Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
  Holsworth Coat of Arms / Holsworth Family CrestThe surname of HOLSWORTH was a locational name 'of Holdsworth' a parish in County Suffolk. Local names usually denoted where a man held his land and indicated where he actually lived. Originally the coat of arms identified the wearer, either in battle or in tournaments. Completely covered in body and facial armour the knight could be spotted and known by the insignia painted on his shield, and embroidered on his surcoat, the draped garment which enveloped him. Between the 11th and 15th centuries it became customary for surnames to be assumed in Europe, but were not commonplace in England or Scotland before the Norman Conquest of 1066. They are to be found in the Domesday Book of 1086. Those of gentler blood assumed surnames at this time, but it was not until the reign of Edward II (1307-1327) that second names became general practice for all people. Early records of the name mention John de Haldworthe, 1273, County York. Johanna de Houlsdsworth of Yorkshire, listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Joshua Holdsworth of County Yorkshire, registered at Oxford University in the year 1593. The bulk of European surnames in countries such as England and France were formed in the 13th and 14th centuries. The process started earlier and continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the 11th century people did not have surnames, whereas by the 15th century they did. A notable member of the name was Sir William Searle Holdsworth (1871-1944) was an English jurist, born in Beckenham in Kent, educated at Dulwich College and New College, Oxford where he was Vinerian professor of English law (1922-44). In many parts of central and western Europe, hereditary surnames began to become fixed at around the 12th century, and have developed and changed slowly over the years. As society became more complex, and such matters as the management of tenure, and in particular the collection of taxes were delegated to special functionaries, it became imperative to distinguish a more complex system of nomenclature to differentiate one individual from another. |
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