Show ContentsShawe History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

To the ancient Scottish name Shawe was a nickname for a person who shared some of the qualities attributed to a wolf. Shawe is a nickname surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Nicknames form a broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, and can refer directly or indirectly to one's personality, physical attributes, mannerisms, or even their habits of dress. The surname Shawe is derived from the Gaelic first name Sithech, which means wolf.

Early Origins of the Shawe family

The surname Shawe was first found in Perthshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Pheairt) former county in the present day Council Area of Perth and Kinross, located in central Scotland, where the family appears to have been firmly entrenched in the Eastern coastal regions well before 1000 AD.

While some claim that the Clan originally descended from a MacDuff, one of the ancient Earls of Fife, the first official mention in documents shows them to be present at the General Council held by King Malcolm at Forfar in 1061.

However, this ancient leadership was challenged by many other Clans Commyns (Cummings) who had leased the Shaw lands of Rothiemurchus.

Early History of the Shawe family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shawe research. Another 369 words (26 lines of text) covering the years 1178, 1226, 1405, 1411, 1527, 1550, 1602, 1608, 1625, 1672, 1692, 1751, 1774, 1776, 1799, 1804, 1826, 1832, 1849, 1876 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Shawe History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shawe Spelling Variations

The appearance of the printing press and the first dictionaries in the last few hundred years did much to standardize spelling. Prior to that time scribes spelled according to sound, a practice that resulted in many spelling variations. Shawe has been spelled Shaw, Shawe, Mac Ghille-Sheathanaich (Gaelic) and others.

Early Notables of the Shawe family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was

  • John Shawe or Shaw (1608-1672), an English puritan minister from Yorkshire

Ireland Migration of the Shawe family to Ireland

Some of the Shawe family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 123 words (9 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Shawe migration to the United States +

The expense of the crossing to the North American colonies seemed small beside the difficulties of remaining in Scotland. It was a long and hard trip, but at its end lay the reward of freedom. Some Scots remained faithful to England and called themselves United Empire Loyalists, while others fought in the American War of Independence. Much of this lost Scottish heritage has been recovered in the last century through Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important, early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Shawe:

Shawe Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Walter Shawe, who landed in Virginia in 1622 [1]
  • Mr. Thomas Shawe, who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1633 aboard the ship "Recovery" [2]
  • William Shawe, aged 25, who landed in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Primrose" [1]
  • Sara Shawe, aged 18, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Phillip" [1]
  • Ann Shawe, aged 32, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 [1]
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Australia Shawe migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Shawe Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Anthony Shawe, English convict from Leicester, who was transported aboard the "Adamant" on March 16, 1821, settling in New South Wales, Australia [3]

New Zealand Shawe 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:

Shawe Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Captain Shawe, British settler travelling from London via Cobh aboard the ship "Sir George Pollock" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 5th September 1859 [4]

West Indies Shawe 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. [5]
Shawe Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
  • Mr. Abram Shawe, (b. 1615), aged 20, British settler travelling from Gravesend, England aboard the ship "Falcon" arriving in Barbados in 1636 [6]

HMS Hood
  • Mr. Robert B Shawe (b. 1922), New Zealander Able Seaman serving for the Royal Navy from Auckland, New Zealand, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking [7]


  1. 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)
  2. Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's Retrieved January 6th 2023, retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  3. State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Adamant voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1821 with 144 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/adamant/1821
  4. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  6. Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's retrieved 28th September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  7. H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm


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