Whitfeild History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

Early Origins of the Whitfeild family

The surname Whitfeild was first found in Northumberland at Whitfield, a parish, in the union of Haltwhistle, W. division of Tindale ward where "this place was for six centuries the property of the Whitfield family, to whom the Countess Ada, widow of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, and mother of William the Lion, King of Scotland, made a grant of it in fee, with the exception of some lands to be held under the convent of Hexham; shortly after which, the family had a grant from that establishment of nearly all Whitfield." 1

Due to the literal translation of the surname to "dweller by the white field," 2 there are many other place name in both common spellings, Whitefield and Whitfield; too many to list here. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list: Margery de Wytefled in Oxfordshire; and Peter de Whytefled in Norfolk. 3

Early History of the Whitfeild family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Whitfeild research. Another 119 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1371, 1378, 1384, 1401, 1619, 1634, 1639, 1646, 1650, 1660, 1684, 1685, 1688, 1705, 1712 and 1721 are included under the topic Early Whitfeild History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Whitfeild Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Whytefield, Whitfield, Whitefield, Whitefeild and others.

Early Notables of the Whitfeild family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was Henry Whitefield, Archdeacon of Barnstaple from 1371 to 1384; and Thomas Whitefield (fl. 1378-1401), an English politician, Member of the Parliament for Hereford in 1378 and 1401. Henry Whitfield or Whitefield (d. 1660?), was an English divine, said to have been second son of Ralph Whitfeld of Gray's Inn. "He was more probably son of Thomas Whitfeld, lord of the manor of East Sheen and of Mortlake. In 1639 Whitfield, who had become a nonconformist at...
Another 85 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Whitfeild Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Whitfeild family to Ireland

Some of the Whitfeild family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 146 words (10 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Whitfeild migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Whitfeild Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Gilbert Whitfeild, who settled in Georgia in 1623
Rich Whitfeild, who landed in Virginia in 1635 4
William Whitfeild, who landed in Virginia in 1636 4
Eliz Whitfeild, who landed in Virginia in 1664 4

Whitfeild Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Mary Whitfeild, who arrived in Virginia in 1700 4
Thomas Whitfeild, who arrived in Virginia in 1700 4

Whitfeild 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. 5

Whitfeild Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John Whitfeild, who settled in Barbados in 1660

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies