Hobday History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Hobday family

The surname Hobday was first found in Kent where the family name was first referenced in the year 1469 when William Hobday appeared on the tax rolls for that shire. The name literally means ‘Servant of Hobb’, ‘Hobb the servant.’ 1

Early History of the Hobday family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hobday research. Another 128 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1455 and 1487 are included under the topic Early Hobday History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hobday Spelling Variations

Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Hobday include Hobday, Hobdey, Hobaday, Hobeday, Obday, Obdey and many more.

Early Notables of the Hobday family

Distinguished members of the family include

Hobday of Kent

Hobday migration to the United States +

Searching for a better life, many English families migrated to British colonies. Unfortunately, the majority of them traveled under extremely harsh conditions: overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the ocean. For those families that arrived safely, modest prosperity was attainable, and many went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the new colonies. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Hobday or a variant listed above:

Hobday Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Edward Hobday, who landed in Virginia in 1721 2

Hobday 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:

Hobday Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Richard Hobday, (b. 1846), aged 37, British settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Nelson" arriving in Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand on 20th October 1883 3
Mrs. Mary Hobday, (b. 1844), aged 39, British settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Nelson" arriving in Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand on 20th October 1883 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Hobday (post 1700) +

John Hobday, American Democratic Party politician, Chair of Gloucester County Democratic Party, 1919-21 4
William Armfield Hobday (1771-1831), English portrait painter and miniaturist, born at Birmingham, where his father was a manufacturer 5
Peter Hobday (b. 1961), English former professional footballer, active 1978 through 1998
Peter James Hobday (1937-2020), English presenter on the early-morning BBC Radio 4 breakfast current affairs programme Today throughout the 1980s
Claude Hobday (1872-1954), English double-bass player
Alfred Charles Hobday (b. 1870), English viola player
Sir Gordon Ivan Hobday (b. 1916), English scientist, who worked on penicillin with Alexander Fleming, former Chairman of Boots, Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire (1983–1991)
Simon Forbes Newbold Hobday (1940-2017), South African professional golfer who had 17 professional wins including 5 PGA Tour Champions
Alistair Hobday Ph.D., of the School of Zoology at the University of Tasmania
John Hobday, Canadian Director of the Canada Council for the Arts

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020