This most unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from an Early occuopational surname for a swineherd, someone who tended pigs. The name is composed of the Olde English pre 7th Century "for", hog, pig, with "weard", guardian, watchman. A number of early English surnames were created from such occupational name for those employed in animal husbandry; these include Forman, from the Old Enlgihs "for", pig, with "mann", man; coward, from the Olde English "cu", cow and "hierde", herdsman; and Bulman, from the Middle English "bule", bull, with "man", man. Occupational surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and gradually became hereditary. Among the early recordings of the name Forward is that of "Florence Forewardes in the Essex Subsidy Rolls of 1327. The marriage of Jhon Forward and Gerturd Day was recorded in Meopham, Kent on the 9th February 1595. A Coat of Arms granted to the Forward family of Lancaster is black, a chevron between three crosses pattee silver. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Bartholomew Forward, which was dated 1279, The Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, The Hammer of the Scots", 1272-1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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