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Sedgwick History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Sedgwick History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancient roots of the Sedgwick family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Sedgwick comes from when the family lived in the township of Sedgewick in the parish of Heversham in Westmorland.

Early Origins of the Sedgwick family

The surname Sedgwick was first found in Sussex where the family held an ancient castle and manor near Horsham. 1 Horsham "is supposed to have derived its name from Horsa, the brother of Hengist, who is said to have been interred in the immediate vicinity, in 457, after the battle with Vortimer, near Aylesford, in which he was slain." 2

Early History of the Sedgwick family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sedgwick research. Another 79 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1557, 1558, 1573, 1600, 1610, 1611, 1656, 1658 and 1669 are included under the topic Early Sedgwick History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sedgwick Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Sedgwick has appeared include Sedgewick, Sedgewicke, Sedgwicke, Sedwick and many more.

Early Notables of the Sedgwick family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

Thomas Sedgwick (Segiswycke) (d. 1573), an English Roman Catholic theologian. Under Queen Mary he became Regius professor of divinity at Cambridge in 1557, and in 1558 both rector of Stanhope, Durham...
William Sedgwick (ca.1610-1669), was an English Puritan and mystic, born in Bedfordshire, son of William Sedgwick of London. He was known as the "Apostle of the Isle of Ely" and "Doomsday Sedgwick."
Obadiah Sedgwick (c.1600-1658), was an English Puritan divine, son of Joseph Sedgwick, vicar of St. Peter's, Marlborough, Wiltshire. He was a member of the Westminster Assembly. 3
Major General Robert Sedgwick (c. 1611-1656), was an English colonist, the first Major General of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Perhaps one of the more interesting places of note regarding the Sedgwic...

Sedgwick Ranking

In the United States, the name Sedgwick is the 12,326^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 4

Sedgwick migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Sedgwick arrived in North America very early:

Sedgwick Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Joseph Sedgwick, who landed in Virginia in 1634 5
Marie Sedgwick, aged 20, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 5
Major General Robert Sedgwick (c. 1611-1656), who settled at Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1635
Mr. John Sedgwick, (b. 1611), aged 24, British settler traveling aboard the ship "Truelove" arriving in Massachusetts Bay in 1635 6
Robert Sedgwick, who landed in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1637 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Sedgwick Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Eliz Sedgwick, who landed in Virginia in 1703 5
William Sedgwick, who arrived in Virginia in 1705 5
Isaac Sedgwick, who landed in Virginia in 1705 5
Samuel Sedgwick, who landed in New England in 1740 5

Sedgwick Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Harry Lethfield Sedgwick, aged 22, who arrived in New York in 1812 5
J Sedgwick, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 5

Sedgwick migration to Australia +

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

Sedgwick Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Mary Sedgwick, (b. 1814), aged 18, English dairymaid who was convicted in Chester, Cheshire, England for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Fanny" on 14th July 1832, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, she died in 1902 7
Miss Sarah Sedgwick, (b. 1817), aged 15, English dairymaid who was convicted in Chester, Cheshire, England for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Fanny" on 14th July 1832, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
C.T. Sedgwick, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "William Watson" in 1849 8
Mr. Edmond Sedgwick, British Convict who was convicted in Manchester, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Corona" on 13th October 1866, arriving in Western Australia, Australia 9

Sedgwick 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:

Sedgwick Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

W. G. Sedgwick, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Baltasara" in 1854 10
Charlotte Sedgwick, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Baltasara" in 1854 10
Mr. W.G. Sedgwick, British settler travelling from London, UK aboard the ship "Baltasara" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 20th January 1854 11
Mrs. Charlotte Sedgwick, British settler travelling from London, UK aboard the ship "Baltasara" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 20th January 1854 11
Miss Charlotte J. Sedgwick, British settler travelling from London, UK aboard the ship "Baltasara" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 20th January 1854 11
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Sedgwick migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 12

Sedgwick Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John Sedgwick who settled in Barbados in 1679 with his servants

Contemporary Notables of the name Sedgwick (post 1700) +

Bill Sedgwick (b. 1955), American NASCAR driver
Peter Sedgwick (1934-1983), American socialist activist and writer
Theodore Sedgwick (1811-1859), American writer
John Sedgwick (1813-1864), American Civil War general
Henry Dwight Sedgwick (1861-1957), American lawyer and writer
Ellery Sedgwick (1872-1960), American publisher and editor of "The Atlantic Monthly"
Edward Sedgwick (1892-1953), American movie director, writer, actor and producer
Edie Sedgwick (1943-1971), American actress
Catharine Maria Sedgwick (1789-1867), American novelist
Anne Douglas Sedgwick (1873-1935), American-born British writer
... (Another 7 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Sedgwick family +

RMS Titanic

Mr. Charles Frederick Waddington Sedgwick (d. 1912), aged 25, English Second Class passenger from Liverpool, Merseyside who sailed aboard the RMS Titanic and died in the sinking 13

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. 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)
Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's. Retrieved October 6th 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 29th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fanny
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The barque WILLIAM WATSON 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849WilliamWatson.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/corona
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 1st November 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html