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Author Topic: Help please on surname derivation  (Read 6418 times)

Offline sre

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Help please on surname derivation
« on: Tuesday 15 May 07 09:49 BST (UK) »
Do any of you bright sparks out there have any ideas on/point me in the right direction to find ... the derivation of the surname Hercliff .....

I would be interested in where the name originally came from ..... so far I have found Horscliff/Horncliff/Horstliffe ....  eventually turning into Hercliff/Ircliffe all in a small cluster around Middleton EY ......

Any help would be most appreciated ....  :)

Thnx
sre

Harness, (Yorkshire, Lincolnshire) Taylor, Carpenter (Devon, Pembrokeshire), Cook, (Glos), Puffitt, (Oxon), Evans, (Herefordshire), Prosser, (Herefordshire), Benfield, (Oxon/Glos)

Offline AnneMc

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Re: Help please on surname derivation
« Reply #1 on: Saturday 03 January 09 21:54 GMT (UK) »
Hello Sre:

I was just googling the surname Horscliff and came across your message on here.. I am reseaching the Hercliffe/Horscliff families..  I am Connected to the Hercliffe in the Middleton area.. namely Matthew Hercliff and his daughter Elizabeth Hercliffe.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Anne
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Shropshire - Hotchkiss
Derbyshire - Hardwick, Barker, Marples
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Offline sre

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Re: Help please on surname derivation
« Reply #2 on: Sunday 04 January 09 14:22 GMT (UK) »
Hi Anne

Many thanks for getting in touch .....

I am descended from Matthew & Margaret (nee Sheilds) Hercliffe's daughter Ann who married Samuel Medd ....

I have found 8 children so far for M & M ...Miriam, John, Ann, Thomas, Martha, Elizabeth, Priscilla and Mary ..... have info on some of them .....

Matthew' parents I think were William & Ann nee Wilson ..... apart from that I have very little ...

It's such a strange surname I felt sure someone out there must be looking for them as well as me .....

Look forward to swapping info

Regards
sre
Harness, (Yorkshire, Lincolnshire) Taylor, Carpenter (Devon, Pembrokeshire), Cook, (Glos), Puffitt, (Oxon), Evans, (Herefordshire), Prosser, (Herefordshire), Benfield, (Oxon/Glos)

Offline AnneMc

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Re: Help please on surname derivation
« Reply #3 on: Sunday 04 January 09 16:54 GMT (UK) »
Hello Sre:
Wonderful to hear from you.  I have been researching the family for a number of years. I have Matthe's parents as John and Ann Wilson.. I wil get back to you with a p.m. with more information later on today. 

Cheers
Anne
Yorkshire - Thompson. Savage, Morris, Richardson, Frankish, Mintoft, Myers, Barker, Hotchkiss
Shropshire - Hotchkiss
Derbyshire - Hardwick, Barker, Marples
Lancashire - Winstanley, Morton

Offline Rena

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Re: Help please on surname derivation
« Reply #4 on: Sunday 04 January 09 17:33 GMT (UK) »
Hi there,
I have a few meanings of names in a book but unfortunately couldn't find anything like the surname you're researching.

the Old English meaning of "Clif(f)e" is "Dweller by or on the steep slope/bank to the river" - could there have been a river in the vicinity sounding like "Ir/Air" ?

As for "Hors(t) .." could it be a shortened corruption of "Hirst/Hurst" which means "Dweller by the wood or wooded hill"  (Old English = hyrst).

With a bit of imagination I can see your ancestor living in his homemade wooden cabin on the edge of the forest alongside a river.

Cheers,
Rena
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Offline AnneMc

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Re: Help please on surname derivation
« Reply #5 on: Sunday 04 January 09 18:47 GMT (UK) »
Hello Rena:

Thank you very much for this information.. This is very interesting... I had often wonder where the surname came from.

Cheers

Anne
Yorkshire - Thompson. Savage, Morris, Richardson, Frankish, Mintoft, Myers, Barker, Hotchkiss
Shropshire - Hotchkiss
Derbyshire - Hardwick, Barker, Marples
Lancashire - Winstanley, Morton

Offline Dancing Master

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Re: Help please on surname derivation
« Reply #6 on: Sunday 04 January 09 18:57 GMT (UK) »
Nothing at all in the Oxford Companion of Names which covers first names, surnames and place names  nor is there any reference in P H Reaney's Book the Origin of English Surnames.

Offline sre

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Re: Help please on surname derivation
« Reply #7 on: Monday 12 January 09 10:47 GMT (UK) »
Many thanks to you all for your input .... sorry I've taken sooo long to reply ..

Anne ... you are correct .... Matthew's father was John, not William as I put .... William is John's father ..... another senior moment :-[

Rena & Dancing Master .... thank you both for taking the time to look for me ...

The earliest date I have is 1751 at Cottingham, which is near the river Hull .... not sure about the "Dweller by the wood or wooded hill"  as I believe the land to have been flat and marshy at that time ....  I could be completely wrong on this, and I'm sure that some one who knows will set me straight ...

Regards
sre
Harness, (Yorkshire, Lincolnshire) Taylor, Carpenter (Devon, Pembrokeshire), Cook, (Glos), Puffitt, (Oxon), Evans, (Herefordshire), Prosser, (Herefordshire), Benfield, (Oxon/Glos)

Offline SteveJW

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Re: Help please on surname derivation
« Reply #8 on: Tuesday 27 January 09 21:15 GMT (UK) »
Just had a look at my mapping software, hills about a kilometre west of Cottingham centre with spot heights of 50 metres
Cottingham appears to range from 6 to 20 metres above sea level
Walford  Staffordshire,Yorkshire
Boyes     Beverley, Hull
Allison     Beverley, Hull
Bowser   East Yorkshire
Etherton Sussex
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