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Cawood History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Cawood History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The lineage of the name Cawood begins with the Anglo-Saxon tribes in Britain. It is a result of when they lived in Yorkshire, where the name was taken from the town of Cawood in the county's West Riding. The place-name was first recorded as Kawuda in 963 AD and was originally derived from the Old English words ca, meaning jackdaw, and wudu meaning woods, and described a wood where by jackdaws were common.

Early Origins of the Cawood family

The surname Cawood was first found in North Yorkshire, where Cawood is a large village and civil parish in the Selby district. The village dates back to 963 when it was listed as Kawuda. 1 and was given by King Athelstan to the see of York, about 935, in the time of Archbishop Wulstan. Today it is better known as the place where the Cawood sword was found. It is regarded as "one of the finest Viking swords ever discovered" and is nearly 1,000 years old and can be seen at the Yorkshire Museum. This locale is also the home of Cawood Castle, a palace for the Archbishops of York which dates back to 1181. Today Cawood Castle is owned by the Landmark Trust.

Early History of the Cawood family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cawood research. Another 66 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1514 and 1572 are included under the topic Early Cawood History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cawood 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 Cawood has undergone many spelling variations, including Cawood, Kawood, Cawoode, Cawod and others.

Early Notables of the Cawood family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

William Cawood of Cawood Hall

Cawood 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 Cawood were among those contributors:

Cawood Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

George Cawood, who arrived in Maryland in 1660-1661 2
Stephen Cawood, who landed in Maryland in 1670 2
Ann Cawood who settled in Maryland in 1676

Cawood Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Nellie Cawood, aged 39, who immigrated to the United States from County Down, Ireland in 1903
Herbert Cawood, aged 18, who immigrated to America from Sheffield, England, in 1909
Annie Cawood, aged 27, who landed in America from Leeds, England, in 1910
Mary Elizabeth Cawood, aged 60, who landed in America from London, England, in 1912
Elsie Violet Cawood, aged 31, who settled in America from Manchester, England, in 1914
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cawood 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:

Cawood Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mrs. Susannah Cawood, (b. 1830), aged 34, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indian Empire" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 24th March 1864 3
Mr. Alfred Cawood, (b. 1835), aged 29, British labourer travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indian Empire" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 24th March 1864 3
Mr. Charles Cawood, (b. 1858), aged 6, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indian Empire" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 24th March 1864 3
Mr. Jessie Cawood, (b. 1862), aged 2, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indian Empire" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 24th March 1864 3
Mr. John Cawood, (b. 1863), aged 1, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indian Empire" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 24th March 1864 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cawood 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. 4

Cawood Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Richard Cawood who arrived in Barbados in 1635 later moved to St. Christopher (Saint Kitts)
Richard Cawood, aged 25, who arrived in Barbados in 1635 2
Mr. Richard Cawood, (b. 1610), aged 25, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Anne and Elizabeth" arriving in Barbados in 1635 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Cawood (post 1700) +

Sarah Cawood (b. 1972), English broadcaster
Sarah Cawood (b. 1972), English television presenter
Gilbert Mervyn "Gil" Cawood (1939-2022), New Zealand bronze medalist rower at the 1970 World Rowing Championships
John Charles Cawood (1926-1929), Australian administrator, Administrator of the Northern Territory, Government Resident of Central Australia
Cawood Ledford (1926-2001), American Hall of Fame and longtime radio play-by-play announcer

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)
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 23rd September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm