What is "ryeland"

The Ryeland is one of the oldest English sheep breeds going back seven centuries when the monks of Leominster in Herefordshire bred sheep and grazed them on the rye pastures, giving them their name. It was introduced into Australia in 1919 and are classified as an endangered breed by the Rare Breeds Trust of Australia and also are one of the nine heritage breeds that were the foundation of the sheep and wool industry in Australia. The Ryeland was one of the breeds used to introduce the poll gene (no horns) to the Dorset breed in the development of the Poll Dorset. This breed is raised primarily for meat.

Ryeland is an uncommon surname found in England, Canada and Australia. Any connection to the breed of sheep is unknown.

The Ryeland Family Tree being researched by Timothy Ryeland of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada has traced this family back as far as James Ryeland born around the year 1788 in Burford, Oxfordshire, England and lists 713 descendants of James Ryeland and his wife Sarah James. Recent DNA testing on the Y Chromosome through a surname project at FamilyTreeDNA has shown a close connection between the surname Ryeland and other surnames such as Ryland and Rylant.