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Bold History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Bold History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Bold family

The surname Bold was first found in Lancashire. One branch of the family later held estates at Barkisland in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

"Barkisland Hall, the ancient seat of the Gledhill family, is a stately mansion in the old English style of domestic architecture, and has long been the property of the Bolds of Bold Hall, Lancashire." 1 Bould is a hamlet in Idbury civil parish, Oxfordshire.

Moving over to Whiston, again in Lancashire, the "Bolds held the manor in Henry VIII.'s reign, from which time its descent is not distinctly traced. " 1

Early History of the Bold family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bold research. Another 133 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1150, 1443, 1455, 1602, 1604, 1613, 1627, 1645, 1649, 1660, 1662, 1677, 1679, 1683, 1684, 1694, 1698, 1736, 1737, 1750, 1751 and 1754 are included under the topic Early Bold History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bold Spelling Variations

Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Bold include Bold, Bolde, Bould, Bolt and others.

Early Notables of the Bold family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

Henry Bould (or Bolde) (born c. 1602), was a Welsh academic at the University of Oxford in the 17th century; and Arthur Bold (c 1604-1677), was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of...
Henry Bold (1627-1683), was a poetical writer and a descendant of the ancient Lancashire family of Bold of Bold Hall. "He was the fourth son of Captain William Bold of Newstead in Hampshire. He was ed...
John Bold (1679-1751), was an English divine, born at Leicester in 1679, entered St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1694, and proceeded B.A. in 1698 and Samuel Bold (1649-1737), was a controversialist...

Bold Ranking

In the United States, the name Bold is the 16,623^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Bold migration to the United States +

Searching for a better life, many English families migrated to British colonies. Unfortunately, the majority of them traveled under extremely harsh conditions: overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the ocean. For those families that arrived safely, modest prosperity was attainable, and many went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the new colonies. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Bold or a variant listed above:

Bold Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Margaret Bold who settled in Virginia in 1635
John Bold, who arrived in Virginia in 1643 3

Bold Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jean Bold, aged 22, who landed in Louisiana in 1719 3

Bold Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Bold, who arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in 1813 3
F. W. Bold, who settled in Texas in 1847
A M Bold, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 3
Andrew and Valentine Bold, who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1865 and 1873 respectively
Andrew Bold, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1865
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bold migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Bold Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. James Bold, English convict who was convicted in Liverpool, Merseyside, England for life, transported aboard the "Elphinstone" on 27th May 1837, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 4
Miss Maria Bold, (Hurst) who was convicted in Knutsford, (Nether Knutsford), Cheshire, England for 7 years , transported aboard the "Aurora" on 22nd April 1851, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5

Bold migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Bold Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

John T. Bold, aged 28, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Rooparell" in 1874

Contemporary Notables of the name Bold (post 1700) +

Aaron Bold (b. 1985), American lacrosse player
Cory Bold (b. 1988), American hip hop and R&B music producer
Adolfo J. de Bold OC, FRSC (b. 1942), Argentina-born, Canadian cardiologist and cardiovascular researcher
William Ernest Bold (1873-1953), Australian town clerk of Perth, generally acknowledged to be the founding father of town planning in Western Australia
Gary E.J. Bold (b. 1937), New Zealand physicist, Honorary Associate Professor in physics at the University of Auckland
Charles Dickens Bold (1894-1978), Swedish Major League Baseball player
Alan Bold (b. 1943), Scottish poet

Historic Events for the Bold family +

HMS Royal Oak

Percy William Bold (1918-1939), British Able Seaman with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he died in the sinking 6

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 18th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elphinstone
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th August 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/aurora
Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html