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Show ContentsBlow History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

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The ancient name of Blow finds its origins with the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from a name for a blower, or one who plays the horn. 1

Early Origins of the Blow family

The surname Blow was first found in Staffordshire at Bloore-in-Tyrley or Blore Heath, a sparsely populated area of farmland best known as the site of the first major battle in the English Wars of the Roses fought on 23 September 1459. 2

This parish in the north division of the hundred of Totmonslow, which was known as Blore or Blore-Roy dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was recorded as Blora 3 and literally meant "place at the swelling or hill." 4

Early English rolls provide us a glimpse of the spelling variations used through Medieval times. Today we typically need to look beyond the spellings of these entries and concentrate on a phonetic appreciation of the names. Randulf Bla was listed in the Assize Rolls for Lincolnshire in 1202 and later in Huntingdonshire, Roger Blowe was listed there in 1271. Up in Yorkshire, the Subsidy Rolls of 1327 included an entry for Thomas Blaue. 5

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included the following entries for the family: Henry Blowe, Cambridgeshire; Isabella Blowe, Oxfordshire; and William Blowe, Oxfordshire. 1

In Somerset, there was one entry, 1 Edward III (during the first year of the reign of King Edward III), that of John Blowe. 6

Early History of the Blow family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Blow research. Another 303 words (22 lines of text) covering the years 1459, 1548, 1574, 1575, 1618, 1639, 1640, 1648, 1649, 1662, 1669, 1701, 1708 and 1761 are included under the topic Early Blow History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blow Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Blow family name include Bloor, Blore, Bloare, Bloore, Blour, Bloure and others.

Early Notables of the Blow family

Distinguished members of the family include

  • John Blow (1649-1708), an English Baroque composer and organist, appointed to Westminster Abbey in 1669. He "is said by all his biographers to have been born at North Colfingham, in Nottinghamshire, i...
  • Samuel Blower (d. 1701), was an English nonconformist divine, of Magdalen College, Oxford who was ejected in 1662 from Woodstock in Oxfordshire. 7

Blow Ranking

In the United States, the name Blow is the 5,240th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 8

United States Blow migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Blow surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Blow Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • John Blow, who arrived in Virginia in 1650 9

Australia Blow migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Blow Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Miss Elizabeth Blow, Cornish servant who immigrated to New South Wales, Australia aboard the ship "L Raffles" in 1839 convicted at Darlinghurst Gaol on 31st September 1842 10
  • William Blow, aged 37, who arrived in South Australia in 1854 aboard the ship "Emigrant" 11

Contemporary Notables of the name Blow (post 1700) +

  • Charles McRay Blow (b. 1970), American journalist, commentator, and current visual op-ed columnist for The New York Times
  • James Blow (d. 1769), Scottish printer who was apprenticed to Patrick Neill, a printer of Glasgow 12
  • David Mervyn Blow FRS (1931-2004), British biophysicist and co-winner of the 1987 Wolf Prize in Chemistry
HMS Hood
  • Mr. Leonard Blow (b. 1922), English Ordinary Seaman serving for the Royal Navy from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 13
  1. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  2. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  3. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  4. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  5. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  6. Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
  7. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  8. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  9. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  10. Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retreived 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_nsw_gaol_admissions.pdf
  11. South Australian Register Wednesday 25th October 1854. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Emigrant 1854. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/emigrant1854.shtml
  12. Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 5 Feb. 2019
  13. H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm
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