Suel History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Of all the Anglo-Saxon names to come from Britain, Suel is one of the most ancient. The name is a result of the original family having lived in any of the places named Sewell, Showell, Seawell, and Sywell in England. Suel is a local surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. There are a variety of types of local surnames, some of which include: topographic surnames, which could be given to a person who lived beside any physical feature, such as a hill, stream, church or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. It is also possible that the surname Suel is a patronymic surname, which derives from the Old English given name Siwal(d). This surname is composed of the elements sige, sæ and weard, which mean victory, sea, and rule, respectively.

Early Origins of the Suel family

The surname Suel was first found in Warwickshire where the earliest record of the name was Sewallis, a "noble Saxon" who possessed Lower Eatington before the Norman Conquest. Sewallis was an ancient personal name and was not uncommon in Saxon times. 1

Girart de Sevele was listed in Normandy in 1180 and the Rotuli Hundredorum lists Roger Sevale in England c. 1272. 2

Two references claim that four different listings of the name were found in Warwickshire the Domesday Book, our translation 3 only listed one Sewell, in Bedfordshire as land held by the King that was originally belonging to the Odecrooft hundred but Ralph Taillebois added it to the manor of Houghton Regis with King William's consent.

Today Sewell, is a hamlet located in central Bedfordshire and is still in the Houghton Regis civil parish.

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had quite a few listings for the name as a forename and as a surname: Sewallus de Cleton, Hertfordshire; Sewale de Retcote, Oxfordshire; Robert filius Sew, Norfolk; Thomas Sewald, Oxfordshire; and Godard Sewale, Cambridgeshire. 4

Early History of the Suel family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Suel research. Another 166 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1150, 1257, 1366, 1393, 1643, 1652, 1654, 1667, 1671, 1674, 1676, 1688, 1701, 1720 and 1730 are included under the topic Early Suel History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Suel Spelling Variations

The first dictionaries that appeared in the last few hundred years did much to standardize the English language. Before that time, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. The language was changing, incorporating pieces of other languages, and the spelling of names changed with it. Suel has been spelled many different ways, including Sewell, Shewel, Sewel, Sewall, Shewall, Shewal and many more.

Early Notables of the Suel family

Distinguished members of the family include

John Suell (fl. 1393), was an English politician, Member of the Parliament of England for Totnes in 1393

Migration of the Suel family to Ireland

Some of the Suel family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 41 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Suel family

Thousands of English families in this era began to emigrate the New World in search of land and freedom from religious and political persecution. Although the passage was expensive and the ships were dark, crowded, and unsafe, those who made the voyage safely were rewarded with opportunities unavailable to them in their homeland. Research into passenger and immigration lists has revealed some of the very first Suels to arrive in North America: Thomas Sewell settled in Virginia in 1637; along with Charles in 1654; Martha in 1652; John in 1639; Thomas in 1773; Charles and John Sewell settled in Maryland in 1774.

Contemporary Notables of the name Suel (post 1700) +

Suel Andrews Sheldon (b. 1850), American politician, Representative from Michigan 5th District, 1912 5

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, April 22) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html