The roots of the
Anglo-Saxon name Holway come from when the family resided as inhabitants at the
hollow-way or holy way. Holway is a
topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree.
Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names.
Early Origins of the Holway family
The surname Holway was first found in Middlesex at Holloway, a district in the parish of Islington, Finsbury division of the
hundred of Ossulstone. Today, it is part of Greater London. There are a few different possible origins of the place name but the generally accepted origin is from the Old English words hol + weg which evolved to mean "the road with a hollow."
[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4) One of the first listings of the district was in 1307, when it was listed as Le Holeweye.
Early History of the Holway family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Holway research.
Another 131 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1826, 1684, 1666, 1734, 1720, 1734, 1722, 1723 and are included under the topic Early Holway History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Holway Spelling Variations
The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,
spelling variations are common among early
Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Holway has been recorded under many different variations, including Holloway, Hollway, Holoway, Hollaway, Hollywood and others.
Early Notables of the Holway family (pre 1700)
Notables of this surname at this time include: James Holloway (died 1684), an English merchant from Bristol, and conspirator of the Rye House Plot; and John...
Another 26 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Holway Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Holway family to Ireland
Some of the Holway family moved to
Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 119 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Holway family to the New World and Oceana
For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded
England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Holway or a variant listed above: Dorothy Hollway settled in Barbados in 1663; with William her husband; William Holloway settled in Maryland in 1775; Eadie Holloway settled with Elizabeth and Joe in Virginia in 1635.
Contemporary Notables of the name Holway (post 1700)
- Charles E. Holway (b. 1885), American professional sprinter who won a national competition in Pontypridd, Wales in 1908
- William Rea "W.R." Holway (1893-1981), American civil engineer, best known for his work on major water supply projects for the city of Tulsa, and on the Pensacola Dam at Grand Lake o' the Cherokees, eponym of Lake W. R. Holway, Oklahoma
- Florence Robie Reed Holway (1915-2012), American woman who was raped and through her efforts led to much stronger sentences against sex offenders went in 1993
- Albert Robert "Toots" Holway (1902-1968), Canadian professional NHL ice hockey defenceman who played from 1923 to 1937