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Waterfield History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Waterfield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The history of the Waterfield family name begins after the Norman Conquest of 1066. They lived in Valtierville, in the Seine-Inferieur region of France, the family's place of residence prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. 1

Early Origins of the Waterfield family

The surname Waterfield was first found in Northampton where they were Lords of the manor of Waterfield, and descended from a Norman noble from Waterville in Normandy. The sire of the family was John de Wateville who was succeeded by Sir Roger de Wateville, and then Sir Geffrey Wateville. William de Waterville, abbot of Peterborough founded a Benedictine nunnery in St. Martin's, Northamptonshire in honour of our Lady St. Mary and St. Michael temp. Henry II. 2

Wilielmus de Watevilla is a witness to a charter of Robert de Mellent to the Abbey of Jumieges, about the time of the Norman survey; and he himself gave to that monastery, with the consent of his wife, the church, fair, and tithes of Croixman, in the Pays de Caux. It is apparent, from the accounts of the Norman Exchequer Rolls, that in 1195, Vatteville was a Royal residence, when the King hunted in the forest of Vatteville. Among the items furnished by its custodian, Robert d'Appeville, are 'four nets to catch wild boars, two tunics for the use of two dog-keepers,'. Three De Watevilles are entered in Domesday: William, who held of the King in Essex and Suffolk, and Percinges (Perching) of William de Warrenne, with two other manors—one of which was Brighton—in Sussex; Robert, who held de capite in Surrey, with five manors in other counties, under Richard de Tonbridge; and Richard, an under-tenant in Surrey." 3

Early History of the Waterfield family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Waterfield research. Another 168 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1144, 1155, 1158 and 1292 are included under the topic Early Waterfield History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Waterfield Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Waterfield, Waterfall, Wateville, Waterville and others.

Early Notables of the Waterfield family

Another 42 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Waterfield Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Waterfield Ranking

In the United States, the name Waterfield is the 17,932^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 4

Waterfield migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Waterfield name or one of its variants:

Waterfield Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Mr. Waterfield, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 5

Waterfield migration to Australia +

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

Waterfield Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Waterfield, British Convict who was convicted in South Holland (Holland), Lincolnshire, England for 15 years, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 25th June 1838, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6
Mr. William Waterfield, English convict who was convicted in Northamptonshire, England for 14 years transported aboard the "Forfarshire" on 24th June 1843, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7
Joseph Waterfield, aged 21, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "Norman"
David Waterfield, aged 18, a farm labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1857 aboard the ship "Carnatic"
Thomas Waterfield, aged 21, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1860 aboard the ship "Grand Trianon"

Waterfield 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:

Waterfield Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Miss Sarah A. Waterfield, (b. 1837), aged 30, British domestic servant travelling from London aboard the ship 'Mermaid' arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 3rd January 1868 8

Waterfield migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 9

Waterfield Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Robert and Mary Waterfield, who settled in Jamaica in 1685

Contemporary Notables of the name Waterfield (post 1700) +

Richard H. Waterfield, American founder of Waterfield Mortgage Company in 1928 which later became the Waterfield Group, one of the largest private financial services organizations in the United States
Richard Allen "Dick" Waterfield (1939-2007), American rancher and politician, Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 88
Harry Lee Waterfield (1911-1988), American Democratic Party politician, 42nd and 44th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
Robert Stanton "Bob" Waterfield (1920-1983), American NFL Hall of Fame football player
Roe Waterfield, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Minnesota, 1944 10
Laura Ferguson Waterfield (1911-1991), American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Kentucky, 1944 10
Harry Lee Waterfield (1911-1988), American Democratic Party politician, Member of Kentucky State House of Representatives, 1938-47, 1950-51; Speaker of the Kentucky State House of Representatives, 1944-46 10
Frederick M. Waterfield, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Michigan, 1936 10
Dick Waterfield, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Texas, 1988; Candidate for U.S. Representative from Texas 13th District, 1990 10
George Smith Waterfield (1901-1988), English professional association footballer
... (Another 4 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Waterfield family +

HMS Royal Oak

William Arthur Waterfield (1920-1939), British Seaman with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he died in the sinking 11

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Cleveland, Dutchess of The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages. London: John Murray, Abermarle Street, 1889. Print. Volume 3 of 3
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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 19th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th October 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/forfarshire
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html