Foulger History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The ancestors of the Foulger family arrived in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Foulger came from the Germanic personal name Fulcher. It is composed of the elements folk, which means people, and hari, which means army.
Early Origins of the Foulger family
The surname Foulger was first found in Lincolnshire and Derbyshire where they were granted lands about the time of William the Conqueror. Historically, the Fulchers were known as the Champions of Burgundy and records were found of the name spelt Fulchere in Normandy (1180-1195). 1 The name could have also been derived from the Ango-Saxon word "folgere", in other words a follower, an attendant, a free-man who did not have a house of his own. 2
Early History of the Foulger family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Foulger research. Another 168 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1170, 1272, 1273, 1284, 1307, 1379, 1617, 1690, 1737, 1795, 1803, 1830, 1855 and 1893 are included under the topic Early Foulger History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Foulger Spelling Variations
It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Foulger are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Foulger include Fulcher, Fulger, Fulker, Fucher, Fullager, Folker, Foucar, Foulger, Futcher, Folger, Fugler, Fuche, Fuge, Fuidge, Fudge, Foutch and many more.
Early Notables of the Foulger family
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was
- Peter Folger (Foulger) (1617-1690), Baptist missionary, teacher, and surveyor, but best known as the maternal Grandfather of Benjamin Franklin
Migration of the Foulger family to Ireland
Some of the Foulger family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Foulger migration to the United States +
Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Foulger, or a variant listed above:
Foulger Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- John Foulger, who arrived in Maryland in 1670 3
Foulger Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Fred Foulger, aged 41, who landed in America from Birmingham, in 1892
- Wm. W. Foulger, aged 25, who immigrated to the United States from Birmingham, England, in 1893
Foulger Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
- John Arthur Foulger, aged 25, who landed in America from Gremont, in 1906
- Arthur Foulger, aged 11, who immigrated to America from Southend on Sea, in 1906
- John Arthur Foulger, aged 28, who immigrated to the United States from Liscard, England, in 1908
- Albert B. Foulger, aged 25, who landed in America, in 1909
- Edward Turner Foulger, aged 2, who landed in America from Birmingham, England, in 1914
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Foulger migration to Australia +
Emigration to
Australia followed the
First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:
Foulger Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
- Mr. Thomas Foulger, British Convict who was convicted in Suffolk, England for life, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 27th October 1819, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 4
- Charles Foulger, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Princess Helena" in 1850 5
Foulger 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:
Foulger Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
- Rev. J. Foulger, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Zealandia" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in 1869 6
Contemporary Notables of the name Foulger (post 1700) +
- Peter Foulger (1905-1980), American long time Chairman of the board and President at the Folgers Coffee Company
- Gillian Foulger, American award-winning professor of geophysics
- Byron Foulger (1899-1970), American film character actor
- John Foulger (d. 2007), British landscape and seascape painter
Historic Events for the Foulger family +
HMS Royal Oak
- Arthur Foulger (1916-1939), British Able Seaman with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he died in the sinking 7
Citations +
- The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
- Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. 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 12th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel
- State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) PANAMA 1850. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850PrincessHelena.gif
- New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
- Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html
