First found in Suffolk where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects. Their earliest records were in the year 1273 when Gilbert de Kentwelle held a manor and estates. This is presumed to be the senior line of the family name but they were seated there from a very early date, probably the 10th century.

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Cantwell or a variant listed above: John Cantwell settled in Virginia in 1623; Mary Cantwell settled in Pennsylvania in 1685; Edward, Joseph, Leonard, Mathias, Michael, and Patrick all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1870..

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