The surname Honeywold was first found in Kent at "Henewood, near Postling where the ancestors of this family resided as early as the reign of Henry III." [1] The family name was first referenced in the 12th century when they held a family seat at Honywood, Elmsted, and Lenham.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Honeywold research. Another 182 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1510, 1600, 1106, 1548, 1455, 1487, 1604, 1619, 1625, 1632, 1743, 1527, 1620, 1527, 1543, 1586, 1666, 1654, 1656, 1632, 1601, 1686, 1659, 1677, 1752, 1597, 1681 and 1597 are included under the topic Early Honeywold History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Honeywold family name include Honeywood, Honiwood, Huniwood, Honywood, Hunywood and many more.
Distinguished members of the family include Mary Honywood (1527-1620), daughter and coheiress of Robert Waters, Esquire, of Lenham, Kent, was born at that place in 1527. "In 1543, being then in her sixteenth year, she married Robert Honywood, Esquire, of Charing, and afterwards of Marks Hall, Essex, by whom she had sixteen children. Mrs. Honywood was chiefly celebrated for her longevity, and for the unprecedentedly large number of lineal descendants whom she lived to see. By her sixteen children she had 114 grandchildren, 228 great-grandchildren, and nine great-great-grandchildren, 367 in all. " [2]
Sir Thomas Honeywood (1586-1666), an English politician who sat...
Another 110 words (8 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Honeywold Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, 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. Early immigrants bearing the Honeywold surname or a spelling variation of the name include: John Honywood, who arrived in America in 1638-1639; Philip Honywood, who settled in Virginia in 1649; Hen Honywood, who settled in Virginia in 1670; Wel Honywood, who arrived in Virginia in 1675.