Select Hayward Miscellany



Here are some Hayward stories and accounts over the years:


The Hayward in the Medieval Village

There was an interesting entry about pea-gleaning in Wolveston in 1378:
"It was ordained by common consent that, when the hayward blew his horn, they should come to gather peas; and when he blew his horn again, they should depart from the said peas under the pain of 6d and also that none should gather among other peas than his own except for the poor."

Sir Rowland Hayward

Rowland Hayward was born in Bridgnorth, Shropshire around 1520, the son of George Hayward a prosperous shoemaker who became the local MP.  The young Rowland was educated in the town's grammar school. Coming to London, he was freeman of the Clothworkers' Company in 1541, was promoted to the Livery in 1549 and served as Master in 1559.  He made his money in the international cloth trade.  Later, he was a founder of the Muscovy Company which sought a northeast passage to the Indies.   He was wealthy and invested in property around the country. 

His civic career was long and distinguished.  He became an Alderman in 1560 and the following year was made President of Bethlem and Bridewell hospitals.  He was later to serve as Surveyor General for hospitals and was revered for his work in plague relief.  However, he himself succumbed to disease in 1593. 


Haywards in Wiltshire

The Hayward family tree shows them originating in the village of Lacock in Wiltshire and marrying into the aristocratic Johnson family of Bowden Hall (there was also a wealthy branch of the Hayward family living at Freshford manor during the 18th century). 

Frederick Hayward, great grandson of John Hayward of Lacock, took passage from London to Australia in 1846.  He became a notable figure in the development of sheep farming in South Australia and his name stands high on the roll of pastoral pioneers.  He returned to England in 1864 a wealthy man and purchased an estate at Limpley Stoke.  He named the estate Aroona after his old South Australian station.  Frederick and his wife Ellen had eleven children.  He was affectionately known locally as Squire Hayward and lived onto 1912, close to his ninetieth year.


Thomas Hayward of Bridgewater

The first Bridgewater Hayward was Thomas Hayward who was born in Aylesford, Essex in England in 1597. Thomas and his wife Suzanna arrived in America sometime between 1632 and 1640.  One son John was born in Aylesford in 1632; another son Nathaniel in Bridgewater, Massachusetts in 1640.

During King Phillip's War of 1676, Captain Thomas Hayward saw Indians lurking around Bridgewater and called for reinforcements.  They was slow in coming.  So an expedition from Bridgewater was sent out.  The captured or killed 173 Indians.  Those captured were taken to the town pound.  They were given food and drink and apparently had a merry night.  


Alvinza Hayward in San Mateo

Sandwiched between Burlingame to the north and Belmont to the south and stretching from the bay to the oak-studded hills, San Mateo has lured prospective residents with its location and mild Mediterranean climate since Alvinza Hayward built his mansion there in the late 1800's.

The stick-style mansion with its gabled roof style was impressive and out of character for the stern, dour, sometimes vulgar Alvinza Hayward who had lived in the mansion with his wife Charity and daughter Emma.  He had on the estate a huge stable and a race track built to run his magnificent horses.  He fenced in deer and elk for his enjoyment and he had a lake created with plenty of ducks and swans.  Of course he had servants for tending to the cooking, housekeeping, and keeping the gardens, hedges, and grounds in immaculate shape.  But he was still a man from a laboring background.  His wife never did quite adjust to being rich and and practiced thrift almost to the extreme.

When Hayward died in 1904, the mansions and grouinds were sold to a local group and converted into a hotel.  It burned in a spectacular 1920 fire.




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