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  Elworthy Coat of Arms / Elworthy Family CrestELWORTHY and its variant ELLSWORTH were derived from the Old English 'Eallsworp', a Cheshire surname.The first instance of the name was Alevrde, listed as a tenant in the Domesday Book of 1086.In 1086 the compilation of the Domesday Book was ordered by William the Conqueror (1027-87), King of England from 1066. He was born in Failaise, the bastard son of Robert, Duke of Normandy, by Arlette, a tanner's daughter. On his father's death in 1035, the nobles accepted him as a duke. When Edward the Confessor, King of England died in 1066, William invaded England that Autumn, on 14th October, 1066 killing Harold (who had assumed the title of King). English government under William assumed a more feudal aspect, the King's tenants-in-chief and all title to land was derived from his grants, and the Domesday Book contains details of the land settlements, and the names of the owners of such. Early records of the name mention Allewrdth of the County of Cheshire in 1182. Siward de Alsweth was a charter witness in 1200, Scotland. Richard Alworthe of Yorkshire was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. The name is also spelt as Alworth and Allworthe. At first the coat of arms was a practical matter which served a function on the battlefield and in tournaments. With his helmet covering his face, and armour encasing the knight from head to foot, the only identification for his followers, was the insignia painted on his shield, and embroidered on his surcoat, the draped and flowing garment worn over the armour. Over the centuries, most people in Europe have accepted their surname as a fact of life, as irrevocable as an act of God. However much the individual may have liked or disliked the surname, they were stuck with it, and people rarely changed them by personal choice. A more common form of variation was in fact involuntary, when an official change was made, in other words, a clerical error. Among the humbler classes of European society, and especially among illiterate people, individuals were willing to accept the mistakes of officials, clerks and priests as officially bestowing a new version of their surname, just as they had meekly accepted the surname they had been born with. In North America, the linguistic problems confronting immigration officials at Ellis Island in the 19th century were legendary as a prolific source of Anglicization. |
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