Houseman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The name Houseman is from the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was given to a person who was a person employed "at the house." In most cases, this was a religious house or convent. The surname Houseman is derived from the Old English word hus, which means house, and the word man, which means servant. 1
Early Origins of the Houseman family
The surname Houseman was first found in Yorkshire where Johannes Howsman was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. A few years earlier John Houseman was found in Colchester, Essex in 1365. 2
"This surname, early found in Yorkshire, crossed the border and settled in the neighbourhood of Lancaster. A well-known vicar of Lancaster bore this name at the beginning of the century. Two hundred years earlier the name occurs in local Wills." 3
Early History of the Houseman family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Houseman research. Another 61 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1365, 1604, 1622, 1630, 1636, 1696, 1714, 1759 and 1838 are included under the topic Early Houseman History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Houseman 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 Houseman family name include Houseman, Housemayne, Houssemayne, Housman, Howseman and many more.
Early Notables of the Houseman family
Distinguished members of the family include
- Jacob Huysmans often called Houseman (1636?-1696), and English portrait-painter, born probably about 1636, was a native of Antwerp. 4
- Robert Houseman (1759-1838) of Skerton near Lancaster, who was an influential clergyman
Houseman Ranking
In the United States, the name Houseman is the 14,034th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5
Houseman 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 Houseman or a variant listed above:
Houseman Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Charles Houseman, who arrived in Maryland in 1670
- Charles Houseman, who landed in Maryland in 1670 6
- John Houseman to Virginia in 1699
Houseman Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- Jacob Houseman, who landed in North Carolina in 1764 6
- Henry Houseman to Carolina in 1774
- Henry Houseman, aged 35, who arrived in Carolina in 1774 6
- Henry Houseman, age 35, who arrived in Carolina in 1774
- Michael Houseman, aged 30, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1776 6
Houseman Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- A Houseman, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 6
- Leopold Houseman, who arrived in Mississippi in 1852 6
- Christian Houseman to Philadelphia in 1855
- Charles Houseman to Philadelphia in 1859
Houseman migration to Australia +
Emigration to
Australia followed the
First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:
Houseman Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
Houseman migration to West Indies +
The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association.
8Houseman Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
- William Houseman, who sailed to Barbados in 1635
- William Houseman, aged 12, who arrived in Barbados in 1635 6
Contemporary Notables of the name Houseman (post 1700) +
- John Houseman (1902-1988), born Jacques Haussmann, Academy Award winning American actor who with Orson Welles, founded the Mercury Theater, best remembered for their 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds"
- Julius Houseman (1832-1891), American entrepreneur and politician
- Patricia Houseman, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Michigan, 1976 9
- Julius Houseman (1832-1891), American Democratic Party politician, Member of Michigan State House of Representatives from Kent County 1st District, 1871-72; Mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1872-73, 1874-75 9
- Joseph Houseman, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Presidential Elector for Michigan, 1896 9
- John U. Houseman, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1868 9
- John Houseman, American politician, Member of New York State Assembly from Richmond County, 1803-04 9
- Gerald L. Houseman, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Indiana 4th District, 1996 9
- Fred J. Houseman (1871-1961), American Republican politician, Member of Michigan State House of Representatives from Calhoun County 1st District, 1935-36; Defeated, 1936 9
- Boas Houseman, American politician, Member of Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from Lehigh County, 1873 9
- ... (Another 6 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Citations +
- Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
- Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
- "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
- 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 7th January 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/henry-tanner
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
- The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 14) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html