Wagstaffe History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Wagstaffe

What does the name Wagstaffe mean?

The rather rare surname Wagstaffe is generally thought to have been an occupational name for someone who could brandish a "wag" or "staff" with great effect. 1

However, two other sources claim the name was a "nickname for a wand-bearing official, as a Beadle." 2 3

"Wagstaff is an old English name that six hundred years ago occurred as Wagestaf and Waggestaf in Norfolk and Oxfordshire (H. R.). Since those early times one of the principal homes of the name has been in Warwickshire, the Wagstaffes of Tachebrooke being a distinguished family in the 16th and 17th centuries; but probably they had been much longer in the county of Warwick, since an epitaph relating to one of this family, who died in 1681, informs us that he was "descended from the ancient family of the Wagstaffes of Harbury," a place also in Warwickshire." 4

Early Origins of the Wagstaffe family

The surname Wagstaffe was first found in Leicestershire, England where William Waggestaf was recorded in the Curia Regis Rolls for 1219. Later in Oxfordshire, Robert Waggestaff was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1279 and in Yorkshire, we found William Waggestave in the Subsidy Rolls for Yorkshire in 1301. Walter Waggespere was listed in the Assize Rolls for Lancashire in 1227. 2

Bardsley notes that the Hundredorum Rolls also include entries for Walter Waggestaf, Norfolk; and the aforementioned Robert Waggestaff, Oxfordshire. 5

"It is curious to observe, among the archives of Stratford-upon-Avon, record of proceedings between Richard Wagstaff and John Shakespere, the latter being the poet's father." 1

Early History of the Wagstaffe family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wagstaffe research. Another 109 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1585, 1612, 1618, 1633, 1642, 1645, 1655, 1662, 1677, 1685, 1696, 1697, 1712, 1725 and 1737 are included under the topic Early Wagstaffe History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wagstaffe 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 Wagstaffe family name include Wagstaffe, Waggstaffe, Wagstaff and others.

Early Notables of the Wagstaffe family

John Wagstaffe (1633-1677), an English writer on witchcraft who held an estate at Hasland in Derbyshire; and John Wagstaffe (1618-1697), of Ladybellegate House, Longsmith Street, Gloucester, an Englis...
Sir Joseph Wagstaffe (fl. 1655), English Royalist, born about 1612, was probably the seventh and youngest son of Richard Wagstaffe of Herberbury in Warwickshire. "Joseph was a soldier of fortune, and...
Thomas Wagstaffe (1645-1712), was an English nonjuror, who belonged to a family long settled in the county of Warwick, born on 13 Feb. 1645 at Binley in Warwickshire
William Wagstaffe (1685-1725), was an English physician, born at Cublington in Buckinghamshire, of which his father, a younger son of the ancient family of his name, seated at Knightcote in Warwichshi...

Wagstaffe migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, 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 Wagstaffe surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Wagstaffe Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Francis Wagstaffe, who arrived in Maryland in 1660 6
Mary Wagstaffe, who landed in Maryland in 1673 6

Wagstaffe Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Richard Wagstaffe, who settled in Annapolis Maryland in 1750

Wagstaffe migration to Australia +

Wagstaffe Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Richard Wagstaffe who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Elizabeth" on 3rd October 1831, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Wagstaffe (post 1700) +

Michael Wagstaffe (b. 1945), English cricketer, a left-handed batsman who bowled slow left-arm orthodox
Dave Wagstaffe (1943-2013), English footballer who made over 500 league appearances throughout his career
Johanna Wagstaffe, Canadian meteorologist and science host for CBC Vancouver and CBC News Network

Sources +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elizabeth