Houlworth

This interesting surname, with variant spellings Hallsworth, Hol(d)sworth, Hou(l)dsworth, Holesworth etc., is of English locational origin either from Holdworth or Holdsworth, places in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Recorded respectively as Haldewrde in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as Haldewrth in the 1276 Hundred Rolls of Yorkshire, both places are so called from the old English pre 7th Century personal byname Halda, from "h(e)ald" meaning "bent" (in the sense of stooped), plus the old English "worth", a settlement or homestead, related to the old Low German "wurth", meaning "soil". This second element is frequently found in locational names of Anglo-Saxon origin. Early recordings of the surname include John de Halworth and Richard de Haldeworthe the 1379 Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire. On October 12th 1539 Jenet Halworth and Thomas Larence were married in Croston, Lancashire and on February 3rd 1576 the marriage of Jaine Hallworth and John Burgas took place in Ormskirk, Lancashire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Haldeworth, which was dated 1273, in the Hundred Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.