Show ContentsNewcome History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Newcome was formed many centuries ago by the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It was a name typically given to a new person in town; a person who had just arrived to live in the area. The name Newcome is derived from the Old English elements niwe, which means new, and cumen, which means come. The name is therefore transliterated as "newly come." Nickname surnames were frequently the result of a spontaneous reaction to a particular occasion or event. [1]

Early Origins of the Newcome family

The surname Newcome was first found in Lincolnshire where Alan le Neucument was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1175. In Durham, William Neucum was listed at Boldon in 1183 and Walter le Neucumen was a Knights Templar in Lincolnshire in 1185. Again in Lincolnshire, Richard Newecwne was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1195. [2]

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: Gilbert le Neucum, Lincolnshire; Gilbert le Neucomen, Lincolnshire; and Robert Neucomen, Lincolnshire. To the north in Yorkshire, Ricardus Newcomen was registered there in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. [3]

"Newcombe is an old Devonshire name. Richard Newcomb was twice mayor of Barnstaple in the reign of Henry VI. (G.). In the 16th and 17th centuries, a gentle family of Newcombe resided at Great Worthy, in Teignton - Drew. The name was well known in Exeter from the 16th to the 18th century, and Newcomb was the name of the Exeter mayors of 1612, 1703, and 1713. Ashburton also possessed a family of the name in the 16th century, Newcombe being the name of the Ashburton churchwardens of 1550 and 1569. The name still survives in Exeter and Barnstaple." [4]

We found this interesting passage: "Somewhere about the year 1670, there was born in Dartmouth a man who did more to lay the foundations of the present manufacturing greatness of the kingdom, and to advance the progress of industrial operations throughout the world, than any other who can be named. This was Thomas Newcomin, the inventor of the first practical working steam-engine, upon which, after it had been many years in useful operation, the work of James Watt was based. Newcomin, with whom was associated another Dartmouth man, named Cawley, perfected his engine in 1705. Hardly anything is known of him except that he was a locksmith and ironmonger, and that he died in 1729. The date of his birth is quite uncertain, but no doubt has ever been thrown upon his being a Dartmouth worthy. The house in which he lived was pulled down a few years since, and the materials worked into a house called ' Newcomin Cottage.' West-Countrymen are proud of the fact that to Newcomin the world owes the stationary steam-engine, and to Trevithick, of Hayle, in Cornwall, the locomotive. Newcomin's engine was a perfectly new machine, though it had to a certain extent a predecessor in the ingenious device of Savery of Shilston ; and Trevithick's engine was the first that proved the practicability of steam locomotion on railroads." [5]

Early History of the Newcome family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Newcome research. Another 57 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1610, 1627, 1669 and 1695 are included under the topic Early Newcome History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Newcome Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Newcome include Newcombe, Newcom, Newcomb, Newcome, Newcomen and others.

Early Notables of the Newcome family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

  • Sir Robert Newcomen of Renagh in county Longford
  • Matthew Newcomen (c. 1610-1669), an English nonconformist churchman

Ireland Migration of the Newcome family to Ireland

Some of the Newcome family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Newcome migration to the United States +

A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Newcome Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • William Newcome, who landed in Virginia in 1623 [6]
  • William Newcome, who arrived in Virginia in 1658 [6]
Newcome Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Mary Newcome, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1706 [6]
Newcome Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Ambrose Newcome, (b. 1867), aged 22, Cornish smith departing from Liverpool aboard the ship "Etruria" arriving in New York, USA on 22 April 1889 [7]

Contemporary Notables of the name Newcome (post 1700) +

  • Frederick Clive Newcome (1847-1894), English Landscape painter
  • James William Scobie Newcome (b. 1953), current English Bishop of Carlisle
  • Henry Newcome (1627-1695), English nonconformist preacher and activist
  • William Newcome (1729-1800), English Bishop of Dromore
  • Dr. Hanna Newcome, Canadian recipient of the 1997 Pearson Medal of Peace for her work as a peace activist and community development


  1. Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
  2. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  3. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  4. Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
  5. Worth, R.N., A History of Devonshire London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.G., 1895. Digital
  6. 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)
  7. Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 30). Emigrants to New York 1820 - 1891 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_new_york_1820_1891.pdf


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