Manfield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Manfield reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Manfield family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Manfield family lived in Mansfield, a parish in Nottinghamshire. The place-name itself is a combination of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon terms, and literally signifies the field by the hill called Mam, from the Celtic word for a mother or a breast.

Early Origins of the Manfield family

The surname Manfield was first found in Nottinghamshire at Mansfield, a market town that dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was listed as Mamesfelde. 1 The place name literally means "open land by the River Maun," from the Celtic river name + the Old English word "feld." 2 Looking back further, the area is known to date back to Roman times, with a villa discovered in 1787 by a Major Rooke and a cache of denarii coins found near King's Mill in 1849. Some claim the early English royalty were said to have stayed in the area, with the Mercian Kings using it as a base for hunting in the nearby Sherwood Forest.

Early History of the Manfield family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Manfield research. Another 106 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1659 and 1666 are included under the topic Early Manfield History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Manfield Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Mansfield, Manfield, Mansfeild and others.

Early Notables of the Manfield family

Another 40 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Manfield Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Manfield family to Ireland

Some of the Manfield 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.

Manfield migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Manfield name or one of its variants:

Manfield Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

George Manfield, who landed in Virginia in 1670 3
Margaret Manfield, who landed in Maryland in 1671 3
William Manfield, who arrived in Maryland in 1673 3

Manfield migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Manfield Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Charles Manfield, English convict who was convicted in Taunton, Somerset, England for life, transported aboard the "Eliza" on 12th December 1849, arriving in Norfolk Island and Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 4

Historic Events for the Manfield family +

Senghenydd colliery

Mr. Samuel John Manfield (b. 1897), Welsh coal miner from Cardiff, Wales who was working at the Senghenydd colliery when there was an explosion on the 14th October 1913; he died

SS Southern Cross

Mr. John Manfield (1890-1914), Newfoundlander from Conception Harbour who was aboard the "SS Southern Cross" when it is suspected she sank between the 31st March 1914 and early April during the storm with a heavy load of pelts; no survivors were ever found

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 28th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eliza