Haverlock History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Haverlock was first found in Durham where they held a family seat on the English/Scottish border. "A well-known Danish personal name. Geoffrey Gaimar's metrical romance, called "Le Lai d'Havelok le Danois," records the valorous doings of a great Danish chieftain.

The family of the greatest hero of his age, the late Gen. Sir Henry Havelock, claimed to be of Danish extraction, having been, according to tradition, a scion of an ancient race descended from Guthrun, the historical Viking of the days of Alfred, and settled at Great Grimsby from his time! There is indeed a tradition that town was so named from a merchant called Grime, who obtained great wealth and honour in consequence of his having brought up an exposed child called Haveloc, who, after having been scullion in the king's kitchen, turned out to be a Danish prince. The curious corporate seal of the town seems to have some allusion to the circumstance, as it bears the names of ' Grym' and ' Habloc; ' and one of the boundary marks of the corporation is known as ' Haveloc's Stone.' " 1

"It has always been a rare surname in England, although now immortalized." 2

Early rolls listed Haveloc c. 1210 in Cornwall and William, Robert Havelok in the Subsidy Rolls for Essex in 1327. 3

After the Norman Conquest of England many of Duke William's rebellious Barons moved north. The border became a convenient no-man's land. Notable families such as the Percy, the Umfravilles and the Nevilles gathered many supporting clans around them. In the 16th century they became known as the 'unruly clans'. In that century, many of those clans drove their herds south, and they settled in Yorkshire and Lancashire.