Contents [hide]

Woodgate History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Woodgate History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Woodgate family

The surname Woodgate was first found in Kent where this distinguished Anglo Saxon Kentish family have been seated in the county of Kent since about the year 1200 where, strangely, one of the first spellings of the name was Wdegat or Wdegate and was from a residence near the gate of a wood. 1

Alternatively, the name could have originated in Woodyates in Dorset where William de Wudegat was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1199. A few years later, Walter de Wodiate was found in the same rolls for 1208. Later entries include: Aluric de la Wdegate in Essex in 1222; Martin atte Wodegate in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296; William Wodiet in Berkshire in 1328; and John atte Wodeyate in the Subsidy Rolls for Warwickshire in 1332. 2

Early History of the Woodgate family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Woodgate research. Another 131 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1586, 1618, 1651, 1700, 1726 and 1828 are included under the topic Early Woodgate History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Woodgate Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Woodgate, Woodget, Woodgat, Wudgate, Wudgat and many more.

Early Notables of the Woodgate family

Distinguished members of the family include

Woodgate of Spring Grove, Pembury

Woodgate migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Woodgate Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

William Woodgate who settled in Virginia in 1635
William Woodgate, who landed in Virginia in 1635 3
Sarah Woodgate, who settled in Virginia in 1639
William Woodgate, who arrived in Maryland in 1670 3

Woodgate Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Francis Woodgate, who arrived in Virginia in 1713 3

Woodgate Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joseph Woodgate, who landed in New York in 1830 3

Woodgate migration to Australia +

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

Woodgate Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Woodgate, English convict who was convicted in Kent, England for life, transported aboard the "Fanny" on 25th August 1815, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 4
Mr. John Woodgate, British Convict who was convicted in Kent, England for life, transported aboard the "Countess of Harcourt" on 8th April 1821, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
Mr. John Woodgate, (b. 1841), aged 18, Cornish labourer departing from Plymouth aboard the ship "Abyssinian" arriving in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 20th September 1859 6
Miss Lavinia Woodgate, (b. 1844), aged 21, Cornish domestic servant, from Truro, Cornwall, UK travelling aboard the ship "Star of Brunswick" arriving in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 18th December 1865 7

Woodgate 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:

Woodgate Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Alfred Woodgate, aged 25, a farm labourer, who arrived in Hawkes Bay aboard the ship "Queen of the North" in 1874
Mr. John Woodgate, (b. 1855), aged 23, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Western Monarch" arriving in New Zealand in 1879 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Woodgate (post 1700) +

Thomas Woodgate (1857-1929), English cricketer
Leslie Woodgate (1900-1961), English choral conductor, BBC Chorus Master in 1934
John Terence Woodgate (1919-1985), English footballer
Dan Woodgate (b. 1960), English drummer of the band, Madness
Jonathan Simon Woodgate (b. 1980), English footballer
Major General Sir Edward Robert Prevost Woodgate KCMG, CB (1845-1900), British Army Officer killed in action, recipient of the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George and Companion in the Order of the Bath
Walter Bradford Woodgate (1841-1920), British barrister and oarsman who won the Wingfield Sculls three times, founder of Vincent’s Club, an undergraduate club at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1863
Margaret Rosemary Woodgate (b. 1935), former Australian politician, Member for Pine Rivers (1989–1992) and Kurwongbah (1992–1997)
Joan Mary Woodgate, Matron in Chief, Queen Alexandra's Nursing Service, retired, Hants. England
Harry Woodgate Greenhalgh (1900-1982), English footballer who played as a right back with Bolton Wanderers (1923-1928)

The Woodgate Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Esse quam videri
Motto Translation: To be, rather than to seem.

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
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 28th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/countess-of-harcourt
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_nsw_1850_59.pdf
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 19). Emigrants to Australia NSW 1860 -88 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/nsw_passenger_lists_1860_88.pdf
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html