Contents [hide]

Rowland History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables World Ranking

Ireland United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Rowland History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

The Rowland surname comes from the Norman personal name Rol(l)an, which derives from the Germanic elements "hrod," meaning "renown," and "land," meaning "territory." Much of the Medieval popularity of this name was as a result of Roland (d. 778), a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who was defeated at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778. The Song of Roland thought to have been written between 1040 and 1115 is an epic poem based the battle.

Early Origins of the Rowland family

The surname Rowland was first found in Bedfordshire (Old English: Bedanfordscir), located in Southeast-central England, formerly part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, where a record in the Domesday Book of 1086 lists Rolland as being a landholder in Beeston (Bistone). 1

They were in neighboring Huntingdonshire from the early 12th century. The Domesday Book also lists Ralunt (Rowland) in Derbyshire.

One source states "A baptismal name as in 'the son of Roland.' Roland or Orlando was the nephew of the great Charles, who fell at Roncesvalles." 2 This latter reference is derived from The Miscellaneous Prose Works of Sir Walter Scott (Vol IV) and we shall now provide it in a more complete context. "No reader can have forgotten, that when the decisive battle of Hastings commenced, a Norman minstrel, Taillefer, advanced on horseback before the invading host and gave the signal for onset, by singing the 'Song of Roland,' that renowned nephew of Charlamagne, of whom the chivalry of Charles the Great in the pass of Roncesvalles, has given rise to such clouds of romantic fiction, that its very name has been for ever associated with it. The remarkable passage has been often quoted from the 'Brut of Wace,' an Anglo-Norman metrical chronicle. 'Taillefer, who sung both well and loud, Came mounted on a courser proud; Before the Duke the minstrel sprung. And loud of Charles and Roland sung, Of Oliver and champions mo, Who died at fatal Roncevaux.'"

Early History of the Rowland family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rowland research. Another 121 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1196, 1218, 1221, 1303, 1327, 1500, 1551, 1555, 1565, 1569, 1586, 1599, 1601, 1602, 1606, 1616, 1620, 1621, 1637, 1655, 1660, 1711 and 1723 are included under the topic Early Rowland History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rowland Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Rolland, Roland, Rowland, Rowlands, Rowlandson, Rolan and many more.

Early Notables of the Rowland family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Richard Rowlands alias Verstegen (fl. 1565-1620), an English antiquary, born in the parish of St. Catherine, near the Tower of London, was grandson of Theodore Roland Verstegen, of an ancient Dutch fa...
Mary Rowlandson, née White (c. 1637-1711), was a colonial American woman who was captured by Native Americans during King Philip's War and held for 11 weeks before being ransomed. She wrote a book abo...

Rowland World Ranking

In the United States, the name Rowland is the 838^th most popular surname with an estimated 34,818 people with that name. 3 However, in Australia, the name Rowland is ranked the 845^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,670 people with that name. 4 And in New Zealand, the name Rowland is the 857^th popular surname with an estimated 856 people with that name. 5 The United Kingdom ranks Rowland as 553^rd with 11,738 people. 6

Migration of the Rowland family to Ireland

Some of the Rowland family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rowland migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Rowland Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Rowland, who settled in Virginia in 1635
Richard Rowland, aged 20, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 7
Lewis Rowland, who landed in Virginia in 1652 7
Daniel Rowland, who settled in Virginia in 1653
Eleanor Rowland, who arrived in Maryland in 1655 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Rowland Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Mark Rowland, who landed in Virginia in 1701-1702 7
Walter Rowland, who landed in Virginia in 1711 7
Katherine Rowland, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1727 aboard the ship "Adventurer John Davies" 7
Casper Rowland, aged 20, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1741 7
Jacob Rowland, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1761 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Rowland Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Rowland, aged 28, who arrived in New York in 1812 7
John Rowland, who landed in Mississippi in 1846 7
George Rowland, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 7
Casper, Charles, John, Priscilla, Richard, Thomas, and William Rowland all, who arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1870
Charles Rowland, who landed in St Clair County, III in 1896 7

Rowland migration to Australia +

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

Rowland Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Rowland, English labourer who was convicted in Kent, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Fanny" on 25th August 1815, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Mr. Samuel Rowland, (Rowlands), British Convict who was convicted in Essex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 27th October 1819, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9
Mr. James Rowland, British Convict who was convicted in Bristol, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Commodore Hayes" in April 1823, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 10
Mr. Charles Rowland, (b. 1809), aged 18, English convict who was convicted in Surrey, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Florentia" on 14th August 1827, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1859 11
Miss Ann Rowland, English convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for life, transported aboard the "Earl of Liverpool" in December 1830, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 12
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Rowland migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Rowland Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Andrew Rowland, aged 22, a farmer, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Bengal Merchant" in 1840 13
F. C. Rowland, who arrived in Port Nicholson aboard the ship "Mandarin" in 1841
Mr. Richard Rowland, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Euphemus" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 12th February 1857 14
Mr. Richard Rowland, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Spray of the Ocean" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 1st September 1859 13
Mrs. Caroline Rowland, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Spray of the Ocean" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 1st September 1859 13
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Rowland migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 15

Rowland Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mr. John Rowland, (b. 1614), aged 21, British settler travelling aboard the ship "The Dorset" arriving in Barbados in September 1635 16

Contemporary Notables of the name Rowland (post 1700) +

Frank Sherwood Rowland (1927-2012), American Nobel laureate and a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Irvine
James Roy Rowland Jr. (1926-2022), American politician and physician from Wrightsville, Georgia, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia (1983-1985)
Major John Sharpe Rowland (1795-1863), American planter and politician in South Carolina and Georgia, Superintendent of the Western and Atlantic Railroad during the American Civil War
John A. Rowland, American early settler and rancher of the eastern San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, eponym of Rowland Heights, California
John Howell "Bo" Rowland (1903-1964), American football player and coach of football and basketball
Roy Rowland (1910-1995), American Directors Guild of America Award nominated film director; he also married the niece of MGM chief Louis B. Mayer
Michael Evan "Mike" Rowland (b. 1953), American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1980 to 1981
Michael Rowland (1963-2004), American jockey who died as a result of head injuries suffered during a race on February 4, 2004
Clarence Henry "Pants" Rowland (1879-1969), American Major League Baseball manager for the Chicago White Sox from 1915 through 1918
Landon H. Rowland (1937-2015), American 15th President of Kansas City Southern Railway (1990-1991)
... (Another 23 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Rowland family +

HMS Repulse

Mr. William Rowland (b. 1921), English Stoker 1st Class from Miles Platting, Manchester, England, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse (1941) and survived the sinking 17

HMS Royal Oak

E.A. Rowland, British Petty Officer with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he survived the sinking 18

Senghenydd colliery

Mr. Robert John Rowland (b. 1882), Welsh coal miner from Senghenydd, Caerphilly, Wales who was working at the Senghenydd colliery when there was an explosion on the 14th October 1913; he died

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 28th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 12th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th March 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/commodore-hayes
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 5th October 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/florentia
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-of-liverpool
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's retrieved 29th September 2021. Retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
HMS Repulse Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listrepulsecrew.html
Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html