Petfield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Petfield is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived in the village of Pitfield in the county of Middlesex. The surname was originally derived from the Old English word pyt which referred to an area that was pitted. The original bearers of the surname Petfield lived in an area that was known for its many hollows of pitted ground,

Early Origins of the Petfield family

The surname Petfield was first found in Middlesex where they held a family seat from ancient times, some say before the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Early History of the Petfield family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Petfield research. Another 127 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1066 and 1086 are included under the topic Early Petfield History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Petfield Spelling Variations

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 Petfield family name include Pittfield, Pitfield, Pitfeild, Pitfeld, Pittfeld, Pitville, Pittville, Petfield, Pettfield, Petwell, Pitfell, Pittfell, Pitwell and many more.

Early Notables of the Petfield family

More information is included under the topic Early Petfield Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Petfield family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, 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 Petfield surname or a spelling variation of the name include : Robert Petwell, who settled in Virginia in 1636; Mary Pitfield, who arrived in Maryland in 1663; John Bryan Pitfield, who was naturalized in New York, NY in 1832.

Contemporary Notables of the name Petfield (post 1700) +

Sir Arthur Petfield, Australian Chief Commissioner of the Overseas Telecommunications Commission in 1968