Show ContentsBoddington History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Boddington is part of the ancient legacy of the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It is a product of when the family lived in Boddington, which had parishes in the county of Gloucestershire, as well as the county of Northampton.

Early Origins of the Boddington family

The surname Boddington was first found in Gloucestershire at Boddington, a parish, in the union of Tewkesbury, partly in the Lower division of the hundred of Westminster. "This place is distinguished as the scene of the last great battle fought (in 893) between Alfred the Great and the Danes, who, having intrenched themselves, were surrounded by the king with the whole force of his dominions, with the view of reducing them by famine. After having been compelled to eat their horses, many perished from hunger, and the remainder made a desperate sally upon the English; a great number fell in the action, but a considerable body effected their escape." 1

Upper and Lower Boddington are parishes in the union of Banbury, hundred of Chipping-Warden, S. division of the county of Northampton. 1

Early History of the Boddington family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Boddington research. Another 71 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Boddington History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Boddington Spelling Variations

The first dictionaries that appeared in the last few hundred years did much to standardize the English language. Before that time, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. The language was changing, incorporating pieces of other languages, and the spelling of names changed with it. Boddington has been spelled many different ways, including Boddington, Bodington and others.

Early Notables of the Boddington family

Notables of the family at this time include

  • Edward Boddington of Gloucestershire


Australia Boddington migration to Australia +

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

Boddington Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Mr. William Boddington, English convict who was convicted in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England for life, transported aboard the "Clyde" on 20th August 1830, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 2
  • Samuel Boddington, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Ramillies" in 1849 3

New Zealand Boddington 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:

Boddington Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Edn Boddington, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840
  • Robert Boddington, aged 33, a gardener, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Mary Ann" in 1842
  • Ann Boddington, aged 33, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Mary Ann" in 1842
  • Henry Boddington, aged 10, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Mary Ann" in 1842
  • William Boddington, aged 5, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Mary Ann" in 1842
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

West Indies Boddington 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. 4
Boddington Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
  • Martha Boddington who settled in Barbados in 1669

Contemporary Notables of the name Boddington (post 1700) +

  • William Boddington (1910-1996), American field hockey player
  • Henry Boddington, English brewer, who become the sole owner a brewery in 1853, eponym of Boddington's Ale
  • Lewis Boddington (1907-1994), English Aerospace Engineer
  • Thomas Boddington, English activist
  • Henry John Boddington (1811-1865), English landscape painter, born in London, of a very large family of artists, the second son of Edward Williams and his wife Anne, née Hildebrand 5
  • Laura Boddington (b. 1980), Canadian (English-born) film and television actress
  • Samuel Boddington (1766-1843), Irish politician


  1. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  2. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 19th February 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/clyde
  3. State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) RAMILIES 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Ramillies.htm
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  5. Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 5 Feb. 2019


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