Show ContentsEbblethwait History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Ebblethwait is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived in the township of Applethwaite, which was in the parish of Windermere in Westmorland (now part of Cumbria). There were also places with this name in Cumberland and in Suffolk, where the first instances of the surname Ebblethwait were found. In Old English, applethwaite meant an apple orchard or an area of land cleared for growing apples. 1 2

Early Origins of the Ebblethwait family

The surname Ebblethwait was first found in the county of Suffolk in south eastern England. One of the first records of the family was Stephen Appeltheit who was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Suffolk in 1327. Later Robert Apylweyte was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Suffolk in 1524. 3

Early History of the Ebblethwait family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ebblethwait research. Another 140 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1629, 1630, 1646, 1660, 1668, 1674, 1678 and 1906 are included under the topic Early Ebblethwait History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ebblethwait 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 Ebblethwait family name include Applethwaite, Applewhite, Applewaite, Applewait, Apelwhite, Eppelwhite, Epplethwaite and many more.

Early Notables of the Ebblethwait family

Notables of the family at this time include

  • Thomas Hebblethwaite (1629-1668), an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1660 and 1668

Migration of the Ebblethwait 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 Ebblethwait surname or a spelling variation of the name include : Henry Apllewhate who arrived in Virginia in 1713; Thomas Applewhite who arrived in Maryland in 1676; Henry Applewhaite who arrived in Virginia in 1670.



  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  2. Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
  3. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)


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