Contents [hide]

Westwood History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Westwood History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Westwood family

The surname Westwood was first found in Kent at Westwood, a hamlet, in the parish of Southfleet, union of Dartford, hundred of Axton, Dartford, and Wilmington, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone. Here we found Robert de Westwod recorded in 1207. A few years later, Alan de Westwude was found in the Assize Rolls for Gloucestershire in 1221 and later again, John Westwod was recorded in Essex in 1371. 1

Westwood can be found throughout Britain as the place name literally means "dweller by the west wood." 2 3

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: Richard de Westwode, Kent; and Henry de Westwode, Cambridgeshire. 4

The Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I. listed Henry de Westewode, Devon, Henry III-Edward I 5 and later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included: Willelmus de Westwod. 4

A well educated family, we found entries in the Register of the University of Oxford: William Westwood, Gloucestershire, 1579; and Rowland Westwood, London, 1608. 4

Early History of the Westwood family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Westwood research. Another 52 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1450, 1774, 1805, 1850, 1893, 1929, 1944, 1945 and 1970 are included under the topic Early Westwood History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Westwood Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Westwood, Westwoode, Weswood and others.

Early Notables of the Westwood family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

John Westwood (1805-1893), English entomologist and palæographer, son of John Westwood (1774-1850), medallist and die-sinker, by Mary, daughter of Edward Betts of Sheffield, born in that town on 22 De...
Baron Westwood, of Gosforth in the County of Northumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1944 for the trade unionist William Westwood. He was General Secretary o...

Westwood Ranking

In the United Kingdom, the name Westwood is the 755^th most popular surname with an estimated 8,841 people with that name. 6

Westwood migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Westwood Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

William Westwood, who settled in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1630
William Westwood, aged 28, from Essex, who settled in New England in 1634 aboard the ship "Francis", bound for Cambridge
Mrs. Bridgett Westwood, aged 32, from Essex, who settled in New England in 1634 aboard the ship "Francis", bound for Cambridge 7
Robert Westwood, who arrived in Virginia in 1643 8
Thomas Westwood, who landed in Virginia in 1650 8

Westwood Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Westwood, who arrived in New York in 1812 8
Caroline Westwood, aged 19, who arrived in New York in 1868 8
William Westwood, who arrived in St Clair County, III in 1870 8
Edward Westwood, who landed in St Clair County, Illinois in 1872 8

Westwood migration to Australia +

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

Westwood Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Westwood, (Wastwood), Scottish convict who was convicted in Edinburgh, Scotland for life, transported aboard the "Asiatic" on 5th June 1819, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 9
Mr. James Westwood, British carpenter who was convicted in Worcester, Worcestershire, England for 14 years for burglary, transported aboard the "Caledonia" on 5th July 1820, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), he died in 1860 10
Mr. George Westwood, British convict who was convicted in Warwick, England for life, transported aboard the "Asia" on 29th September 1831, settling in New South Wales, Australia 11
Miss Ann Westwood, (b. 1815), aged 19, English servant who was convicted in Worcester, Worcestershire, England for 14 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Edward" on 23rd April 1834, arriving in Tasmania, (Van Diemen's Land) 12
Mr. Joseph Westwood, (b. 1812), aged 22, Cornish settler convicted in Cornwall, UK on 31st July 1833, sentenced for life for stealing 3 horses from James Crook, transported aboard the ship "Moffatt" on 29th January 1834 to Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, Australia 13
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Westwood 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:

Westwood Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. James Westwood, (b. 1820), aged 20, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Slains Castle" arriving in Wellington, New Zealand on 25th January 1841 14
Joseph Westwood, who landed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1841
James Westwood, aged 20, a carpenter, who arrived in Port Nicholson aboard the ship "Slains Castle" in 1841
Miss Mary Westwood, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "John Scott" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 7th March 1858 15
Mr. William Westwood, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "John Scott" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 7th March 1858 15
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Westwood 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. 16

Westwood Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mathew Westwood, aged 18, who landed in Barbados in 1635 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Westwood (post 1700) +

Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood DBE RDI (1941-2022), née Swire, English fashion designer and businesswoman who was responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream
William John "Bill" Westwood (1925-1999), 36th Anglican Bishop of Peterborough (1984 to 1996)
Lee Westwood (b. 1973), English PGA golfer
Ms. Rosalind Jane Westwood M.B.E. (b. 1960), British recipient of the Member of the Order of the British Empire on 29th December 2018 for services to Museums and to Culture in the East Midlands 17
William James Westwood (1887-1954), Canadian politician
Troy Westwood (b. 1967), Canadian CFL football player
Keiren Westwood (b. 1984), British football player
Joseph Westwood (1884-1948), Scottish Labour politician
John Obadiah Westwood (1805-1893), British entomologist and archaeologist
Bryan Westwood (1930-2000), Australian artist, two-time winner of the Archibald Prize

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Testa de Nevill or "Liber Feodorum" or "Book of Fees," thought to have been written by Ralph de Nevill, for King John (1199–1216)
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's Retrieved January 6th 2023, retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
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 14th July 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/atlas
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/caledonia
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 12th January 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/asia/1831
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th January 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/edward
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 30th May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_convicts.pdf
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). 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
"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