The origins of the name Harmony are from the ancient
Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from Herman or Hermannus.
[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X) The names are really the same; it was a common practice for scribes to record a given name in the Latin style, where
us is the masculine suffix. The
personal name meant warrior having derived from the Old French word
hermant, or from the Old German words
hariman or
hereman, all of which meant "warrior."
[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X) This name came to
England in the wake of the
Norman Conquest in 1066. However, not all of the family moved to
England as Ralph, William, Richard and Hugh Herman were all listed in
Normandy in 1180.
[2]CITATION[CLOSE]
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)Early Origins of the Harmony family
The surname Harmony was first found in
Norfolk where Willelmus Harmannus who was listed in 1208 in the St. Benet of Holme (1020-1240) is generally considered to be the first record of the name. Another branch was found in
Sussex were William de Hermer was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls of
Sussex in 1207. Simone Haremere was listed in the
Subsidy Rolls in
Sussex in 1296 and later William Harmere was listed in 1428.
[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had two listings using older spellings: Nicholas Herman in Suffolk; and Cecilia Hereman in Huntingdonshire.
The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 list Thomas Herman and Ricardus Harman as residing there at that time. [3]CITATION[CLOSE]
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Haremere Hall near Etchingham, East Sussex was home to this branch since the 12th century. By the 1600s the hall had fallen from their hands and was held by James Temple, one of the judges at the trial of King Charles I. Today it is now a Grade I listed Jacobean building and is still held in private hands.
Early History of the Harmony family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Harmony research.
Another 162 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1101, 1549, 1535, 1621, 1646, 1640, 1646, 1440 and 1535 are included under the topic Early Harmony History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Harmony Spelling Variations
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 Harmony family name include Harman, Harmon and others.
Early Notables of the Harmony family (pre 1700)
Another 46 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Harmony Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Harmony family to Ireland
Some of the Harmony family moved to
Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 111 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Harmony family to the New World and Oceana
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for
Ireland, the Canadas, 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 Harmony surname or a spelling variation of the name include:
Harmony Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- Lodowick Harmony, who landed in Philadelphia County Pennsylvania in 1740 [4]CITATION[CLOSE]
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Harmony Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Mrs. Harmony, aged 41, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1850 [4]CITATION[CLOSE]
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Contemporary Notables of the name Harmony (post 1700)
- Julio Harmony, American politician, U.S. Consul in Corunna, 1897-98, 1902-05 [5]CITATION[CLOSE]
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 16) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html - John C. Harmony, American Democrat politician, Candidate for Ohio State House of Representatives from Stark County, 1897 [5]CITATION[CLOSE]
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 16) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html