Hayden

(Heydon, Haydon, Haden, Hadden, Hyden, Headen, Haddon)

The name Hayden derived from the town of Heydon, in the English county of Norfolk. The word signifies the Highdown or plain on a gill (a small narrow steep-sided valley that is larger than a gully and smaller than a canyon). The Highdown which gives its name to the family is about fourteen miles west of Norwich in Norfolk County, England. William the Conqueror bestowed this section upon the Earl of Warren, who, by intermarriage with the Haydens, became with them retainers of these estates. They were also intermarried with the Longsvilles, Gurneys, Boleyns and other noble families, their Coat of Arms is on record in the British Museum. "Haydon Hall" was in 1829 the seat of William Earl Lygton Bulwer, Esq.