Wreford History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Wreford

What does the name Wreford mean?

The name Wreford is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived beside a marsh or reedy ford. Wreford is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

Early Origins of the Wreford family

The surname Wreford was first found in Devon where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

Early History of the Wreford family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wreford research. Another 64 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1561 and 1630 are included under the topic Early Wreford History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wreford 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 Wreford family name include Radford, Ratford and others.

Early Notables of the Wreford family

More information is included under the topic Early Wreford Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wreford 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 Wreford surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Wreford Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Samuel Wreford, who landed in New York in 1841 1
Richard Wreford, who arrived in New York in 1845 1

Wreford 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:

Wreford Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

George Wreford, aged 44, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Bombay" in 1865 2
Harriet Wreford, aged 45, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Bombay" in 1865 2
Frank Wreford, aged 18, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Bombay" in 1865 2
Driscilla Wreford, aged 17, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Bombay" in 1865 2
Matt Wreford, aged 14, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Bombay" in 1865 2
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Wreford (post 1700) +

Oswald Wreford Brown (1877-1916), English footballer and cricketer
Charles Wreford Brown (1866-1951), English cricketer and footballer
Anthony Wreford Brown (1912-1997), English cricketer
Edgar Wreford (1923-2006), English actor, known for his roles in The Avengers, Van der Valk, Edward the Seventh, Lillie and Blake's 7
Chris Wreford Brown (b. 1945), retired Royal Navy officer
Lorraine Wreford (b. 1961), Australian politician, Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Mordialloc (2010-2014)
Catherine Wreford (b. 1980), Canadian actress from Winnipeg, Manitoba

Sources +

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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 7th November 2010). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html