Contents [hide]

Woodhouse History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Woodhouse History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Early Origins of the Woodhouse family

The surname Woodhouse was first found in Leicestershire at Woodhouse a civil parish and a chapelry, in the parish and union of Barrow-upon-Soar, hundred of West Goscote.

However there are over other places named Woodhouse in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, West Yorkshire and in Leeds. These later places are smaller than the Leicestershire parish.

One of the reasons for the many listings is the origin of the place name: from the Old English words wudu + hus, which literally means "house(s) in or near a wood." 1

"This family is very ancient, for they were gentlemen of good ranke in the time of King John, as it appeareth by many antient grants and evidences of theirs which I have seen," wrote Peacham in his "Compleate Gentleman," in 1614.

Robert de Wodehouse or Woodhouse (d. 1345?), was Treasurer of the Exchequer, son of Bertram de Wodehouse, a Norfolk knight who fought with distinction against the Scots under Edward I. 2

Early History of the Woodhouse family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Woodhouse research. Another 78 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1193, 1573, 1585, 1605, 1608, 1623, 1624, 1640, 1653, 1654, 1658, 1660, 1681, 1833, 1877 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Woodhouse History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Woodhouse Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Woodhouse, Wodehouse, Wouldhouse and others.

Early Notables of the Woodhouse family

Distinguished members of the family include

Thomas Woodhouse (d. 1573), English Roman Catholic martyr, a native of Lincolnshire. "On 16 June 1573 he was tried for high treason in the Guildhall, London. He distinguished himself by his intrepid b...
Peter Woodhouse (fl. 1605), was an English poet and the "author of 'The Flea,' or, adopting the subsidiary title, 'Democritvs his Dreame, or the Contention betweene the Elephant and the Flea.' The onl...

Woodhouse Ranking

In the United States, the name Woodhouse is the 6,050^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 3 However, in the United Kingdom, the name Woodhouse is ranked the 678^th most popular surname with an estimated 9,734 people with that name. 4

Migration of the Woodhouse family to Ireland

Some of the Woodhouse family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 70 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Woodhouse migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Woodhouse Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

William and Mary Woodhouse, who settled in Virginia in 1637
William Woodhouse, who arrived in Virginia in 1642
Henry Woodhouse, who arrived in New England in 1650 5
Thomas Woodhouse who settled in Virginia in 1653
Nich Woodhouse, who arrived in Virginia in 1654 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Woodhouse Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

George Woodhouse, who arrived in Savanna(h), Georgia in 1794 5

Woodhouse Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Harlow Woodhouse, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1837 5
Achison Woodhouse, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1837 5
G F Woodhouse, aged 35, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1847 5
Elisha Woodhouse, who arrived in America in 1849 5
Jane Woodhouse, aged 28, who landed in New York in 1854 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Woodhouse migration to Australia +

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

Woodhouse Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Woodhouse, (b. 1798), aged 22, English ploughman who was convicted in East Riding, Yorkshire, England for 7 years for larceny, transported aboard the "Earl St Vincent" on 6th April 1820, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1846 6
Mr. James Woodhouse, British Convict who was convicted in London, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 25th June 1838, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7
Thomas Woodhouse, English convict from Derby, who was transported aboard the "Agincourt" on July 6, 1844, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 8
William Woodhouse, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Mariner" in 1847 9
Mr. Joseph Woodhouse, English convict who was convicted in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Eden" on 30th September 1848, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island) 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Woodhouse 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:

Woodhouse Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

John Woodhouse, who landed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1840
Cecilia Woodhouse, aged 18, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Martha Ridgway" in 1842
Thomas Woodhouse, aged 17, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Martha Ridgway" in 1842
Miss Anne Woodhouse, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Stately" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 1st June 1851 11
Mr. Woodhouse, British settler travelling from London with his brother aboard the ship "Huntress" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 21st April 1863 12
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Woodhouse (post 1700) +

Derek Woodhouse (1948-2017), Canadian-born American judge for the Santa Clara County Superior Court (2005-2017)
Samuel Washington Woodhouse (1821-1904), American surgeon, explorer and naturalist
The Ven. Andrew Henry Woodhouse DSC (1923-2019), English Anglican priest, Archdeacon of Ludlow from 1970 to 1982, and Archdeacon of Hereford from 1982 to 1991
Robert Woodhouse (1773-1827), English mathematician, born at Norwich, the son of Robert Woodhouse, a linendraper and freeholder in the town 13
James Woodhouse (1735-1820), known as ‘the poetical shoemaker,’ he was born at Rowley Regis, Staffordshire from parents "who came of old yeoman stock" 13
George Edward Sealy Woodhouse DL (1924-1988), English cricketer for Somerset and Dorset
Curtis Woodhouse (b. 1980), English professional footballer and boxer
Sir Charles Woodhouse (1893-1978), English Admiral, Captain HMS Ajax - Battle of the River Plate (1939)
Christopher Montague Woodhouse DSO, OBE (1917-2001), 5th Baron Terrington, Conservative politician and Member of Parliament
Mr. Thomas Woodhouse, British sheriff, held the joint position of Sheriff of Nottingham, England from 1469 to 1472
... (Another 7 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Woodhouse 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: In hoc signo
Motto Translation: In this token.

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
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/
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
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 10th September 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-st-vincent
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 19th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2014, November 24) Agincourt voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1844 with 226 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/agincourt/1844
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) MARINER 1847. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1847Mariner.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 15th November 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eden
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
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 13 Feb. 2019