Show ContentsBulestrood History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Bulestrood is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived in Bulstrode, an estate in Buckinghamshire that has long been associated with the family. Today, Bulstrode is a large park and mansion to the southwest of the Buckinghamshire town centre of Gerrard's Cross.

Early Origins of the Bulestrood family

The surname Bulestrood was first found in Buckinghamshire, where the estate dates back to at least the Norman Conquest. An early poem states "When William conquered English ground, Bulstrode had per annum three hundred pound." The Conqueror gave the estate to the Norman follower, "he and his adherents, mounted upon Bulls, resisted the invaders and retained possession. Afterwards, accompanied by his seven sons, mounted in the same fashion, he went under safe conduct to William's court, and the Conqueror was so much amused wit the strangeness of the scene, that he permitted the stalwart Saxon to hold his lands under ancient tenure, and conferred upon him and his heirs for ever the surname of Bullstrode!" 1

Early History of the Bulestrood family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bulestrood research. Another 133 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1205, 1221, 1273, 1407, 1588, 1592, 1603, 1610, 1617, 1650, 1659, 1675, 1711, 1717 and 1724 are included under the topic Early Bulestrood History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bulestrood 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 Bulestrood family name include Bulstrode, Bulestrod, Bulestrode, Bulstrod, Bullstrod and many more.

Early Notables of the Bulestrood family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Edward Bulstrode (1588-1659), a prominent lawyer. Edward was the second son of Edward Bulstrode of Hedgeley, near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. "He became a commoner of St. John's College, Oxford, in 1603, but left it without a degree. He died in or near the Inner Temple about the beginning of April 1659, and on the 4th of that month was buried in the body of the church on the south...
Another 75 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bulestrood Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Bulestrood family

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. Early immigrants bearing the Bulestrood surname or a spelling variation of the name include : a number of settlers who arrived by the 19th century.



  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.


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