Pounds History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Pounds is a name that first reached England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Pounds family lived in Hampshire. Their name, however, is a reference to the Old English word pound, meaning an enclosure where animals were kept, and indicates that the original bearer lived near such a structure.

Early Origins of the Pounds family

The surname Pounds was first found in Hampshire where they were granted lands by Wiliam the Conqueror for their assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. They held a family seat as Lords of the manor of Drayton in that shire. Unfortunately the grant and details of the village and lands of Drayton, according to the Domesday Book taken in 1086 have been lost, and it is not possible to identify the residence at that time.

Early History of the Pounds family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pounds research. Another 55 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1550, 1573, 1669, 1687, 1689, 1690, 1694, 1697, 1703 and 1724 are included under the topic Early Pounds History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pounds Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Pounds are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Pounds include Pownd, Pownde, Pound, Pounds, Pounde, de la Pound and others.

Early Notables of the Pounds family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was James Pound (1669-1724), English astronomer, was the son of John Pound, of Bishop's Canning, Wiltshire. He matriculated at St. Mary Hall, Oxford, on 16 March 1687; graduated B.A. from Hart Hall on 27 Feb. 1694, and M.A. from Gloucester Hall in the...
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pounds Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pounds Ranking

In the United States, the name Pounds is the 4,239^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 1

Pounds migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Pounds, or a variant listed above:

Pounds Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Robert R Pounds, aged 28, who arrived in New York in 1812 2
James Pounds, who settled in Pennsylvania in 1832
Courtice Pounds, aged 32, who landed in America, in 1894
James Pounds, aged 72, who landed in America, in 1895

Pounds Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Frederick Pounds, aged 32, who immigrated to the United States from England, in 1902
Wells Pounds, aged 28, who immigrated to the United States, in 1904
William Pounds, aged 25, who settled in America, in 1904
Louse Pounds, aged 29, who landed in America from London, England, in 1909
Charles C. Pounds, aged 51, who immigrated to America from London, England, in 1914
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Pounds migration to Australia +

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

Pounds Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Frances Pounds, British Convict who was convicted in Kent, England for life, transported aboard the "Earl Cornwallis" in August 1800, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 3
Miss Philadelphia Pounds, (b. 1781), aged 19, British Convict who was convicted in Kent, England for life, transported aboard the "Earl Cornwallis" in August 1800, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, she died in 1816 3
Mr. John Pounds, (b. 1810), aged 21, English farmer who was convicted in Wiltshire, England for life for machine breaking, transported aboard the "Eleanor" on 26th June 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1867 4
Thomas Pounds, aged 29, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1850 aboard the ship "Sea Queen" 5
Thomas Pounds, aged 29, a labourer, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Sea Queen" in 1850 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Pounds (post 1700) +

Lewis Humphrey Pounds (1861-1947), American businessman and politician
Jeared Wells "Bill" Pounds (1878-1936), American pitcher in Major League baseball
Darryl Lamont Pounds (b. 1972), former American football defensive back
Kenneth Alwyne Pounds (b. 1934), Emeritus Professor of physics
Nathan Roscoe Pounds (1870-1964), distinguished American legal scholar and educator
Lewis Humphrey Pounds (b. 1861), American Republican politician, Borough President of Brooklyn, New York, 1913-17; New York State Treasurer, 1925-26 6
John Pounds (1766-1839), English teacher of poor children, born in St. Mary Street, Portsmouth, responsible for the creation of the concept of Ragged schools
Charles Courtice Pounds (1862-1927), English singer and actor
Ms. Rachel Dawn Pounds O.B.E., British Head of Operations for Emergency Health Unit at Save the Children, was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 29th December 2018 for Humanitarian services 7
William F. Pounds, Dean and is currently a professor emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 13th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-cornwallis
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eleanor
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) SEA QUEEN 1850. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850SeaQueen.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 13) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62507, 28 December 2018 | London Gazette, The Gazette, Dec. 2018, www.thegazette.co.uk/honours-lists