This interesting name of English origin is from the Olde English and Anglo Saxon pre 7th Century given name 'Wulfric' composed of the elements 'wulf' wolf and 'ric', power, thus wolf, powerful. The popularity of the name allowed it to survive the Normanising of the Poll Tax Period, when many Saxon names were lost. In the modern idiom there are many variants of this name which include Wollrich, Woolrych, Woolridge, Wolrich, Wolrige, Woolwright, Ullrich, Ulrik. London church records include one Richard Woolrich who married Bridgett Moones on October 7th 1582 at St. Giles, Cripplegate. Thomas Wolrich who was christened at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, on March 31st 1619 and Susanna Woolrich who married John Smith at Allhallows London wall on April 7th 1659. One John Woolrich together with his wife Mary and son Isaach, were famine emigrants who sailed from Liverpool aboard the ship the "Rappahanock", bound for New York on Jun 24th 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Wulfric, which was dated 1212, Curia Rolls, Berkshire, during the reign of King John, 'Lackland', 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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