Show ContentsShorthouse History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Shorthouse is an ancient Anglo-Saxon name. It was a name given to a person who was a person who was given the nickname of Short-hose, due to the fact that this individual wore half hose which reached the top of the knee, rather than covering the whole leg. This nickname was given to Sir Thomas Woodcock, Lord Mayor of London in 1405 for this very reason.

Early Origins of the Shorthouse family

The surname Shorthouse was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Early History of the Shorthouse family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shorthouse research. Another 59 words (4 lines of text) covering the year 1505 is included under the topic Early Shorthouse History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shorthouse Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Shorthouse has appeared include Shorthouse, Shortus, Shorthose, Shortis and others.

Early Notables of the Shorthouse family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

  • Thomas Shorthouse, Chaplain of Inverary


United States Shorthouse migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Shorthouse arrived in North America very early:

Shorthouse Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Thomas Shorthouse who arrived in Philadelphia in 1797
Shorthouse Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Thomas Shorthouse, who arrived in New York in 1822
  • Samuel Shorthouse, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1856 1

Australia Shorthouse migration to Australia +

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

Shorthouse Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Contemporary Notables of the name Shorthouse (post 1700) +

  • Joseph Henry Shorthouse (1834-1903), English novelist, best remembered for his first book "John Inglesant"


  1. 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)
  2. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 5th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/bussorah-merchant


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