Show ContentsHazelwoold History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Hazelwoold

What does the name Hazelwoold mean?

The name Hazelwoold is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived in Hazelwood, a township, in the parish of Duffield, union of Belper, hundred of Appletree in Derbyshire. 1 This place name dates back to 1306 when it was known as Haselwode and literally meant "hazel wood." 2

Hazlewood is also a district in the parish of Tadcaster, Upper division of the wapentake of Barkstone-Ash, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. "Hazlewood Hall, a fine old mansion, is pleasantly seated on a lofty eminence, commanding very extensive views; and near it is a Roman Catholic chapel with two painted windows, and having several handsome monuments to the Vavasours." 1

Early Origins of the Hazelwoold family

The surname Hazelwoold was first found in Yorkshire where Ernald de Heselwude was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1191. Years later, John Haselwod was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1332. 3

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included: Ricardus de Hesilwode; Robertus de Heselwode; and John Hesilwode as all holding lands there at that time. 4

Early History of the Hazelwoold family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hazelwoold research. Another 60 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1320, 1380 and 1553 are included under the topic Early Hazelwoold History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hazelwoold 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 Hazelwoold family name include Haslewood, Haselwood, Hazlewood, Hazelwood and others.

Early Notables of the Hazelwoold family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Thomas Haselwood (fl. 1380), English historian, a canon regular at the monastery of Leeds in Kent, where he was employed as a schoolmaster. "Bale, on the authority of William Botoner or William of Worcester, asserts that he lived about 1320, but Weever in his ‘Funerall Monuments’ quotes from Haselwood...
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hazelwoold Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Hazelwoold 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 Hazelwoold surname or a spelling variation of the name include : Elizabeth Haslewood settled in New England in 1672; Henry and Jane Haslewood settled in New England in 1652; Walter Haslewood settled in Virginia in 1624..



  1. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  2. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  3. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  4. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)


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