Aldred History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The history of the name Aldred goes back those Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled over Britain. Such a name was given to a person noted for giving good counsel 1 or perhaps it was "an Anglo-Saxon personal name." 2
Early Origins of the Aldred family
The surname Aldred was first found in Cambridgeshire, at Aldreth, a hamlet that dates back to 1170 when it was listed as Alrehetha in the Pipe Rolls. The name literally means "landing-place by the alders" from the Old English words for "alor" and "hyth." 3 4
However, the surname dates back further and is recorded in the Domesday Book as Ældred, Ældret, Aldret, Eldred, Eldret 5 as holding lands under the Norman King William soon after the Conquest in 1086. 6 In fact, Aldred was a famous ecclesiastic, who was Bishop of York from 1044-1060, and Archbishop of York from 1060-1069, and it was he who crowned the Conqueror.
"Edred or Eadred (died 955) was an ancient Saxon king of the English, youngest son of Eadward the elder and Eadgifu, and was chosen in 946 to succeed his brother Eadmund. At his coronation he received the submission of the Northumbrians, the Northmen, the Welsh, and the Scots. " 7
Aldred the Glossator (10th cent.) was the "writer of the glosses in the Northumbrian dialect which are inserted in the Latin manuscript of the Gospels, known as the 'Lindisfarne Gospels,' or 'Durham Book,' and written about the year 700 in honour of St. Cuthberht. " 7 Aldred (d. 1069), was an early English divine, Archbishop of York who first appears as a monk of Winchester. 7
Early feudal rolls provided the king of the time a method of cataloguing holdings for taxation, but today they provide a glimpse into the wide surname spellings in use at that time. Freqently found in early rolls in Latin, as a forename or in the singular from, we found Aldret de Windegate c. 1145-1165 in Northumberland, Eldredus in 1161-1177 in Herefordshire, Golding Aldred c. 1224 in Clerkenwell, Isle of Man, and William Aldret in the Subsidy Rolls for Worcestershire in 1275. Eilredus de Mannest was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls for Kent in 1198, William Eyldred in the Assize Rolls for Kent in 1317, and Maud Aildred was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Essex in 1327. 5
The Excerpta e Rotulis Finium in Turri Londinensi (London) listed Aldred filius Roger and the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed Aldred Ander in Cambridgeshire. 8 In Somerset, we found two early records: Nicholas Alrede and William Aired, both listed 1 Edward III (during the first year of the reign of King Edward III.) 9
Early History of the Aldred family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Aldred research. Another 59 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1198, 1200, 1552, 1561, 1563, 1586, 1588, 1624, 1632, 1646 and 1653 are included under the topic Early Aldred History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Aldred 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 Aldred family name include Aldred, Aldreth, Aldret and others.
Early Notables of the Aldred family
Notables of the family at this time include John Eldred (1552-1632), an English traveler and merchant. Born in New Buckenham, Norfolk, after his parents moved from Suffolk, he traveled to Tripoli and returned home with a ship full of goods that were sold making him a wealthy man with a large fortune. His son, Sir Revett Eldred, 1st Baronet of Saxham Magna Suffolk (d. c. 1653) held the title but became extinct on his death. Thomas Eldred (1561-1624)...
Another 77 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Aldred Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Aldred 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. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Aldred or a variant listed above:
Aldred Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Robert Aldred, aged 24, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Thomas & John" 10
- Robert Aldred, who landed in Virginia in 1637 10
- Mary Aldred, who landed in Maryland in 1662 10
- Henry Aldred, who landed in Maryland in 1664 10
Aldred Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- William Aldred, who arrived in America in 1794 10
Aldred Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- John Aldred, who arrived in America in 1811 10
- William Aldred, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1834 and moved westward
- William Aldred, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1837 10
Aldred migration to Australia +
Emigration to
Australia followed the
First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:
Aldred Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
Aldred migration to New Zealand +
Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:
Aldred Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
- John Aldred, who landed in Wellington & Nelson, New Zealand in 1840
- Miss Aldred, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "George Fyffe" arriving in Wellington, New Zealand on 7th November 1842 12
Contemporary Notables of the name Aldred (post 1700) +
- Scott Phillip Aldred (b. 1968), American professional baseball pitcher
- Anna Lee Aldred (1921-2006), first American woman to receive a jockey's license
- Cyril Aldred (1914-1991), English Egyptologist and art historian
- Sophie Aldred (b. 1962), English actress and television presenter
- Paul Aldred (b. 1969), English cricketer
- Kenneth James "Ken" Aldred (1945-2016), Australian politician, Member of the Australian Parliament for Henty (1975-1980), for Bruce (1983-1990) and for Deakin (1990-1996)
- Richard Aldred Lumley (b. 1932), 12th Earl of Scarbrough, Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire (1996-2004)
- Aldred Frederick George Beresford Lumley (1857-1945), 10th Earl of Scarbrough, British peer and soldier
Historic Events for the Aldred family +
- Mr. Gerald A Aldred (b. 1914), English Ordinary Telegraphist serving for the Royal Navy from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 13
- Mr. Joseph Aldred, British Able Bodied Seaman, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and survived the sinking 14
Citations +
- Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
- Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
- Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
- Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
- Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
- Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
- Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. 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)
- Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/baring
- New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
- H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm
- HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html