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Goodfellow History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Goodfellow History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancient history of the name Goodfellow dates back to the days of the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It was a name given to a good companion. A broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, nickname surnames referred to a characteristic of the first person who used the name. They can describe the bearer's favored style of clothing, appearance, habits, or character.

Early Origins of the Goodfellow family

The surname Goodfellow was first found in Essex where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Goodfellow family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Goodfellow research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Goodfellow History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Goodfellow 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 Goodfellow include Goodfellow, Goodfelow and others.

Early Notables of the Goodfellow family

Notables of the family at this time include

Roger Goodfellow of Essex...
The fictional character Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream...

Goodfellow Ranking

In the United States, the name Goodfellow is the 12,835^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Goodfellow 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 Goodfellow or a variant listed above:

Goodfellow Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Goodfellow, aged 30, who landed in Missouri in 1840 2
David Goodfellow, aged 33, who arrived in Missouri in 1840 2
James Goodfellow, aged 22, who landed in Missouri in 1847 2
S D Goodfellow, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 2
S S Goodfellow, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 2
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Goodfellow migration to Australia +

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

Goodfellow Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

William Goodfellow, English convict from Staffordshire, who was transported aboard the "Almorah" on April 1817, settling in New South Wales, Australia 3
Mr. Thomas Goodfellow, British Convict who was convicted in Berkshire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Eleanor" on 26th June 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 4
Mr. Enoch Goodfellow, English convict who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the ""Blenheim"" on 24th July 1850, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) and Norfolk Island, Australia 5
Charles Felix Goodfellow, aged 33, a tailor, who arrived in South Australia in 1852 aboard the ship "Epaminondas" 6
John Goodfellow, aged 26, a schoolmaster, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "John Banks" 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Goodfellow 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:

Goodfellow Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

W Goodfellow, who landed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1840
William Goodfellow, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Bombay" in 1865 8
Henry Goodfellow, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Bombay" in 1865 8
Mr. Augusta Goodfellow, (b. 1875), aged 2, Cornish settler departing on 26th September 1877 aboard the ship "Opawa" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 3rd January 1878 9
Miss Catherine Goodfellow, (b. 1877), aged 4 months, Cornish settler departing on 26th September 1877 aboard the ship "Opawa" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 3rd January 1878 9
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Goodfellow (post 1700) +

Geoff Goodfellow (b. 1956), American inventor of the wireless communicator, a product called RadioMail in 1992 and entered into a partnership with Research in Motion, RAM Mobile Data, and Ericsson
William Goodfellow (b. 1947), American founding member and Executive director of the Center for International Policy
James "Jimmy" Goodfellow (1943-2020), English professional footballer and manager from Bishop Auckland, England
Charles Augustus Goodfellow VC CB (1836-1915), English recipient of the Victoria Cross
Marc Goodfellow (b. 1981), English professional footballer
Major-General Howard Courtney Goodfellow (1898-1983), British Deputy Director of Supplies & Transport (1943-1944) 10
Ebbie Goodfellow, Canadian professional ice hockey player
Michael Goodfellow (b. 1941), British professor in Microbial Systematics
Ebbie Goodfellow (1906-1985), Canadian professional NHL ice hockey player

Citations +

"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)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Almorah voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1817 with 180 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/almorah/1817
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eleanor
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/blenheim
South Australian Register Tuesday 3 February 1852. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) EPAMINONDAS 1852. Retrieved www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/epaminondas1852.shtml
South Australian Register Wednesday 30th May 1855. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) John Banks 1855. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/johnbanks1855.shtml
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 7th November 2010). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 30). Emigrants to Lyttelton 1858-84 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/new_zealand_assisted.pdf
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, October 5) Howard Goodfellow. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Goodfellow/Howard_Courtney/Great_Britain.html