Harmony Surname, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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The origins of the name Harmony are from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from Herman or Hermannus. 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." 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.

Harmony Early Origins

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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. 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. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 list Thomas Herman and Ricardus Harman as residing there at that time.

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.

Harmony Early History

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Harmony research. Another 159 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1101, 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 Early Notables (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.

Harmony In Ireland

Some of the Harmony family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

The Great Migration

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

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Citations

^ Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
^ 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)
^ Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
^ 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)
^ The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 16) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html

Other References

Matthews, John. Matthews' American Armoury and Blue Book. London: John Matthews, 1911. Print.
Magnusson, Magnus. Chambers Biographical Dictionary 5th edition. Edinburgh: W & R Chambers, 1990. Print.
Burke, Sir Bernard. General Armory Of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Ramsbury: Heraldry Today. Print.
Cook, Chris. English Historical Facts 1603-1688. London: MacMillan, 1980. Print.
Innes, Thomas and Learney. The Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland 1st Edition. Edinburgh: W & A. K. Johnston Limited, 1938. Print.
Bullock, L.G. Historical Map of England and Wales. Edinburgh: Bartholomew and Son, 1971. Print.
Colletta, John P. They Came In Ships. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1993. Print.
Papworth, J.W and A.W Morant. Ordinary of British Armorials. London: T.Richards, 1874. Print.
Holt, J.C. Ed. Domesday Studies. Woodbridge: Boydell, 1987. Print. (ISBN 0-85115-477-8).
Sanders, Joanne McRee Edition. English Settlers in Barbados 1637-1800. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing. Print.
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The Harmony Family Crest was acquired from the Houseofnames.com archives. The Harmony Family Crest was drawn according to heraldic standards based on published blazons. We generally include the oldest published family crest once associated with each surname.

This page was last modified on 16 October 2015 at 12:40.