Douwes History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England
• Ireland

Early Origins of the Douwes family

Early History of the Douwes family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Douwes research. Another 88 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1212, 1580, 1602, 1605, 1608, 1653, 1671, 1708, 1724 and 1766 are included under the topic Early Douwes History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Douwes 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 Douwes family name include Dawes, Dawe, Daw, Daws, Douwes, Dohse and others.

Early Notables of the Douwes family

Distinguished members of the family include Lancelot Dawes (1580-1653), English divine, born at Barton Kirk in Westmorland of poor parents. "When seventeen he became a student of Queen's College, Oxford, and a few months later became a servitor. He took the degree of B.A. in 1602, and was then made tabarder, and in 1605 proceeded to his M.A. degree, became a fellow, and subsequently took orders. He continued to reside in the college, of which his studious retired life and simple habits had caused him to be considered an ornament, till, in 1608, he was preferred to the living of Barton...
Another 134 words (10 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Douwes Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Douwes family to Ireland

Some of the Douwes 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.

Migration of the Douwes family

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 Douwes surname or a spelling variation of the name include: William Dawes who settled in Massachusetts about the year 1623; and another William Dawes settled in New England in the year 1623. In Newfoundland, George Dawe was in possession of property at Port de Grave which had been in his family from 1595.