The Herridge Name

Hello and welcome to the web site dedicated to everything about the Herridge name. The site is still in it's infancy but I'm hoping it will grow into a sort of 'one stop shop' for any genealogist researching the Herridge name.

Like any amateur genealogist you have to start somewhere and sadly my passion started after the death of a parent. My father, Donald Herridge died in July 2006 after a short battle with cancer. His personal story is quite sad in some respects. You'll find the full story in our articles section.

The Herridge name, I'm told can be traced back to the mid 1300's in Bucklebury, Berkshire in it's earliest form of 'atte HATCHE' and is one of the earliest recorded surnames in the village. This is where many Herridge genealogist's believe it all began. You can read more in the articles section titled 'A Headache from Start to Finish' by Kevin Herridge.

The variation in the surname is astonishing. How did HEDDYTCHE become HERRIDGE? Who knows? One possible answer which is most probably relevant to any surname is that most of our early ancestors could not read or write. Therefore when parish records began in 1538, the only literate people were those scribing for the parish church (Monks and Clergyman etc). All these scribes had to go on was how the surname was pronounced. If a particular parish was lucky and retained it's scribe through the years then there was some sort of consistency to how the surnames were recorded. This is also pertinent to the mid 1700's when most recordings of the family name became HERRIDGE but alas H's and R's were left off!

ERIDGE	HEADEAGE	HEDDEG	HERIAGE
ERRIDGE	HEADECHE	HEDDICH	HERIDG
HEADACH	HEADIDGE	HEDDIGE	HERIDGE
HEADACHE	HEADIGE	HEDDITCH	HERIGE
HEADACK	HEDACH	HEDDYTCH	HERAGE
HEADAGE	HEDACHE	HEDDYTCHE	HERRAGE
HEADAKE	HEDACK	HEDEACH	HERREDGE
HEADATES	HEDADGE	HEDEDG	HERRIDG
HEADDITCH	HEDAGE	HEDITCH	HERRIGE
HEADEACH	HEDDAGE	HEREDGE	GERRIDGE

If anyone has come across any other variations to add to the list the please forward them to me here.

As I said earlier I'm sure it all started in Berkshire but my immediate line settled in around the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire borders at Ilkston. Other lines have settled in Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire and ultimately across the pond in the USA.

I hope this has given you a taste of what this site could become. I can only do that with your help so if you have any ideas or suggestions then please don't hesitate to contact me here.

This site is dedicated to my father Donald HERRIDGE 1929-2005 and all the Herridge's before him. God bless them all.

Welcome