likely from a local origin, "probably from Harwood near West Calder, Midlothian. Roger de Hauewod held land of Gouyrton near Edinburgh, 1317, and Ada, daughter of Roger de Harewood or Hauwod, is mentioned in Aberdeen in same year. The lands of Trowere in the earldom of Carrick were resigned by Janet de Hawod, 1430." 6 Early History of the Hareward familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hareward research. Another 256 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1071, 1464, 1563, 1564, 1565, 1568, 1572, 1574, 1575, 1577, 1578, 1586, 1600, 1614, 1618, 1632, 1634, 1647, 1648, 1674, 1707 and 1787 are included under the topic Early Hareward History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Hareward Spelling VariationsSound 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 Hareward family name include Harwood, Harewood, Horwood, Whorwood, Herwood, Hereward, Harward and many more. Early Notables of the Hareward familyNotables of this surname at this time include: Jane Whorwood (fl. 1648), English Royalist, daughter of one Ryder or Ryther of Kingston, Surrey, sometime surveyor of the stables to James I. "In September 1634, at the age of nineteen, she married Brome Whorwood, eldest son of Sir Thomas Whorwood of Holton, Oxfordshire. In 1647 and 1648, when the king was in captivity, Mrs. Whorwood signalised herself by her efforts to communicate with him and to arrange his escape. She conveyed money to him from loyalists in London when he was at Hampton Court in the autumn of 1647, and consulted William... Migration of the Hareward family to IrelandSome of the Hareward family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Hareward familyFor 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 Hareward surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Robert and Thomas Harwood who settled in Virginia in 1635; followed later by George Harwood in 1643.
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