| ![Show Contents]() Chowning History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England Chowning is a name that was carried to England in the great wave of migration from Normandy following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Chowning family lived in Kent, where they held lands and a family seat at Fairbourne (later Fairlawn). "This family is said to be from. Castle Chiowne, Chioune, Chun, or Choon, which some interpret a 'house in a croft.'" 1 Early Origins of the Chowning familyThe surname Chowning was first found in Kent, where the Chowning family was anciently seated as Lords of the Manor of Fairbourne (later Fairlawn). At the taking of the Domesday Book in 1086, a survey initiated by Duke William after his conquest of England at Hastings in 1066, this estate was held by Hugh le Vendee, nephew of Herbert and Ralph de Courbepine from the tenant in chief, the Bishop of Bayeux, and it is from Hugh which the family is conjecturally descended. 2 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included listings for the name as a forename and a surname: Chun Mervyn, Cambridgeshire; Chun Pimme, Cambridgeshire; Chun Pistor, Cambridgeshire; William Chaun, Lincolnshire; and Hugh Chone, Oxfordshire. 3 Early History of the Chowning familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Chowning research. Another 169 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1379, 1583, 1596, 1613, 1639, 1659 and 1668 are included under the topic Early Chowning History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Chowning Spelling VariationsBefore English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, Norman French and other languages became incorporated into English throughout the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Chowning include Chowne, Chown, Chiowne, Chioune, Choon, Chiown, Cone, Chone, Cowne, Cown, Coun, Coune, Chune, Choone and many more. Early Notables of the Chowning familyAnother 34 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Chowning Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
 Chowning migration to the United States | + |
In England at this time, the uncertainty of the political and religious environment of the time caused many families to board ships for distant British colonies in the hopes of finding land and opportunity, and escaping persecution. The voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, though, and many arrived in North America sick, starved, and destitute. Those who did make it, however, were greeted with greater opportunities and freedoms that they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Early immigration records have shown some of the first Chownings to arrive on North American shores:
Chowning Settlers in United States in the 17th Century- Georg Chowning, who landed in Virginia in 1636 4
- Fra Chowning, who arrived in Virginia in 1662 4
| Contemporary Notables of the name Chowning (post 1700) | + |
- Randle Chowning (b. 1950), American singer-songwriter, founder of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils
- Trevor Chowning, American pop artist
- John M. Chowning (b. 1934), American composer, musician, inventor, professor at Stanford University
- Charnock, Richard, Stephen, Ludus Patronymicus of The Etymology of Curious Surnames. London: Trubner & Co., 60 Paternoster Row, 1868. Print.
- Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- 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)
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Chowning migration to the United States 
