How Wagstaff got its name

There are a number of meanings and spellings of the name Wagstaff. But the most common understanding of the name Wagstaff comes from the shaking or wagging of a quarterstaff or stave. The staff being part of the office or weapon of a Beadle who was a minor parish officer. Also in the same context would be WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, that is William who shakes his spear.

Wagstaff Crests

A Coat of Arms was originally the adornment of the shield of a military leader by which he could be recognised in the heat of battle. His helmet was usually adorned with a distinctive crest and this served the same purpose. When arms ceased to have a military function, becoming instead a sign of prestige, the crest was depicted over the shield. Such crests originally included a helmet but as most grants were made after the military significance had been lost the later forms of headgear were usually wreaths, coronets and caps. The coronets were stylised of those used by peers, but they did not imply that the holders had links with peerage.

The left-hand crest, as shown here was borne by two Derbyshire Wagstaff families. It consisted of a ragged (raguly) staff issuing from a Ducal coronet. The arms were based on two ragged bends, which are like oblique ragged staffs. For one family both bends crossed the shield but the other the lower one was couped or shortened. The right-hand crest was borne by a Wagstaffe family of Warwickshire and consists of the upper part of a Lion holding a ragged staff. The arms are similar to the Derbyshire arms with the shortened bend, but the bends themselves were engrailed, indented, rather than ragged and included a scallop shell.

The three sets of arms and crests show that the three families were related and suggest that the "couped" Derbyshire family was a junior branch of the "uncouped" family and that the Warwickshire family was a junior branch of the "couped" family. However the ragged staff suggests an original link with Warwick, for the Earls of Warwick had used the symbol of a bear with a ragged staff since Saxon times and long before there was heraldry. Is this a coincidence or is there a real link between the Earls and the Wagstaffs?

How the society was formed

The Society was formed in 1987 when a number of interested parties got together to form The Wagstaff Society. The study of the name Wagstaff and varients is reggistered with the Guild oof One-Name Sudies (GoONS).

The aim of the Society is to bring together people with an interest in the surname of Wagstaff or any of its variants.

The motivation came from Mrs. Barbara Kent who had traced her family back to Glossop, Derbyshire via Barnsley and Darton, South Yorkshire.

In June 1987 the first newsletter of the society was published and distributed to the members. Since then the newsletters have been arriving through the letterbox at quarterly intervals. Mrs. Barbara Kent has co-ordinated both the newsletters and the society.

Each year the society has a get together at a venue, which has a link with the Wagstaff's. Over the last few years such gatherings have been held at Worsbrough, South Yorkshire; Moorgreen, Newthorpe, Nottinghamshire; Nuneaton, Warwickshire; Rayleigh, Essex; and Hackney, London.

Since the society was formed in 1987 the membership has grown. The membership now stands at just over 200, with members coming from all corners of the globe. e.g. Australia, New Zealand and North America. Every member is interested in their link with the surname of Wagstaff, tracing their family tree. Finding new relations, which they did not know they had. Locating the towns and villages where they lived. Also discovering the jobs and dwellings of their Wagstaff ancestors.

The society has over 53,000 entries to various Wagstaff's going back to the 16th century. These entries comprising births, marriages and deaths. To date we have managed to trace two branches of the family to the 16th century, they are from Glossop, Derbyshire and county of Bedfordshire.

It all comes together to link like minds together, who can help one another into achieving their goal, That is to form a link of the Wagstaff's from each part of the globe.