Contents [hide]

Whittingham History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Whittingham Surname History

Origins Available:
England

The Whittingham surname is a habitational name derived from places any of several places in Britain, which are in turn derived from the Old English terms "Hwita," meaning "white," and "ham," meaning "homestead."

Early Origins of the Whittingham family

The surname Whittingham was first found in Lancashire at Whittingham, a township, in the ecclesiastical parish of Goosnargh, parish of Kirkham, hundred of Amounderness. "Warin de Whitington, who lived in the reign of John, held lands in the township, and his descendants held the manor in the reign of Edward II. The family long continued connected with the place; and a Richard Whittingham, who had two sons and a daughter, was living in the middle of the last century [(1700s)]." 1

Early History of the Whittingham family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Whittingham research. Another 75 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1524 and 1579 are included under the topic Early Whittingham History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Whittingham Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Whittingham has been recorded under many different variations, including Whittingham, Whitingham, Wittingham and others.

Early Notables of the Whittingham family

Distinguished members of the family include

William Whittingham (1524?-1579), English divine, Dean of Durham, born at Chester about 1524, son of William Whittingham...
that family was originally from "Haughton (Hoghton) Tower, Lancashire, a county from which the Whittinghams originally came...

Whittingham Ranking

In the United States, the name Whittingham is the 17,925^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Whittingham migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Whittingham or a variant listed above:

Whittingham Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Whittingham, who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1630
William Whittingham, who settled in Boston in 1630
John Whittingham, who landed in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1637 3
William Whittingham, who landed in New England in 1660 3
Richard Whittingham, who arrived in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1693 3

Whittingham Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joseph Whittingham, aged 21, who arrived in New York in 1812 3
Charles Whittingham, aged 28, who arrived in New York in 1812 3
Lydia Whittingham, who landed in New York in 1851 3

Whittingham migration to Australia +

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

Whittingham Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Robert Whittingham, English convict from Middlesex, who was transported aboard the "Ann" on August 1809, settling in New South Wales, Australia 4
Mr. John Whittingham, English convict who was convicted in London, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Bardaster" on 7th September 1835, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
Mr. William Whittingham, British Convict who was convicted in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Eden" on 12th March 1842, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island) 6
John Whittingham, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Petrel" in 1851 7

Whittingham 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:

Whittingham Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Moses Whittingham, (b. 1832), aged 20, English settler travelling from London aboard the ship "True Briton" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 5th February 1853 8

Whittingham 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. 9

Whittingham Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mr. Thomas Whittingham, who was aboard the ship "Sea Venture" who wrecked in Bermudas in 1609, he was part of the crew that tried to sail on in the long boat to find help and never returned. 10
Thomas Whittingham, who arrived in St. Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1684

Contemporary Notables of the name Whittingham (post 1700) +

Byron Whittingham (1870-1942), American politician and businessman
Fred George "Mad Dog" Whittingham (1939-2003), American NFL football linebacker, father of Kyle Whittingham
Ken Whittingham, American television director who has won five NAACP Image Awards
Charles Edward Whittingham (1913-1999), American Thoroughbred race horse trainer who had 2,534 career wins, inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame (1974), eponym of the Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap
William Rollinson Whittingham (1805-1879), American fourth Episcopal Bishop of Maryland
Peter Michael Whittingham (1984-2020), English professional footballer for the England U21 National Team (2004-2007)
Charles Whittingham (1795-1876), English printer who took over the Chiswick Press, a nephew of Charles Whittingham 11
Charles Whittingham (1767-1840), English printer, founder of Chiswick Press in 1811, born on 16 June 1767 at Stoke Farm, Caludon or Calledon, in Warwickshire, three miles from Coventry, the youngest child of Charles Whittingham, a farmer 11
Samuel "Sam" Whittingham (1884-1910), English footballer
Alfred "Alf" Whittingham (1914-1993), English professional footballer
... (Another 11 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Whittingham family +

HMS Prince of Wales

Mr. T R Whittingham, British Stoker 1st Class, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and survived the sinking 12

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)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Ann voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1809 with 200 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/ann/1809
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/bardaster
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 15th December 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eden
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) PETREL 1851. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1851Petrel.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's Retrieved January 6th 2023, retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 Jan. 2019
HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html