Dowdeswell History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Anglo-Saxon name Dowdeswell comes from the family having resided in a region called Doda's well or spring. The surname Dowdeswell is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came.

Early Origins of the Dowdeswell family

The surname Dowdeswell was first found in Gloucestershire at Dowdeswell, an ancient Saxon village that dates back to the 8th century when it was known as Gogodeswellan. By the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, it was known as Dodesuuelle. 1 The place name literally means "spring or stream of a man called Dogod," from the Old English personal name + "wella." 2

The first record of the family was found here when William de Dowdeswelle was listed as a Knights Templar in 1185. 3 Years later, the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed William de Doudeswell, Oxfordshire and Robert de Doudeswell, Gloucestershire. 4

Early History of the Dowdeswell family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dowdeswell research. Another 45 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1601, 1641, 1648, 1660, 1673, 1678, 1682, 1683, 1711, 1712, 1722, 1728 and 1784 are included under the topic Early Dowdeswell History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dowdeswell Spelling Variations

Dowdeswell has been spelled many different ways. Before English spelling became standardized over the last few hundred years, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. As the English language changed in the Middle Ages, absorbing pieces of Latin and French, as well as other languages, the spelling of people's names also changed considerably, even over a single lifetime. Spelling variants included: Dodswell, Dodwell, Dodswall, Dodwall and others.

Early Notables of the Dowdeswell family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

Richard Dowdeswell (1601-1673), an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660, an active Royalist in the English Civil War
William Dowdeswell (died 1683), Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1678

Migration of the Dowdeswell family to Ireland

Some of the Dowdeswell family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 138 words (10 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dowdeswell migration to the United States +

In an attempt to escape the chaos experienced in England, many English families boarded overcrowded and diseased ships sailing for the shores of North America and other British colonies. Those families hardy enough, and lucky enough, to make the passage intact were rewarded with land and a social environment less prone to religious and political persecution. Many of these families became important contributors to the young colonies in which they settled. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Dowdeswells to arrive on North American shores:

Dowdeswell Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

William Dowdeswell, who landed in Colorado in 1906 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Dowdeswell (post 1700) +

William Edward Dowdeswell (1841-1893), English Conservative politician, Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury (1865-1866)
Colin Dowdeswell (b. 1955), English former professional tennis player from London
Lieutenant-General William Dowdeswell (1760-1828), British soldier and politician, Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury (1792–1797), Governor of the Bahamas (1797–1801) 6
William Dowdeswell PC (1721-1775), British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1765-1766), eldest son of William Dowdeswell, who died in 1728 6
William Dowdeswell (1804-1870), British Conservative Party politician, Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury (1835-1847)
Roger Dowdeswell (b. 1944), former professional tennis player from Zimbabwe

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
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)
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020