Harttfield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Harttfield name has descended through the generations from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. Their name comes from having lived in either of the places called Heathfield in Somerset or Sussex, or in one of the various settlements called Hatfield in Essex, Herefordshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcester, the East Riding of Yorkshire, or the North Riding of Yorkshire.

The place name literally means "heathy open land, or open land where heather grows," from the Old English "haeth" + "feld." The earliest village or parish with the name was registered in Saxon times in South Yorkshire in 731 when it was known as Haethfelth. 1

One source claims the name was derived from "hat, hot, Saxon, and field-from the hot sandy soil" 2 and yet another claims the name was derived from the "Anglo-Saxon Hæðfeld = the Heath-Field." 3

Another source claims the name was derived from the Old English "heathland, heather + feld" (pasture, open country) 4

Early Origins of the Harttfield family

The surname Harttfield was first found in Colchester, Essex where William de Hatfield was listed there 1119-1127. 5 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list William de Hatfield in Essex and Agnes de Hatfield in Cambridgeshire at that time. Years later, Johannes de Haytefeld was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 6

Robert de Hattefeld was listed in the Feet of Fines for Yorkshire in 1343 and Thomas Hatfeld was listed in the Assize Rolls of London in 1412. 5

Thomas of Hatfield (d. 1381), was Bishop of Durham, and thought to have been the second son of Walter of Hatfield in Holderness. He seems to have entered the king's service at an early age, and was Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1343. 7

Early History of the Harttfield family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Harttfield research. Another 78 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1119, 1640 and 1652 are included under the topic Early Harttfield History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Harttfield Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Harttfield has undergone many spelling variations, including Hatfield, Hatfeild, Hadfield and others.

Early Notables of the Harttfield family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Martha Hatfield (fl. 1652), 'The Wise Virgin,' daughter of Anthony Hatfield, by his wife Faith Westley, was born at Leighton, Yorkshire, 27 Sept. 1640. "The Hatfields were Puritans. In April 1652 Martha was seized with an illness which the physicians were unable to define, but which seems to have been a form of catalepsy. For seventeen days she lay stiff and was unable to speak, and it was said...
Another 76 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Harttfield Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Harttfield family to Ireland

Some of the Harttfield 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 Harttfield family

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Harttfield were among those contributors: George Hadfield who settled in New England in 1802; James, John, Robert and Thomas Hadfield arrived in Philadelphia between 1820 and 1860; Thomas and Grace Hatfeild settled in Virginia in 1653.

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Hanks, Patricia and Flavia Hodges, A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print. (ISBN 0-19-211592-8)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-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)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print