Westgate History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Westgate family

The surname Westgate was first found in either Durham, Kent, Northumberland or Wiltshire where Westgate is more often than not a village or parish. There are two very early records of the name: William de Westgat who was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls of Surrey in 1199 and Peter de Westgate of Canterbury who was listed in the Pipe Rolls in 1198. The latter "no doubt lived near the west gate of the city." 1 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list: William de Westgate in Norfolk; and Berthona de Westgate in Kent. 2 While one would presume that this name has consistently held the same spelling through the years referring to one who lives by the "west gate" of a town or village, interestingly Westgate on Sea, Kent was first spelt Westgata in 1168. 3

Early History of the Westgate family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Westgate research. Another 101 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1455 and 1487 are included under the topic Early Westgate History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Westgate Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Westgate, Wesgate, Westegate and others.

Early Notables of the Westgate family

Distinguished members of the family include

the Westgate family of Norfolk

Westgate Ranking

In the United States, the name Westgate is the 10,141^st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 4

Westgate migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Westgate Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Westgate, who landed in New England in 1641 5
James Westgate, who arrived in Virginia in 1663 5

Westgate migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Westgate Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Eliza Westgate, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750

Westgate migration to Australia +

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

Westgate Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Robert Westgate, English convict who was convicted in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Chapman" on 12th April 1826, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Westgate (post 1700) +

Brandon Westgate (b. 1989), American professional skateboarder from Wareham, Massachusetts
Sandee Westgate (b. 1979), American model & film star from Sacramento, California
Orlo Westgate, American politician, Candidate for Michigan State House of Representatives from Kalamazoo County 1st District, 1934 7
Harold Westgate, American politician, Mayor of Manhattan, Kansas, 1937 7
Ansel W. Westgate, American politician, Member of Michigan State Senate 27th District, 1887 7
Antony Westgate, English record producer and songwriter
Ross Westgate, English financial journalist for CNBC Europe, anchor of Strictly Money
Tom Westgate, British runner famous for his Dark Peak runs

Historic Events for the Westgate family +

HMS Prince of Wales

Mr. Noel Frank Ferrow Westgate, British Marine, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and survived the sinking 8

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)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
"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 of Australia. Retreived 28th January 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/chapman
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 4) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html