Show ContentsWatingman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Watingman came to England with the ancestors of the Watingman family in the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Watingman family lived in Lincolnshire at Wadingham, a parish, in the union of Caistor, E. division of the wapentake of Manley, parts of Lindsey. 1

Early Origins of the Watingman family

The surname Watingman was first found in Lincolnshire where Gocelin Fitz Lambert was granted the lands of Wadingham by the Bishop of Bayeux. 2

Early rolls show the prominence of the name in early times: Nicholas de Wadingham was recorded c. 1160; Alan de Wadingeham was listed in the Assize Rolls for Lancashire in 1218; and Nicholas de Wadingham was recorded in 1264. 3

Early History of the Watingman family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Watingman research. Another 80 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1388, 1397, 1411, 1438, 1522, 1523, 1529, 1532, 1534, 1541, 1577 and 1609 are included under the topic Early Watingman History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Watingman Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Watingman are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Watingman include Waddingham, Wadingham, Wadham and others.

Early Notables of the Watingman family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Nicholas Wadham (1532-1609), founder of Wadham College, Oxford, born in 1532, the only surviving son of John Wadham (d. 1577), and his wife Joan, daughter and coheir of John Tregarthin of Cornwall. The family originally came and took its name from Wadham or Wadeham in the parish of Knowstone, North Devonshire, where it was settled in the reign of Edward I. Thence it migrated to Egge or Edge, near Seaton in the same county. Edge was the seat of John Wadham (d. 1411), who was appointed a judge of the...
Another 97 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Watingman Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Watingman family

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Watingman, or a variant listed above: George Wadham who settled in Virginia in 1663; Richard Wadham settled in Barbados in 1685; Phillip Waddingham settled in Virginia in 1654.



  1. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  2. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  3. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)


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