This interesting name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name Hereweard, a compound of the elements "here", an army, plus "weard", guard or defence. The name is recorded as Hereuuard and Heruart in the Domesday Book of 1086 and it was borne by an 11th Century thane of Lincolnshire. The surname from this source first appears in the mid 12th Century, (see below). The name is particularly well recorded in Westminster Church Registers from the mid 16th Century under the variant spellings Ha(r)vard, Haruard, Ho(a)vert etc.. On October 4th 1546 Cylmyne Haverd and John Carter were married in St. Margaret's Westminster. John Harvrd married an Ely Wheler in the above Church in July 1564 and on January 1st 1649 William son of Roger and Augustina Havard was christened there. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alexander Hereward, which was dated 1156, in the "Records of Bury St. Edmunds", Suffolk, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as the Builder of Churches, 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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