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Show ContentsHerwold History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
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Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

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The Anglo-Saxon name Herwold comes from the family having resided in Lincolnshire. The name is derived from the Old English word har which means "grey" and the word wudu which means "wood." 1

"Prior to the latter half of the XIV. cent. the name was written Harward and Hereward, and tradition derives the family from the celebrated Hereward, the patriot Saxon, who a few years after the Conquest headed his oppressed countrymen against the forces of William. He was the younger son of Leofric, earl of Mercia." 2

Another source provides more about Hereward. His history "fills a larger place in legend than in authentic history. A few references to him in the chronicles and an account of his possessions in Domesday are all that we really know of him. But his exploits in defending Ely from the Normans caused the generation succeeding his own to regard him as the popular hero of the English resistance to their French conquerors. Popular songs commemorated his wonderful deeds, and were the sources of many mythical histories which disagree with each other, and with known history. They are written with obvious exaggeration, though some of them are not sixty years subsequent in date to the time when Hereward in all probability was still alive." 3

Early Origins of the Herwold family

The surname Herwold was first found in Lancashire at either Great Harwood or Little Harwood; and or in West Yorkshire at Harewood, all villages. 4

An early record of the family was found in Cheshire in the twelfth century: Hubert de Harewda was listed there in 1176. Bernard de Harewode was listed in 1242 Fees and Alice Harewode was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset in 1327. 5

Up in Scotland, the name was likely from a local origin, "probably from Harwood near West Calder, Midlothian. Roger de Hauewod held land of Gouyrton near Edinburgh, 1317, and Ada, daughter of Roger de Harewood or Hauwod, is mentioned in Aberdeen in same year. The lands of Trowere in the earldom of Carrick were resigned by Janet de Hawod, 1430." 6

Early History of the Herwold family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Herwold research. Another 256 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1071, 1464, 1563, 1564, 1565, 1568, 1572, 1574, 1575, 1577, 1578, 1586, 1600, 1614, 1618, 1632, 1634, 1647, 1648, 1674, 1707 and 1787 are included under the topic Early Herwold History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Herwold Spelling Variations

Herwold has been spelled many different ways. Before English spelling became standardized over the last few hundred years, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. As the English language changed in the Middle Ages, absorbing pieces of Latin and French, as well as other languages, the spelling of people's names also changed considerably, even over a single lifetime. Spelling variants included: Harwood, Harewood, Horwood, Whorwood, Herwood, Hereward, Harward and many more.

Early Notables of the Herwold family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Jane Whorwood (fl. 1648), English Royalist, daughter of one Ryder or Ryther of Kingston, Surrey, sometime surveyor of the stables to James I. "In September 1634, at the age of nineteen, she married Brome Whorwood, eldest son of Sir Thomas Whorwood of Holton, Oxfordshire. In 1647 and 1648, when the king was in captivity, Mrs. Whorwood signalised herself by her efforts to communicate with him and to arrange his escape. She conveyed money to him from loyalists in London when he was at Hampton Court in the autumn of 1647, and consulted William...
Another 158 words (11 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Herwold Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Herwold family to Ireland

Some of the Herwold 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 Herwold family

In an attempt to escape the chaos experienced in England, many English families boarded overcrowded and diseased ships sailing for the shores of North America and other British colonies. Those families hardy enough, and lucky enough, to make the passage intact were rewarded with land and a social environment less prone to religious and political persecution. Many of these families became important contributors to the young colonies in which they settled. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Herwolds to arrive on North American shores: Robert and Thomas Harwood who settled in Virginia in 1635; followed later by George Harwood in 1643.
  1. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
  2. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  3. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  4. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  5. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  6. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
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