General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> of Warley & Wakefield
The earliest Hargraves that I have found in England befor
e Nicholas Hargrave are as follows;
Geoffrey of Haregrave in Nottingham and Derbyshire, A.D. 11
89-1190.
William de Haregrave in Nottingham, September 26, 1289.
William de Hargrave in Cheshire, 1349.
These gentlemen are believed to be ancestors of Nicholas Ha
rgrave of Yorkshire
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There are two other areas, not so far from Yorkshire that a
lso mention early Haregrave individuals and they are: Geoff
rey of Haregrave, Nottingham and Derbyshire in the years 11
89-1190 and William de Haregrave in Nottingham on Septembe
r 26, 1289. These could also have originated from the Chesh
ire area.
Since no records were found in Yorkshire prior to 1500 fo
r Hargrave, then it may be true that Nicholas Hargrave an
d his parents were from another Shire in England. The neare
st date to 1500 is the reference of William de Haregrave o
f Cheshire in 1349. If I were going to England that is wher
e I would look for records of Nicholas Hargrave and his anc
estry as probably in Cheshire. Then to Nottinghamshire an
d Derbyshire for earlier ancestors.
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In the year 1086, the Village of Hargrave near Chester in C
heshire, England was within the lands of Robert Cook. Prio
r to the year 1066, the Village of Hargrave was held by Osg
ot. In the year 1349, a William de Hargrave is recorded i
n Cheshire, England.
(Research):In 2000 after learning about the 3 English villa
ges named Hargrave (in Cheshire, Suffolk, & Northamptonshir
e) which, according to authorities I've read,are at the ori
gin of the surname Hargrave and its variations, I checked w
ebsites of the three. Cheshire seemed the most promising
. I received this answer from Elaine Pierce-Jones, Heritag
e Support Officer of the Chester, Cheshire website:
"Thank you for your recent enquiry about Hargrave. Accordin
g to Ormerod's History of Cheshire, Hargrave did give nam
e to a family there in the reign of either King John or Hen
ry III. The first mentioned was Simon, son of Madoc de Hare
grave. Records for Hargrave are held at the County Record O
ffice, Duke Street, Chester, and you can email them at reco
rdoffice@@cheshire.gov.uk. There is also a Hargrave and Huxl
ey Local History Society in Cheshire and I am sure that the
y would be interested in your research and should be able t
o help you with local knowledge of the area as well as hist
orical details. You can write to them--the Secretary is Joh
n Whittle and the address is Meadow Farm House, Hargrave, C
heshire...etc." When I emailed the Record Office they answe
red that they were unable to find any references to the nam
e Hargrave that pre-date 1475.
I've been in touch with Mr. Whittle and he sent me a very i
nteresting summary of the parts of Ormerod's Hist. of Chesh
ire that concern Hargrave: "The name Hargrave is believed t
o be derived from "har" or "hara" and "graefe" meaning "hoa
r wood". The name appears in Court records in 1285 as Hareg
reve and in many spellings in later records. The name is of
ten mis-spelt even today, -greave and -graves being the mos
t frequent variations. In the center of the village there w
as an area of common land known as Hargrave Stubbs. In Brya
nt's map of 1831 the Stubbs is marked as woodland, presumab
ly the remains of the "hoar wood"...Hargrave was a separat
e hamlet in the township of Foulk Stapleford and during th
e middle ages there were several landowners, one family tak
ing the name Hargrave during the reign of King John or Henr
y III...R Blome in Magna Britannica quotes Sir Ranulph Cotg
reave as being "Lord de Hargrave, Tarvin and Tattenhall" i
n the early 15th century..."
If anyone wants more I can post it here or send it by email
. I'll add that I zeroed in on Hargrave, Cheshire, becaus
e it seemed the most likely of the three since it is the cl
osest to Wakefield, West Riding Yorkshire, and because a ro
yal m