Contents [hide]

Woodham History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Sources

Woodham History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Woodham family

The surname Woodham was first found in Essex, where there are no fewer that three townships and parishes so named: Woodham-Ferris in the union and hundred of Chelmsford; Woodham-Mortimer, a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Dengie; and Woodham-Walter a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Dengie. 1

Literally the place names mean "dweller at the enclosure by the Wood [Old English wudu + ham(m)] where the Middle English form was usually Wodeham. " 2 The name is often pluralized to Woodhams. 3

Ironically, there was only one listing of the family in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, Thomas de Wodeham, as the rest were found as follows: Peter de Wodeham, Northamptonshire; Egipgidias de Wodeham, London; and Reginald de Wodeham, Gloucestershire. 4

Adam Goddam or Woodham (d. 1358) was a Franciscan, "born towards the end of the thirteenth century, and attended Ockham's lectures on the 'Sentences' of Peter Lombard at Oxford, where he was presumably a member of the Franciscan convent. His studies under Ockham must have ended in the first years of the fourteenth century, when his master went to Paris." 5

One source claims that the family or a branch of the family was originally found in Dorset where they held a family seat from very ancient times, at Catherston-Lewston, a parish, in the union of Bridport, hundred of Whitchurch Canonicorum. "This place was the residence of a branch of the Wadhams, by one of whom, Nicholas Wadham, and Dorothy his wife, Wadham College, Oxford, was founded. " 1

The Woodend variant is interesting, in that Bardsley notes "this surname still exists in Furness, North Lancashire. My instances prove it to have been there for 300 years at least. No doubt it has existed there for six centuries." 4 Despite this, he goes on to note the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 records Adam de Wodeshende, Dorset, hundreds of miles away. Later the Lancashire Wills at Richmond includes: Nicholas Woodend, of Ulverston, 1624 and James Woodend, of Lowick, 1662.

Early History of the Woodham family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Woodham research. Another 80 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1613, 1625, 1743, 1769, 1773, 1789 and 1803 are included under the topic Early Woodham History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Woodham Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Woodham, Wodam, Wodham and others.

Early Notables of the Woodham family

Mrs Woodham, (1743-1803), née Spenser...
Woodham, from whom she was divorced...

Woodham Ranking

the United States, the name Woodham is the 8,152^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 6

Woodham migration to the United States +

Woodham Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Tho Woodham, who landed in Virginia in 1656 8
Mary Woodham, who landed in Virginia in 1699 8

Woodham Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Richard Woodham, who arrived in New England in 1718
George Woodham, who arrived in New England in 1773

Woodham Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Woodham, who arrived in New York in 1820
W L Woodham, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 8

Woodham migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia included the First Fleet and Third Fleet of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

First Fleet

Mr. Nathaniel Woodham, British settler convicted at Bedfordshire, England in 1788, sentenced to 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the ship "Neptune, Scarborough or Surprize" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 7
Mr. Edward Woodham, (1762 - 1824), aged 27, British settler convicted at Gloucestershire, England in 1786, sentenced to Life for highway robbery, transported aboard the ship "Surprize" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 8
Mr. James Woodham, (1763 - 1808), aged 26, British settler convicted at Gloucestershire, England in 1786, sentenced to Life for highway robbery, transported aboard the ship "Surprize" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 8

Third Fleet

Mr. Samuel Woodham, (b. 1766), aged 21, English settler convicted in London on 20th October 1784, sentenced for life for returning from transport, transported aboard the ship "Scarborough" leaving in 1787 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1788 8

Following the First and Third Fleets, other convicts and early settlers arriving in Australia include:

Woodham Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Francis Woodham, English convict who was convicted in Surrey, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Asiatic" on 5th June 1819, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 9
Miss Mary Woodham who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Burrell" on 31st December 1831, arriving in New South Wales 10

Woodham 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:

Woodham Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Frederick B Woodham, who landed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1840
Mr. T. B. Woodham, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Sir Edward Paget" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 19th December 1850 11
Mrs. Woodham, British settler with 2 children travelling from London aboard the ship "Sir Edward Paget" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 19th December 1850 11
Mr. Woodham, British settler travelling from Liverpool (Mersey) aboard the ship "Viscount Sandon" arriving in Wellington, New Zealand then Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in 1860 11
Mrs. Woodham, British settler travelling from Liverpool (Mersey) aboard the ship "Viscount Sandon" arriving in Wellington, New Zealand then Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in 1860 11
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Woodham 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. 12

Woodham Settlers in West Indies in the 18th Century

Robert Short Woodham, who arrived in Jamaica in 1787 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Woodham (post 1700) +

David Lloyd Victor "Dai" Woodham MBE, BEM (1919-1994), British businessman who saved over 200 former British Railways steam locomotives from the scrap heap and stored them at his Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, Wales
Jean Woodham, Sculptor, Ala
Professor Ronald Woodham, Music professor

Sources +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. 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)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships
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 14th July 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/atlas
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 5th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/burrell
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies