Sooard History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsIt was among those Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled over Britain that the name Sooard was formed. The name was derived from the baptismal name Siward, which was an Old English personal name. Accordingly, there are numerous early listings of the name as a personal name. 1 Siward (died 1048), was Bishop and Coadjutor-Archbishop, a monk of Glastonbury, and succeeded Aehelwine as Abott of Abingdon probably in 1030. Siward, Earl of Northumberland (d. 1055), called Digera or 'The Strong', was a Dane, and "is said to have been the son of a Danish Jarl (chief) named Biorn. According to legend he was descended from a white bear and a lady. Fitting out a ship, he is said to have sailed to Orkney, where he overcame a dragon, went thence to Northumbria, and, in obedience to a supernatural command, to London, where he entered the service of King Edward the Confessor. " 2 Siward (died 1075) was Bishop of Rochester, Abbot of Chertsey in Surrey, and was consecrated Bshop of Rochester by Archbishop Stigand in 1058. 2 Another source claims the name was an occupational name as in "high admiral, who kept the sea against pirates, from sea, and ward, a keeper." 3 Early Origins of the Sooard familyThe surname Sooard was first found in Essex where the family probably originated in Sewardstone, a hamlet, in the parish of Waltham-Abbey, union of Edmonton, hundred of Waltham. 4 Alternatively, the name could have originated in Sewardesley, in Northamptonshire. Little remains of this latter location other than Sewardsley Priory, which was a Priory occupied by Cistercian nuns and was located in Showsley near Towcester. 1 "Two Siwards were of considerable note at the Conquest, one in Shropshire, the other in Cheshire." 5 "Siward, surnamed Grossus, is more than once mentioned in Domesday, and was 'a great assistant to Earl Roger in the foundation of Salop Abbey.' According to Ordericus, he was a kinsman of the Earl's, and probably of Danish blood : " the name Siward is Danish rather than Saxon, and Earl Roger's great-grandmother was a Dane." He was consequently suffered to retain the manors in Shropshire that he had held under the Confessor, and bequeathed them to his son Aldred." 5 "The other Siward was one of the 'Barones et Homines' enumerated by Hugh Lupus in his charter to Chester Abbey, and the ancestor of the Lancelyns, seated at Poulton-Lancelyn in that county till the reign of Henry VIII. A Seward was among the twelve knights who, under William Rufus, went with Robert Fitz-Hamon to the conquest of Glamorgan, and formed the " Douze Peres" between whom he divided his newly-won territory. The Devonshire family of Seward of Stokeinteignhead probably derived from him: and Banks believes him to have been also the progenitor of the Sywards of Winterborn-Clinston, in Dorsetshire." 5 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had some of the first listings of the name. There was a mixture of both personal names and surnames there including: "Sygwat Kat'bode in Norfolk; Syward and Sywardus (without surnames) in Oxfordshire; Thomas Swyat in Suffolk; and Richard Swyard in Buckinghamshire." 1 The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Hugo Syward and Johanna Swyard. And further north in Scotland, Richard Suwart (Siward) "was a Scottish knight, [who was] married to a sister of Simon Fresel, who, having more than once shifted his allegiance, was at that time serving in the English army. Edward II. appointed him Constable of Dumfries in 1309, and he is supposed to have died in the following year." 5 Early History of the Sooard familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sooard research. Another 178 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1053, 1236, 1248, 1641, 1657, 1658, 1701 and 1715 are included under the topic Early Sooard History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Sooard Spelling VariationsUntil the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Sooard include Seward, Sewerd, Saward and others. Early Notables of the Sooard familyAnother 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Sooard Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Sooard family to IrelandSome of the Sooard family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. Migration of the Sooard familyThousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Sooard were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records: John Seward settled in Virginia in 1622; James Seward settled in Virginia in1655; Martin Seward arrived in Barbados in 1690; William Seward settled in Barbados in 1654 and later moved to the mainland..
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