Westpfel
One-Name Study

Topics

• About the Westpfel One-Name Study
• Variants
• Origin of the surname
• Historical occurrences
• Distribution of the name
• Data
• Contact Details

About the Westpfel One-Name Study

The WESTPFELs came from Germany to England in the late 1870's/ early 1880's, and settled in London.

My WESTPFEL connection is through my paternal great grandmother, Helena Louisa WESTPFEL.

Variants

Due to:

a) Some dreadful spelling errors; and

b) Some German accents on the part of my family

there have been some 'different' spellings in the records!

Those that I have discovered so far include:

Westpfel

Westpfal

Westfell

Westpeel (though I suspect this is simply a handwriting reading error)

and my favourite mis-spelling, courtesy of the 1881 census...

Wertfelt !

There was also a large part of the family that changed their names to Anglicize them. These became:

Westfield

Origin of the surname

The WESTPFELs came over to England from Germany somewhere between 1871 (they do not appear on that census - that I have found so far anyway!) and 1880 (when Frederick Augustus WESTPFEL married Elizabeth AMEND, also a German immigrant).

Beyond that, I don't have any information where in Germany they came from (the census records them only as being born in 'Germany'), nor when exactly they came. Interestingly, the 1881 census appears to mark them as 'BS' - i.e. British Subjects - although I have no further information to explain in what way they are!

Historical occurrences

I cannot find any references about the WESTPFELs further back than Frederick Augustus (born ca 1855).

I am also struggling to find any reference to any WESTPFEL in Germany. It is possible that they were 'WESTPFAL' or 'WESTPHAL' in Germany, and a spelling error made them become WESTPFEL, although again, at this point I do not know!

Distribution of the name

The censuses record the WESTPFELs being based in London, particularly in the Deptford area. This is obviously where they settled when they emmigrated.

From the original immigrants, Frederick Augustus WESTPFEL, there were 9 children. Most stayed in the London area.

One branch moved to the Birmingham (UK) area, and from there to Canada.

Two went out into Kent, but not far from Deptford.

One 'branch' disappeared completely, and I have absolutely no idea what happened to him (Otto Frederick James WESTPFEL)

Data

I have:

Census data from the 1881, 1891, and 1901 censuses.

Certificates

Data from family members

Connections to all but one branch of the tree

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Miss Karen L. Bailey
E-mail:

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