The Halstead one-name study was initially started by Raymond Lewis-Jones many years ago and shortly before his death in 1999 he started to try and find an organisation that would continue the research that he had started. Not only that be he was prepared to put the funds there as well.

After a couple of years of discussion with the charity commision the Halsted Trust was formed in 2002 and I am currently one of its trustees

Now the day to day research is still on-going and the results are available on the research website but you can always contact us if you want more information or you have some to give.

Whilst in historic terms the name was always spelt as HALSTED it has migrated and nowadays the main name is spelt as HALSTEAD.

In addition the main variants that we research as ALSTEAD, OLSTEAD and HOLSTEAD.

It is quite possible that others will emerge as times progresses and as the results of more DNA tests are processed.

The name by definiton is a locative one as found in the Oxford Dictionary of Surnames which says:

HALSTEAD English: habitation name from any of the various places bearing this name, for example in Essex (Haltesteda in the Domesday Book), Kent and Leics., all of which are probably so called from OE (ge)heald hut, temporary shelter + stede site. However, the name is now most frequently found in Lancs., where it is from High Halstead in Burnley, which is named as the 'site of a hall', from OE h(e)all hall + stede place.

The earliest known Halsted we have found is William de HALLSTEDES who is named on a Brass plaque in St Peter's church, Burnley and dates to about 1280.

It is though that the majority of the HALSTED's are relate to William  and it certainly certainly appears that the Yorkshire branches came from Lancashire originally. in present times the major of those with the HALSTED name appear to originate in the south on England - possibly as descendant of Lawrence HALSTED who was Keeper of the Keys at the Tower of London in the 1600's.

There are several HALSTED's who have borne arms and details can be found here.

The frequency of the name in 1881 in England, Scotland and Wales is about 1 in 10,000

The greatest concentration of the name in 1881 was in the eastern half of Lancashire and the West Riding on Yorkshire.

Looking at the General Register Office registrations of births, marriage and deaths post 1837 the name is very prominant in the Calder Valley.

The earliest known migrants went to the United States in the 1630's with many more of course migrating in the 19th century

Details of the holdings will be added shortly

There is a DNA project for the HALSTEAD name and its variants and it can be found here

We have a website especially for the results of the research at www.halstedresearch.org.uk

The site contains many reconstructed trees