Walden History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsThe name Walden is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived in or near any of the places named Walden in Essex, Hertfordshire, and Northern Yorkshire. Walden is a local surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Other types of local surnames include topographic surnames, which could be given to a person who lived beside any physical feature, such as a hill, stream, church or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. The surname Walden comes from the Old English words wealh and denu, which mean foreigner and valley. Thus, the surname would have been given to a person who was a stranger from a valley. Another source claims a slightly different origin of the place name: "The name Walden is said to be derived from the Saxon words Weald and Den, signifying a woody valley. At a latter period the place was called Waldenburgh. " 1 Early Origins of the Walden familyThe surname Walden was first found in Essex at Saffron Walden. "The name Walden is said to be derived from the Saxon words Weald and Den, signifying a woody valley. At a latter period the place was called Waldenburgh; and in the reign of Stephen." 1 Some of the family were granted the lands of Walden Abbey and adopting their surname from those lands. Another source notes that Walden means "valley of the Britons," from the Old English "walh" + "denu." 2 King's Walden in Hertfordshire dates back to Saxon times when it was originally known as Waleden in 888, but by the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, it was known as Waldene and was held by the king at that time. 2 And this is where we found the first record of the family, specifically Godeman de Waldena who was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1176. Years later, Simone de Waldene was listed in 1304 in Yorkshire. Another early record of the name is Thomas Walden, recorded in the Pipe Rolls for Essex, 1377. 3 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 lists Alice de Waledene in Cambridgeshire; and Richard de Waledene in Cambridgeshire. Later, the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls lists Thomas Waldyng (1379); and Johannes Waldyng (1370) 4 Humphrey de Waleden (d. 1330?) was an English judge, a 'king's clerk,' who was "appointed to the custody of the lands of Simon de Montacute, first Baron Montacute, in the counties of Somerset, Devon, Dorset, Oxford, and Buckingham, and on 16 Jan. 1291 to the custody of the lands of the late Queen Eleanor. " 5 Today, Saffron Walden is a market town in Uttlesford district of Essex, home of Walden Abbey, a Benedictine monastery, founded by Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex between 1136 and 1143. Walden and Walden Head are hamlets in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire and Walden Stubbs is a village and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire. 1 Early History of the Walden familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Walden research. Another 59 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1372, 1387, 1388, 1390, 1397, 1401, 1405, 1406 and 1573 are included under the topic Early Walden History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Walden Spelling VariationsSound 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 Walden family name include Walden, Waldern, Waldon, Waldew and others. Early Notables of the Walden familyNotables of the family at this time include
Walden RankingIn the United States, the name Walden is the 1,080th most popular surname with an estimated 27,357 people with that name. 6
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 Walden surname or a spelling variation of the name include : Walden Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
Walden Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
Walden Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
Some of the first settlers of this family name were: Walden Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
Walden Settlers in Canada in the 20th Century
Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include: Walden Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include: Walden Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 13 Walden Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
Empress of Ireland
|