| ![Show Contents]() Heathfield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England Heathfield is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived on a heath, which is an area of level, uncultivated land with poor, coarse, undrained soil and rich deposits of peat or peaty humus. The surname Heathfield belongs to the class of topographic surnames, which were given to people who resided near physical features such as hills, streams, churches, or types of trees. The name was originally derived from the Old English words hæth, which meant heath, and the word feld, which meant field. Early Origins of the Heathfield familyThe surname Heathfield was first found in Sussex at Heathfield, a parish, in the union of Hailsham, hundred of Hawkesborough, rape of Hastings. 1 The Feet of Fines of 1265 in Norfolk list the first record of the name as Walter de Hethfeld. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list: Lynot de Hethefeld and Livesa de Hethfeld in Oxfordshire. 2 Heathfield is the scene of a severe battle in the year 635, between Cadwallo, and Edwin of Northumbria and his son Osfrid, on a spot since now named Slaughter Common. Early History of the Heathfield familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Heathfield research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Heathfield History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Heathfield Spelling VariationsSound 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 Heathfield family name include Heathfield, Heatfield, Heethfield, Heathfeild, Heatfeild and many more. Early Notables of the Heathfield familyDistinguished members of the family include
 Heathfield migration to West Indies | + |
The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 3Heathfield Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century- John Heathfield, who settled in Barbados in 1685 along with his wife Margaret
| Contemporary Notables of the name Heathfield (post 1700) | + |
- Peter Heathfield (1929-2010), British trade unionist
- Marian Heathfield, television actress
- Adrian Heathfield, writer, curator of contemporary performance and visual art
- Thomas Heathfield Carrick (1802-1874), English portrait miniature painter
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, 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)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
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Heathfield migration to West Indies 
