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Walbridge History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Walbridge History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The history of the Walbridge name began with the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from Wulfric, a Germanic personal name that became common in England after the Norman Conquest. After King William the Conqueror defeated the Saxon nobility at the Battle of Hastings, he encouraged the immigration of skilled tradesmen and administrators from the continent into England. Many of these came from the area where Germany would later become a nation. This resulted in the importation of a large number of new personal names and surnames. The personal name Wulfric means "wolf-powerful." 1

This name appears in the Domesday Book as Wlfric and Vlfric. 2 This name is a vernacular name, arising from the vernacular tradition of naming. According to this custom, names were originally composed of vocabulary elements from the local language. Vernacular names that were derived from ancient Germanic personal names have cognates in most European languages. For example, the court of Charlemagne (742-814) was Christian and Latin-speaking, but the Frankish dialect of Old German was commonly used for personal names. Vernacular names were widespread throughout Normandy. Accordingly, many typical English and French names are in fact, originally of Germanic origin and often have cognates in other European countries.

Early Origins of the Walbridge family

The surname Walbridge was first found in Shropshire. "This is a very ancient Shropshire family, descended from Sir Adam Wolryche, Knight, of Wenlock, living in the reign of Henry III., and who previously to his being knighted, was admitted to the Roll of Guild Merchants of the town of Shrewsbury in 1231, by the old Saxon name of Adam Wulfric." 3 4

However, the family was Lords of the manor of Leek, Aldithley, and Balterley in Staffordshire, and of Croxton and Etchells in the county of Cheshire, before and after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

"Garlinneck in [the parish of Creed, Cornwall] was for many years a seat of the Woolridges, by whom it was sold not long since to the Rev. George Moore." 5

Early History of the Walbridge family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Walbridge research. Another 156 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1279, 1598, 1614, 1633, 1652, 1658, 1659, 1668, 1669, 1681, 1698, 1700, 1707, 1732, 1766, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1799, 1816 and 1871 are included under the topic Early Walbridge History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Walbridge 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 Walbridge family name include Woolrich, Woolridge, Wolrich, Woolrych, Wolridge, Wooldridge and many more.

Early Notables of the Walbridge family

Distinguished members of the family include Sir Thomas Wolrich or Wolryche (1598-1668), English Baronet and Royalist who "sprang from a Cheshire family which acquired the estate of Dudmaston in Shropshire in the twelfth century, and was thenceforth identified with that county. The deed of grant is said to be one of the oldest private deeds in England. It is reproduced in Eyton's 'Antiquities of Shropshire' (iii. 185). The pedigree is extant from 1279. Thomas was the third in descent from John Wolryche, who married 'the Fair Maid of Gatacre,' Mary, daughter of John Gatacre of that place, and was the son...
Another 143 words (10 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Walbridge Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Walbridge migration to the United States +

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 Walbridge surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Walbridge Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Walbridge, who arrived in Virginia in 1639 6
Andrew Walbridge, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1685 6

Walbridge Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Samuel Walbridge, who landed in Virginia in 1700 6

Walbridge Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Walbridge, aged 31, who arrived in New York in 1833 6

Walbridge migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Walbridge Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. Asa Walbridge U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 7

Walbridge migration to Australia +

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

Walbridge Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Henry Walbridge, English convict who was convicted in Dorset, England for 15 years, transported aboard the "David Clarke" on 3rd June 1841, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Walbridge (post 1700) +

Alan Walbridge Ladd Jr. (1937-2022), American film industry executive and Academy Award winning producer, President of 20th Century Fox from 1976 to 1979 when he approved the production of Star Wars, son of Alan Ladd (1913-1964)
Alan Walbridge Ladd (1913-1964), American film actor, probably best remembered for his role in Shane (1953)

Citations +

Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Shirley, Evelyn Philip, The Noble and Gentle Men of England; The Arms and Descents. Westminster: John Bower Nichols and Sons, 1866, Print.
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
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)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 3rd June 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/david-clarke