Wooldrige History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Wooldrige originated with the Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled Britain. It is derived from Wulfric, a Germanic personal name that became common in England after the Norman Conquest. After King William the Conqueror defeated the Saxon nobility at the Battle of Hastings, he encouraged the immigration of skilled tradesmen and administrators from the continent into England. Many of these came from the area where Germany would later become a nation. This resulted in the importation of a large number of new personal names and surnames. The personal name Wulfric means "wolf-powerful." 1

This name appears in the Domesday Book as Wlfric and Vlfric. 2 This name is a vernacular name, arising from the vernacular tradition of naming. According to this custom, names were originally composed of vocabulary elements from the local language. Vernacular names that were derived from ancient Germanic personal names have cognates in most European languages. For example, the court of Charlemagne (742-814) was Christian and Latin-speaking, but the Frankish dialect of Old German was commonly used for personal names. Vernacular names were widespread throughout Normandy. Accordingly, many typical English and French names are in fact, originally of Germanic origin and often have cognates in other European countries.

Early Origins of the Wooldrige family

The surname Wooldrige was first found in Shropshire. "This is a very ancient Shropshire family, descended from Sir Adam Wolryche, Knight, of Wenlock, living in the reign of Henry III., and who previously to his being knighted, was admitted to the Roll of Guild Merchants of the town of Shrewsbury in 1231, by the old Saxon name of Adam Wulfric." 3 4

However, the family was Lords of the manor of Leek, Aldithley, and Balterley in Staffordshire, and of Croxton and Etchells in the county of Cheshire, before and after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

"Garlinneck in [the parish of Creed, Cornwall] was for many years a seat of the Woolridges, by whom it was sold not long since to the Rev. George Moore." 5

Early History of the Wooldrige family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wooldrige research. Another 156 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1279, 1598, 1614, 1633, 1652, 1658, 1659, 1668, 1669, 1681, 1698, 1700, 1707, 1732, 1766, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1799, 1816 and 1871 are included under the topic Early Wooldrige History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wooldrige Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Wooldrige has appeared include Woolrich, Woolridge, Wolrich, Woolrych, Wolridge, Wooldridge and many more.

Early Notables of the Wooldrige family

Distinguished members of the family include Sir Thomas Wolrich or Wolryche (1598-1668), English Baronet and Royalist who "sprang from a Cheshire family which acquired the estate of Dudmaston in Shropshire in the twelfth century, and was thenceforth identified with that county. The deed of grant is said to be one of the oldest private deeds in England. It is reproduced in Eyton's 'Antiquities of Shropshire' (iii. 185). The pedigree is extant from 1279. Thomas was the third in descent from John Wolryche, who married 'the Fair Maid of Gatacre,' Mary, daughter of John Gatacre of that place, and was the son...
Another 143 words (10 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Wooldrige Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wooldrige migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Wooldrige arrived in North America very early:

Wooldrige Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Tho Wooldrige, who landed in Virginia in 1639 6

Wooldrige Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Michael Wooldrige, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1745 6

Citations +

Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Shirley, Evelyn Philip, The Noble and Gentle Men of England; The Arms and Descents. Westminster: John Bower Nichols and Sons, 1866, Print.
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
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)