Coxhead History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Coxhead

What does the name Coxhead mean?

Coxhead is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in the village of Coxhead. The ending head was a common suffix used in local places names. The surname may also be derived from a nickname, in which case the original bearer bore some fanciful resemblance to a rooster.

Early Origins of the Coxhead family

The surname Coxhead was first found in London, where the name has been found in records since the 15th century.

Early History of the Coxhead family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Coxhead research. Another 57 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1424, 1601, 1635, 1697, 1793 and 1798 are included under the topic Early Coxhead History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coxhead 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 Coxhead family name include Coxhead, Cokkeshead, Cockshead and others.

Early Notables of the Coxhead family

Distinguished members of the family include

Thomas Coxhead, who was knighted in Essex in 1793, a and later married Isabel Atkinson in London in 1798

Coxhead migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, 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 Coxhead surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Coxhead Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Richard Coxhead, who landed in Maryland in 1672 1

Coxhead Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Mary Coxhead, a bonded immigrant who arrived in Maryland in 1726

Coxhead migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Coxhead Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

William Coxhead, who was recorded in the 1871 census of Ontario, Canada

Coxhead 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:

Coxhead Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

W. Coxhead, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Josephine Willis" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 5th February 1855 2
Mr. F. Coxhead, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Palmyra" arriving in Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 19th February 1858 3
Mrs. Coxhead, British settler travelling from London with 6 children aboard the ship "Palmyra" arriving in Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 19th February 1858 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Coxhead (post 1700) +

Ernest Albert Coxhead (1863-1933), English born, American architect involved in the emergence of the Arts and Crafts style in California
Peter Coxhead, English Professor at the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham, England
Michael Peter Coxhead, British businessman, entrepreneur and musician, founder of MPC Electronics Ltd

Citations +

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 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html