Haywart History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Haywart is from the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was given to a person who was a person who was in charge of protecting an enclosed forest from damage by vandals, animals, and poachers. The name was originally derived from the Old English haye, which meant enclosure. 1 Another source notes the name as an occupational name as in " 'the hayward,' a keeper of cattle, literally 'hedge-watcher'". 2

"The duties of the hayward were of a varied nature. His chief task seems to have been to guard the cattle at pasture; but he also protected the crops from thieves, trimmed the hedges, etc. In old poems he is generally represented as carrying a horn." 3

And to underscore the Saxon heritage, one learned source bluntly says "there is nothing Norman in this name." 4

Early Origins of the Haywart family

The surname Haywart was first found in Lancashire at Heywood, a town and chapelry, in the township of Heap, parish and union of Bury, hundred of Salford. "Heywood, in the Saxon, denotes the site of a wood in a field, or a wood surrounded by fields; a family of the same name resided here for many generations. " 5 Heywood Hall was long the residence of the ancestors of the baronet's family. 1

One source notes "the son of John, the eldest son of William de Wiggenshall, who took the sir-name of Heyward, Hauuard, or Howard; and was the first of this Family of that Sir-name, which, as I take it, he took from the office of Heyward there." 6

The first record of the family was found in the Domesday Book of 1086 when Hauuart, an early spelling of the family name was listed in Yorkshire. 7

Years later, Haward de Wihton was listed in the Pipe Rolls of Norfolk in 1166 and later again, William, Stephen Haward was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Cheshire in 1332. 7

As an occupational name, early records were scattered as the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list: Adam le Hayward in Devon; Roger le Hayward in Buckinghamshire; and Alicia le Heyward in Huntingdonshire.

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 list Robertus Hayward and Magota Hayward. 2

Early History of the Haywart family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Haywart research. Another 138 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1497, 1530, 1535, 1564, 1569, 1570, 1578, 1580, 1598, 1599, 1600, 1627, 1630, 1633, 1641, 1650, 1663, 1677, 1687, 1693, 1702, 1746, 1756, 1776 and 1809 are included under the topic Early Haywart History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Haywart 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 Haywart family name include Hayward, Heyward, Haward, Haywood, Heywood and others.

Early Notables of the Haywart family

Distinguished members of the family include Sir John Hayward (c. 1564-1627), a noted Elizabethan historian, lawyer and politician, born near Felixstowe, Suffolk; John Heywood (1497?-1580), an English poet, friend of Sir Thomas More, and a court musician and entertainer for Henry VII, Edward VI, and Queen Mary; Thomas Heywood (c.1570-1641), an English dramatist best known for "A Woman Killed with...
Another 59 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Haywart Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Haywart family

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. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Haywart or a variant listed above: Hugh Haward settled in Virginia in 1624 with his wife Susan; Thomas Hayward settled in New England in 1634 with his wife Susannah and five children; Samuel Hayward settled in New England in 1687.

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Cleveland, Dutchess of The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages. London: John Murray, Abermarle Street, 1889. Print. Volume 3 of 3
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Rye, Walter, A History of Norfolk. London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, 1885. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)