Hatefield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The ancestry of the name Hatefield dates from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from when the family 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 Hatefield family

The surname Hatefield 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 Hatefield family

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

Hatefield Spelling Variations

Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Hatefield have been found, including Hatfield, Hatfeild, Hadfield and others.

Early Notables of the Hatefield family (pre 1700)

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 Hatefield Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Hatefield family to Ireland

Some of the Hatefield 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 Hatefield family

Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Hatefield, or a variant listed above: 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