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![Show Contents]() Ollfithy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
The Ollfithy name has descended through the generations from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. Their name comes from having lived in Holford, a place-name found in Somerset and Sussex. The place-name is derived from the Old English elements hol, which means hollow or valley, and ford, a shallow place where a river may be crossed by wading. Fords were very important in medieval England, as bridges were very expensive to both build and maintain. Any place where there was a ford across a river was bound to become a settlement of one sort or another, especially if it was a long way to the next ford up or down the river. In this particular case, the place-name Holford means "ford across the river in a valley." Early Origins of the Ollfithy familyThe surname Ollfithy was first found in West Somerset in the hundred of Whitley at Holford, a village and civil parish that dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was listed as Holeforde. The place name literally meant "hollow ford, ford in a hollow," from the Old English words hol + ford. 1 The River Holford which runs through the village flows to the sea at Kilve. Early History of the Ollfithy familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ollfithy research. Another 202 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1541, 1587, 1588 and 1717 are included under the topic Early Ollfithy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Ollfithy Spelling VariationsOnly recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Ollfithy has undergone many spelling variations, including Holford, Holfords and others. Early Notables of the Ollfithy familyNotables of this surname at this time include: Lady Elizabeth Holford, who in 1717, gave £500 in support of a school in Stanton St. John in Oxfordshire. 2 Blessed Thomas...
Another 30 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ollfithy Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Ollfithy familyTo escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Ollfithy were among those contributors: Elizabeth Holford arrived in Annapolis, Maryland in 1729; Eleanor Holford settled in New England in 1706; Thomas Holford settled in Maryland in 1725.
- Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
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