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Wrigley History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Wrigley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancestors of the name Wrigley date back to the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Wrigley family lived in a settlement called Wrigley, which experts theorize was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The surname Wrigley belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

Early Origins of the Wrigley family

The surname Wrigley was first found in Wrigley Head, now part of Failsworth in Greater Manchester. 1 "This name seems to have passed over the borders from the West Riding of Yorkshire into South-East Lancashire, via Saddleworth, in which district it still possesses a strong foothold." 2

Ironically, the first record of the family was not Saddleworth, but in Derbyshire where Wills de Wriggeley was listed at Brampton, near Chesterfield in 1327-1328 as per the Lay Subsidy Rolls. Here the family held estates well into the 16th century as in 1556 Ralph Wrigly was appointed priest at Kirk Langley, by Henry Pole, Lord of the Manor. Through the years the family continued to be quite evident in Longford, west of Derby. Roger Wrigley was a priest at Prestwich in 1549 and curate at Oldham (1563-1575.)

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 has only one entry for the family, that of Willelmus Wryglegh; but the source Wills at Chester, has the following: John Wrgley, of Millington, 1576; John Wrigley, of Saddleworth, 1620; and Margaret Wrigley, of Saddleworth, 1635. 2

The American "Chewing Gum" Wrigleys trace back to Broadhead, Broadmeadow and Knowl, Yorkshire c. 1681.

Early History of the Wrigley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wrigley research. Another 124 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1524, 1539, 1543, 1766, 1808, 1832, 1833, 1842, 1861, 1909 and 1932 are included under the topic Early Wrigley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wrigley Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, early Anglo-Saxon surnames like Wrigley are characterized by many spelling variations. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages, even literate people changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Wrigley include: Wrigley, Wrigly, Rigley, Riggeley and others.

Early Notables of the Wrigley family

Notables of the family at this time include

Wrigley of Stafford

Wrigley Ranking

In the United States, the name Wrigley is the 10,137^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Wrigley migration to the United States +

Many English families tired of political and religious strife left Britain for the new colonies in North America. Although the trip itself offered no relief - conditions on the ships were extremely cramped, and many travelers arrived diseased, starving, and destitute - these immigrants believed the opportunities that awaited them were worth the risks. Once in the colonies, many of the families did indeed prosper and, in turn, made significant contributions to the culture and economies of the growing colonies. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Wrigley or a variant listed above:

Wrigley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Abraham, Elias, James, John, Joseph, Thomas, William Wrigley, all, who arrived in Philadelphia between 1825-1868
Thomas Wrigley, who arrived in Mississippi in 1840 4
Joseph Wrigley, who landed in New York, NY in 1846 4
John Wrigley, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1866 4
Clarence Wrigley, aged 26, who landed in America from London, in 1896
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wrigley Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Annie Wrigley, aged 7, who immigrated to the United States from Oldham, England, in 1906
Beatrice Wrigley, aged 24, who immigrated to the United States from London, England, in 1907
Beatrice Wrigley, aged 24, who landed in America from Manchester, England, in 1907
Clara Wrigley, aged 50, who immigrated to America from Oxford, England, in 1907
Agnes Wrigley, aged 6, who immigrated to the United States from Manchester, England, in 1907
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wrigley migration to Australia +

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

Wrigley Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Wrigley, British cotton spinner who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Caledonia" on 5th July 1820, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), he was killed in 1827 5
Mr. David Wrigley, English convict who was convicted in Leeds, Yorkshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Champion" on 24th May 1827, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 6
Mr. Robert Wrigley, (b. 1816), aged 22, English farm labourer who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for life for highway robbery, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 25th June 1838, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), he died in 1883 7
William Wrigley, aged 31, a farm labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1857 aboard the ship "Monsoon"

Wrigley 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:

Wrigley Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Thomas Gillon Wrigley, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840
Thomas Wrigley, aged 15, who arrived in Port Nicholson aboard the ship "Oriental" in 1840
Mr. Thomas Wrigley, (b. 1824), aged 15, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Oriental" arriving in Port Nicholson, Wellington, New Zealand on 31st January 1840 8
Mr. James Wrigley, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Slains Castle" arriving in Wellington, New Zealand on 1st December 1852 8
Mr. Thomas Wrigley, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Tamar" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 28th January 1858 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Wrigley (post 1700) +

William Wrigley Jr. (1861-1932), American chewing gum industrialist, founder and eponym of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891 and Wrigley Field, a baseball park located on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois
Robert Wrigley (b. 1951), American poet and educator
Drew Wrigley (b. 1965), American politician, 37th Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota, United States Attorney for the District of North Dakota (2019-2021)
George Watson Wrigley (1874-1952), American Major League Baseball player
Philip Knight Wrigley (1894-1977), American chewing gum industrialist, son of William Wrigley
Kathleen Wrigley, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from North Dakota, 2008 9
Byron E. Wrigley, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1920 9
Wilfred "Wilf" Wrigley (b. 1949), English former professional footballer, who played as a half back
Derek Fuller Wrigley (b. 1924), English-born, retired Australian architect
Arthur Neville Wrigley (1912-1965), English cricket scorer and statistician, the first scorer for BBC radio cricket commentary
... (Another 14 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
"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 25th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/caledonia
Convict Records of Australia. Retreived 18th January 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/champion
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 19th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 21) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html