The History of Haynes

In my view, all genealogists should carry out a detailed investigation into the surname which they are researching; they should study its frequency and distribution at different periods, and build up a picture of its spelling history. It should always be looked at in the context of the other surnames and place-names in the community. If that means acquiring new skills, and an involvement in other disciplines, so be it, it is the vested interest of the genealogists which can, in the end, help to solve many of our long-standing surname problems.

George Redmunds, Surnames and Genealogy: a New Approach (2002), p. 194

Introduction

The purpose of this work is to bring together as much as is known to date of all the works related to the genealogy of Haynes and its variants and to establish with more certainty whether there is a single or multiple source of the name.

I have spent many years now collecting, processing and fashioning a history that might at a future date be added to, corrected or confirmed by a future member of the extensive family of Haynes, Heynes, Haines, Hane, etc. it is a history that dates back to Domesday and beyond depending on which variant, branch or history you prefer.

Many American and other branches believe that they are descended from the same Haynes who may be one of the few whose crest is widely published but such super-citations are wide of the mark. As will be shown there are many persons with their own crests and each are just as likely as not to be the ancestor that many are looking for.

What is true, I believe, is that there is one central family with a number of branches derived from variants but which is which? This is what I try to lay out in the following work.