Borrowdale History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Borrowdale name has descended through the generations from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. Their name comes from having lived in Cumberland, where they derived their name from the village of Borrowdale, in the parish of Crosthwaite, often called often called Grange in Borrowdale. The village dates back to at least c. 1170 when it was listed as Borgordale and meant "valley of the fort river" derived from the Old Scandinavian word "berg" + "by." 1

Early Origins of the Borrowdale family

The surname Borrowdale was first found in Cumberland, but there is another Borrowdale located in the old County of Westmorland that is often called Westmorland Borrowdale to distinguish the difference of the two locations. This latter reference is of lesser importance historically to the surname.

Early History of the Borrowdale family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Borrowdale research. Another 108 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1433, 1483, 1547, 1596, 1602, 1684 and 1785 are included under the topic Early Borrowdale History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Borrowdale Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Borrowdale has undergone many spelling variations, including Borradaile, Borrowdale, Borowdale, Borowdall, Borodall, Barrodall and many more.

Early Notables of the Borrowdale family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

The Borrowdale, launched in 1785, was a 272-ton three-masted square rigged merchant ship that served as a storeship of the First Fleet, a convoy of ships taking settlers and convicts to Australia...

Borrowdale migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Borrowdale were among those contributors:

Borrowdale Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Borrowdale, who arrived in Nevis in 1815 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Borrowdale (post 1700) +

Gareth Ian "Gary" Borrowdale (b. 1985), English footballer

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
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)