Guild of One-Name Studies
One-name studies, Genealogy
This study is no longer registered with the Guild, but this profile page has been retained at the member's request. Please note that neither officers nor members of the Guild are able to answer any questions about this study.
This page is for genealogy enthusiasts who wish to research their Hadath or Haddath surname family history.
The Had(d)ath surname is extremely rare. Only about 300 people of that name have existed in the last 250 years. It appears to have originated as a variant of the name Haddow. Dick Chandler and his wife Elaine, who are conducting this One-Name Study, have written a book of more than 200 pages documenting the known history of the name and its bearers.
The first occurrence of the surname has been traced to the part of England now called Cumbria, at the start of the 19th Century. Aided by DNA analysis, a common ancestor has been identified, from whom all living Had(d)aths are believed to be descended. The surname appears to have developed as a variant of Haddow. Research is currently stuck at 1767 when William Haddow of Pennington (one mile west of Ulverston) married Agnes Boulton of Baycliff (on the coast, three miles south of Ulverston) at Aldingham-in-Furness Parish Church (on the coast, one mile south of Baycliff) on 21st February.
The origin of the name is believed to be the Middle English for 'half', plus the Gaelic dabhach, which is a measure of land equivalent to four ploughgates (so the name means 'two ploughgates'). A plough worked by eight oxen was capable of bringing 104 acres into tillage in a year. A ploughgate was therefore the name that was given to 104 acres of arable land, and a 'half dabhach' or 'hadabhach' (being half of four ploughgates) is therefore 2 x 104 = 208 acres of land - hence the title of the Had(d)ath Family History book.
Had(d)ath mailing list at Rootsweb
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=surnames.hadath