The history of the name Oldbridge dates back to the ancient
Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from a member of the family who worked as a the Old English
personal name Aldrich, meaning
old ruler, and refers to "a son of Aldrich."
[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)Early Origins of the Oldbridge family
The surname Oldbridge was first found in the counties of
Sussex,
Suffolk, and
Surrey, where the Oldbridge family held a
family seat from very early times. The family had the Saxon spellings of Alderich, Ealdric, or possibly Aelfric before the Conquest. Aldridge is a town in
Staffordshire (now the West Midlands) that dates back to the
Domesday Book where it was listed as Alrewic and literally means "dwelling or farm among alders" having derived from the Old English word alor + wic.
[2]CITATION[CLOSE]
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4) The parish was originally in the union of Walsall, in the
hundred of Offlow, comprised 7,752 acres and was anciently held by Robert, a
tenant of William fitzAnsculf and was worth 15 shillings.
[3]CITATION[CLOSE]
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Early History of the Oldbridge family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Oldbridge research.
Another 67 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1647 and 1710 are included under the topic Early Oldbridge History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Oldbridge Spelling Variations
Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Oldbridge has undergone many
spelling variations, including Aldridge, Aldrich, Alderich, Alderidge, Eldrich, Elderidge, Elderich and many more.
Early Notables of the Oldbridge family (pre 1700)
Another 24 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Oldbridge Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Oldbridge family to Ireland
Some of the Oldbridge family moved to
Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 71 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Oldbridge family to the New World and Oceana
To escape the unstable social climate in
England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Oldbridge were among those contributors: George Aldrich who settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1639; Henry Aldrich, who came to Dedham in 1645; George Aldrich, who arrived in Swansea in 1659.