Edmund [Hotchkiss], de Northwood, de Hawkesgarth, de Hokeswod, de Hawkesworth

Personal and Family Information

De was born about 1285 in Shropshire, England, the son of Hugh [Hotchkiss], de Northwood, de Hokeswod, Hesketh but his mother is unknown.

He died in 1350 in Yorkshire, England.

His wife is not known. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their two known children were Adam (c1310-?) and Robert (c1315-1386).

Pedigree Chart (3 generations)

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Notes

Note 1

!Stylename: [Hotchkiss], de Northwood, de Hawksgarth, de Hokeswod, de Hawkesworth, Edmund [~1285 - 1350]

!Note: Edmond starts the York “de Haukesgarth” or "Hawkesworth" surname line with its many variations.

When Hugh le Mon de Hokeswod's grandson, Adam Hotchkiss de Haukesgarth made his way to York, he hadn’t yet adopted the Hotchkiss name. Instead, he used "de Hawkeswood" —

which the scribes of York stylized into a variety of poetic woodland names:

Haukesgarth – "hawk’s protected grove"

Haukeswell – "hawk’s woodland spring"

Hawkesworth – "hawk’s wooded farmstead"

Hawkeswold – "hawk’s windy wood": open, highland woodland — chilly, windswept, and exactly where you’d expect a hawk to rule the skies.

The use of the estate-based surname and the generational fit both support the theory that Edmund was the brother of Roger, the first actual bearer of the Hotchkiss

surname. Both came from Hawkeswood. The earliest freeman entries in York date to 1335–1347. His probate represents one of the earliest confirmed uses of the

Hawksworth name in Yorkshire, marking a key point in the scribal evolution from Hawkeswood to Hawksworth as a distinct surname.

!Note: Scribal Convergence Theory – Origin of the Hawksworth Surname

The surname Hawksworth may have more than one point of origin. While the village of Hawksworth near Guiseley in West Yorkshire is attested in records as early as 1030 [Hafeces-weorðe] and again in the Domesday Book [1086], the earliest appearances of the surname Hawksworth in probate and legal records appear much later—primarily in the 14th century.

Concurrently, a branch of the Hotchkiss of Hawkeswood family—landed gentry in Shropshire—undergoes a documented name shift during the same period. By the mid-14th century, members of this family appear in Yorkshire as Edmond de Hawksworth [~1290 - 1350] and others, while earlier family members were recorded as Hochekys, Hogkyns, and Hurtsky. This suggests that Hawksworth in these instances may have evolved as a scribal simplification or reinterpretation of "Hotchkiss of Hawkeswood."

This phenomenon—termed here the Scribal Convergence Theory—posits that the surname Hawksworth did not always originate from the place-name Hawksworth, but rather, in some cases, from families whose own names sounded like or were tied to place-names such as Hawkeswood. Scribes encountering these names may have standardized or corrected them toward a known local name—thus converting “of Hawkeswood” into the simpler and more familiar “Hawksworth.”

In this model, Hawksworth is both a toponymic surname [derived from the village of that name] and a convergent surname [derived from reinterpretation of Hawkeswood or similar names]. This explains why early “Hawksworth” individuals appear suddenly and independently in regions far from the village of Hawksworth itself. This phenomenon is also observed in other regional families where scribes favored familiar place-names over phonetically similar, but less common, surnames.

!Source: Hochesworde - Domesday Book, 1086 https://opendomesday.org/place/SK7543/hawksworth/

See Image.

Note: This form means “Hoc’s enclosure” — a settlement named for an individual called Hoc or Hoken. Hoken is a variant of the Scandinavian masculine name Haakon [or Håkon/Hakon], derived from Old Norse Hákon, meaning "high son," "noble son," or "chosen son". Hochesworde represents an early place-name, not a hereditary family name. The Hotchkiss surname appears only in the 14th century when estate-based identifiers began attaching permanently to people. The similarity therefore reflects naming practice, not lineage continuity.

!Source: York Medieval Probate Index, 1267-1500 https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=ORIGINS%2FYORKMEDIEVALPROBATE%2F11540&tab=this

First name[s] Edmund De

Document Type: Administration; Language: Latin; Probate date: 14 Aug 1350; Reference code: Reg 10 [Zouche]; Folio: 341v

Last name Hawksgarth

Image link http://www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/remote-services/copying/order-form/

Last name [alternative] Haukesgarth

Record set York Medieval Probate Index, 1267-1500

Status/occupation Master, clerk

Category Birth, Marriage & Death [Parish Registers]

Year 1350

Subcategory Wills & Probate

Court York Prerogative & Exchequer Courts

Collections from England, Great Britain