Daily AncestorHayward
A hayward was an old English village officer who oversaw the crops and kept stray animals and people out of the fields and hedges.
Wiktionary builds the word from hay plus ward, to guard, and defines a hayward as one whose job was overseeing the sowing and harvest of crops and protecting them from stray people or animals.
Wikipedia describes the hayward, or hedge warden, as an officer of an English parish from the Middle Ages, in charge of fences and enclosures, whose main job was to keep livestock out of the village crops. Compare the fence viewer, hog reeve and pound keeper, which have their own entries in this dictionary.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Hayward." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/hayward. Last checked 2026-10-12.