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Bridges History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Bridges History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England-Alt
England
Ireland

The Bridges surname is derived from the Old English word "brycg," which means bridge. It may have been a topographic name for someone who lived near a bridge, an occupational name for a bridge keeper, or a habitational name from one of several places named Bridge throughout England.

Early Origins of the Bridges family

The surname Bridges was first found in Somerset where they held a family seat from early times.

Early History of the Bridges family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bridges research. Another 152 words (11 lines of text) covering the year 1646 is included under the topic Early Bridges History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bridges Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Bridge, Bridges, Briddge, Bridger, Bridgers and others.

Early Notables of the Bridges family

More information is included under the topic Early Bridges Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bridges Ranking

In the United States, the name Bridges is the 496^th most popular surname with an estimated 57,201 people with that name. 1 However, in the United Kingdom, the name Bridges is ranked the 895^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,661 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Bridges family to Ireland

Some of the Bridges family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 30 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bridges migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Bridges Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Henry Bridges, who landed in Virginia in 1622 3
William Bridges, of London who arrived in New England in 1623 aboard the ship "Little James" 3
Thomas Bridges, aged 12, who arrived in Virginia in 1623 aboard the ship "Marmaduke" 3
Tho Bridges, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 3
Elisha Bridges, aged 16, who arrived in Isla de Providencia in 1635 aboard the ship "Expectation" 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bridges Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Geo Bridges, who arrived in Virginia in 1703 3
John Bridges, who arrived in Virginia in 1724 3
John Bridges, who landed in America in 1740 3

Bridges Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Anne Bridges, who arrived in New York, NY in 1816 3
Mr. Bridges, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1850 3
Calvin Bridges, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 3
OS Bridges, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 3
Eliza Bridges, who arrived in Mississippi in 1856 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bridges migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Bridges Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Thomas Bridges Jr., English convict from Kent, who was transported aboard the "America" on April 4, 1829, settling in New South Wales, Australia 4
Elizabeth Bridges, English convict from Worcester, who was transported aboard the "Amphitrite" on August 21, 1833, settling in New South Wales, Australia 5
Daniel Bridges, English convict from Staffordshire, who was transported aboard the "Anson" on September 23, 1843, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 6
Mr. George Bridges, (b. 1820), aged 26, English labourer who was convicted in Somerset, England for life for burglary, transported aboard the "China" on 34th January 1846, arriving in Norfolk Island, Australia 7
John Bridges, English Convict from Gloucester, who was transported aboard the "Aboukir" on December 24, 1851, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bridges 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:

Bridges Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. W.R. Bridges, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "John Scott" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 7th March 1858 9
Mrs. Emily Bridges, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "John Scott" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 7th March 1858 9
Miss Louisa Bridges, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "John Scott" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 7th March 1858 9
John Bridges, aged 25, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Jessie Readman" in 1872 9
Mary Bridges, aged 32, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Jessie Readman" in 1872 9
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bridges 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. 10

Bridges Settlers in West Indies in the 18th Century

Daniel Bridges, who settled in Jamaica in 1774

Contemporary Notables of the name Bridges (post 1700) +

Claude Russell Bridges (1942-2016), birth name of Leon Russell, an American musician and songwriter, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (b. 1941), American three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winning actor and director
Lloyd Bridges (1913-1998), American actor who starred in television series, and appeared in more than 150 films, father of Jeff and Beau Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges (b. 1949), American four-time Academy Award-nominated actor and musician as well as recipient of a Golden Globe Award
Jerry Bridges (1929-2016), American evangelical Christian author, speaker and staff member of The Navigators
Roy Dubard Bridges Jr. (b. 1943), former NASA Astronaut with over 7 days in space 11
Everett Lamar "Rocky" Bridges (b. 1927), American former baseball player
Sir Mark Thomas Bridges 3rd Baron, K.C.V.O., C.V.O. (b. 1954), 3rd Baron, British Personal Solicitor to The Queen, was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 29th December 2018 12
Wayne Bridges (1937-2020), British professional wrestler, best known for wrestling for All Star Wrestling in the 1980s
Charles Bridges (1794-1869), English evangelical divine, educated at Queens' College, Cambridge 13
... (Another 6 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Bridges family +

HMS Hood

Mr. Kenneth C Bridges (b. 1918), English Ordinary Telegraphist serving for the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve from Southall, Middlesex, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 14
Mr. Ronald W Bridges (b. 1921), English Wireman serving for the Royal Navy from Bloxham, Oxfordshire, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 14

HMS Royal Oak

James Gibson Campbell Bridges (1923-1939), British Boy 1st Class with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he died in the sinking 15

Pemberton Mill

Miss Olive F. Bridges, from Calais, Maine, factory worker in the Pemberton Mill on 10th January 1860 when the mill collapsed trapping 900 workers as rescue attempts continued into the night, an oil lantern was knocked over further engulfing the trapped workers in fire, she survived by holding an elevator chain and climbing down

USS Arizona

Mr. James Leon Bridges, American Seaman First Class from Tennessee, USA working aboard the ship "USS Arizona" when she sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941, he died in the sinking 16
Mr. Paul Hyatt Bridges, American Seaman First Class from Arkansas, USA working aboard the ship "USS Arizona" when she sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941, he died in the sinking 16

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
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)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2014, November 26) America voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1829 with 176 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/america/1829
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Amphitrite voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1833 with 99 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/amphitrite/1833
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2015, January 8) Anson voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1843 with 499 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/anson/1843
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 5th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/china
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2014, November 18) Aboukir voyage to Van Diemen's Land and Norfolk Island. [These convicts appear to have all landed in Van Diemen's Land], Australia in 1851 with 280 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/aboukir/1851
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
NASA Astronauts Homepage. (Retrieved 2010, September 27) Roy Bridges. Retrieved from http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/bridges.html
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62507, 28 December 2018 | London Gazette, The Gazette, Dec. 2018, www.thegazette.co.uk/honours-lists
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 5 Feb. 2019
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
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
Pearl Harbour: USS Arizona Casualties List Pearl Harbour December 7, 1941. (Retrieved 2018, July 31st). Retrieved from http://pearl-harbor.com/arizona/casualtylist.html