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Guild of One-Name Studies

One-name studies, Genealogy

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Hardcastle One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Hardcastle

Variants: Hardcassel, Hardcastel, Hardcastell, Hardcastill, Heitcastell

Category:  1 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is in its early stages.

Website: www.hardcastle.de

DNA website: www.familytreedna.com/public/Hardcastle

Contact: Mr Michael Hardcastle


About the study

This is the history of the Hardcastle family who appears to have been originated from Northumberland, near the Hadrian's Roman Wall. In the 13th century, the family settled in Yorkshire where land was granted to Fountains Abbey, and, in all probability, gave name to the place Hardcastle on Greenhow Hill in the Manor of Bewerley in Nidderdale. The first reference to a Hardcastle was in 1358 when Richard de Hardcastell held the lodge of a grange called Thrope House.

I have just completed a book about the Hardcastle Family. It describes the history of the family beginning with the emigration to Nidderdale in the 13th Century, explains their way of living from the 15th to the 20th century and finally describes their emigration to the U.S.A, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. Also you will find many sources relating to the Hardcastle family worldwide.

Writing this book is my expression of gratitude to all Hardcastle descendants for contributing their information and stories in the past 30 years. Here you are able to find more details about the book The Roots of the Hardcastles - An old Yorkshire Family.

Name origin

The Name

The Hardcastle family appears to have been originated from Northumberland (near the Hadrian's Roman Wall). It is presumed that a turret or milecastle has given its name to the Hardcastle family. In Saxon times the family settled in the counties of Northumberland and Durham. The literal meaning of the name is 'strong tower' or 'strong castle'. The name appears in those early times to have been variously spelt: Hertcastell, Hardcastell, Hardcastill, Hardcassel, Hardekastel, Hercastell, Herdcasell, Hertcastel and similar spellings.

The Coat Of Arms

The Family Coat of Arms is from the 12th century and was duly registered in the British Heraldry as sable on a chevron argent (silver), between three castles or towers, as many (three) leopards' faces gules (red), the crest is a lady attired azure (blue), holding in her right hand the sun, and in her sinister (left hand) the moon. The crest implied that the family was empowered and required to raise armed men in support of their lord and to put at least one knight into the field of battle in horse and armour. For my branch of the family, the motto in Latin is 'Turris Fortis Mihi Deus' (i.e. God is my strong tower). In all probability this motto was taken from Psalm 46. Martin Luther used these words for his choral 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God' written in 1529.

Data

If you are looking for a Hardcastle, you can search for details on my website.

Contact Details

Mr Michael Hardcastle

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Hardcastle in the Guild Indexes
(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)
  • Global Marriages (public)  116
  • Global Marriages (members)* 174
  • Modern Newspaper Index  2
  • Probate Index* 75
  • Datastores (public)  6
  • Datastores (members)* 5
  • Study materials for the study Hardcastle* 2
  • References to the name Hardcastle in the Guild Journal  1

Other Guild Websites

You may find our other Guild websites of interest:

  • Members’ Websites Program
  • Surname Cloud
  • Guild Members’ records on FamilySearch
  • Guild Marriage Locator

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