The earliest record of the Sharp name is in the famous Hundred Rolls. It gives evidence of early forms of the name and shows usage as early as 1273. The earliest record is for Alexander Scharp of County Buckinghamshire in 1273. The name shows up in as many as seven different spellings, including: Scharp, Scharpe, and Scharppe. The records show the name to be abmong the landed gentry as well as in the lower feudal class. It is thought the name might be of Anglo-Saxon origin.

According to information I found that was shared by Bonnie Hamilton tibart@worldnet.att.net, three of the children of Willliam Sharp emigrated to America. He and his wife and rest of family did not leave England. The three brothers who made the trip, John, Hugh and William, came to America in 1682, landing in what is now Burlington, NJ.

The Sharps were staunch Quakers. George Fox, the Quaker leader, died in 1691, and by that time the Society of Friends numbered 40,000 in England. The English, staunch supporters of the Church of England, considered the Quakers as "Dissenters" and threw many of them in prison. This persecution prompted them to seek settlement in American as early as 1656. George Fox came to America and in 1672, crossed New Jersey with Indian guides. His coming spurred additional Quaker settlement in America and by 1700, they had settled in NJ, DE and PA. The Sharps emigrated in the wave of Quaker departures from England in the late 1600's to escape the persecution applied to the Quakers.

Time Line: William Sharp was born 9 years prior to Lord Baltimore founding Maryland which was settled mainly by English Roman Catholics.