Loveland

This is an English locational surname. It originates from a now "lost" medieval village called Loveland near the own of Reigate in the county of Surrey. It would seem that in the 18th century this village whose name probably developed from the pre 7th century personal name "Leof", was probably diminished if not entirely cleared, by what was known as "emparking". This was so that the then owner of the manor of Loveland, could enjoy a view un-interrupted by the sight of the cottages and shacks of the village, and worse still, the people themselves. Some three thousand surnames of the British Isles are known to have originated from "lost" villages, although most disappeared not through emparking, but from the need to change the land use from arable to pasture, to encourage the textile industry by sheep farming. Other natural causes, were the great plagues which swept the country between the 15th and 17th centuries, often reducing communities by a third and making many villages uneconomic. When this happened people left for the major towns particularly London, where not surprisingly this surname is well recorded. Early examples include those of Ann Loveland, the daughter of Christian Loveland, christened at Sunbury on Thames, on October 15th 1604, and Dorothie Loveland, who married Thomas Russon at St Peters church, Pauls Wharf, in the city of London, on May 17th 1659.