Show ContentsWolstenholme History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Wolstenholme is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived at Woolstencroft in the county of Cheshire. Further research revealed that the name is derived from the Old English personal name Wulfstan and the Old English word croft, meaning paddock, farm or enclosure, or holm, meaning area of dry land. The name thus translates as the dweller at Wulfstan's farm.

Early Origins of the Wolstenholme family

The surname Wolstenholme was first found in Lancashire where they held a family seat from very ancient times, before and after the Norman Conquest in 1066, in Wolstenholme, near Warrington, in that shire. Conjecturally they were descended from Woolston in Warwickshire, a pre-Norman Saxon settlement.

Early History of the Wolstenholme family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wolstenholme research. Another 162 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1400, 1562, 1574, 1600, 1609, 1610, 1611, 1622, 1639, 1640, 1649, 1660, 1670, 1676, 1689, 1691, 1700, 1709, 1717, 1724, 1738 and 1762 are included under the topic Early Wolstenholme History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wolstenholme Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Wolstenholme family name include Woolstenholme, Wolstonholme, Wolstenholme and many more.

Early Notables of the Wolstenholme family

Notables of the family at this time include

  • Sir John Wolstenholme (1562-1639), an English merchant who sponsored the Henry Hudson's last mission in 1610 to find the Northwest Passage, eponym of Cape Wolstenholme, Quebec, Canada. He hailed from...
  • Sir John Wolstenholme, 1st Baronet (died 1670), was Member of Parliament for Queenborough in 1640 and supporter of the Royalist side in the English Civil War; Sir Thomas Wolstenholme, was 2nd Baronet...
  • Sir Nicholas Wolstenholme, was 4th Baronet (1676-1717); Sir William Wolstenholme, 5th Baronet (1689-1724); Sir Thomas Wolstenholme, 6th Baronet (c. 1660-1738); and Sir Francis Wolstenholme, 7th Barone...


United States Wolstenholme migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Wolstenholme surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Wolstenholme Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • John Wolstenholme, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1865

Contemporary Notables of the name Wolstenholme (post 1700) +

  • Abraham Lincoln "Abe" Wolstenholme (1861-1916), American Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Quakers in the 1883 season
  • Joseph Wolstenholme (1829-1891), English mathematician who developed the Wolstenholme prime is a special type of prime number supporting Wolstenholme's theorem [1]
  • Dean Wolstenholme the Younger (1798-1883), English animal painter and engraver, born near Waltham Abbey in Essex, son of Dean Wolstenholme the elder [1]
  • Dean Wolstenholme the Elder (1757-1837), English animal painter, born in Yorkshire [1]
  • Beatrice "Trix" Wolstenholme (1920-2008), English bronze medalist freestyle swimmer at the 1934 British Empire Games
  • Mark Andrew Wolstenholme (b. 1979), English cricketer
  • William Wolstenholme (1865-1931), English composer and organist
  • John Paul Wolstenholme (b. 1982), English cricketer
  • Cecelia "Cee Cee" Wolstenholme (1915-1968), English two-time gold medalist breaststroke swimmer for Great Britain
  • Samuel Wolstenholme (1878-1933), English footballer
  • ... (Another 16 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)


The Wolstenholme 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 ardua virtus
Motto Translation: Virtue against difficulties.


  1. Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 13 Feb. 2019


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