Show ContentsKnotford History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Knotford family

The surname Knotford was first found in Cheshire at Knutsford, a town and parish in the union of Altrincham, E. division of the hundred of Bucklow. The origin of the place name is indeed interesting. One reference sites that as the place was once situated "on the banks of a small stream, across which was formerly a ford. Canute, the Dane, is said to have passed over the ford with his army for the conquest of the northern parts of the kingdom, in the reign of Ethelred I., or that of Edmund Ironside; and it may thence have been called Canute's Ford." 1 However, other references claim that the place name is originally "spelt Knotsford; according to tradition, several generations of the name of Knott had a mill on the stream, and as the working of the mill mainly regulated the depth of water at the ford, the place was called after them Knot's ford." By the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, it was listed as Cunformed, part of the barony of Halton. 2

Early History of the Knotford family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Knotford research. Another 171 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1455, 1487, 1510, 1558, 1562, 1600 and 1644 are included under the topic Early Knotford History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Knotford 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 Knotford family name include Knotsford, Knottsford, Knutford, Knutsford, Knottsford, Knottesford, Notsford, Nottsford, Nutsford, Nuttsford, Knotford, Knottford, Notford and many more.

Early Notables of the Knotford family

More information is included under the topic Early Knotford Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Knotford family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, 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 Knotford surname or a spelling variation of the name include: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..



  1. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  2. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)


Houseofnames.com on Facebook