Wullrish History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Wullrish is one of the oldest family names to come from the Anglo-Saxon tribes of 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 Wullrish family

The surname Wullrish 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 Wullrish family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wullrish 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 Wullrish History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wullrish Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Wullrish has undergone many spelling variations, including Woolrich, Woolridge, Wolrich, Woolrych, Wolridge, Wooldridge and many more.

Early Notables of the Wullrish 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 Wullrish Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Wullrish family

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Wullrish were among those contributors: John and Sarah Woolrich, who settled in Salem, Massachusetts in 1630; Joanne Woolrich, who arrived in Virginia in 1635; as did Timothy Woolrich in 1650.

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