According to "New England Families Genealogical and Memorial" Volume IV
The Woodward Line: "This surname is derived from wood and ward, meaning
"custos" or "custodian of the wood," an officer of the forest whose
charge is to look after the woods and vert there; his very name denotes
his office; he must present all offences within his charge at the court
of attachments, or swain-mote, to the chief foresters or verderers...The
name Le Wodeward first appears in the Hundred Rolls in 1273. The family
lived in Bedfordshire and Upton, county Buckingham, England."