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Swallow History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Swallow History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Swallow is one of the many names that the Normans brought with them when they conquered England in 1066. The Swallow family lived in Lincolnshire, in the parish of Swallow.

Early Origins of the Swallow family

The surname Swallow was first found in Lincolnshire where they were anciently Lords of the manor of Swallow, originally Saulun, shown in the Domesday Book survey of 1086 as being held by Alfred of Lincoln, from Count Alan, from the Bishop of Bayeux and the Archbishop of York. Conjecturally, this family name is descended from Alfred, the first Lord of the Manor in 1066.

Early History of the Swallow family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Swallow research. Another 105 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1650 and 1666 are included under the topic Early Swallow History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Swallow Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Swallow, Swalow, Swallowe, Swaylow and others.

Early Notables of the Swallow family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Sir John Swallow

Swallow Ranking

In the United States, the name Swallow is the 9,498^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Swallow migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Swallow name or one of its variants:

Swallow Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Henry Swallow, who landed in Virginia in 1664 2
John Swallow, who arrived in Maryland in 1676 2

Swallow Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

James Swallow, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1774

Swallow Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

R Swallow, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 2
A Swallow, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 2
William Swallow, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1868

Swallow migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Swallow Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Edward Swallow, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1749

Swallow migration to Australia +

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

Swallow Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Joseph Swallow, English convict from York, who was transported aboard the "Albion" on May 17, 1823, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 3
Mr. William Swallow, (Brown, Walker), (b. 1792), aged 39, English mariner who was convicted in Surrey, England for life for returning from transport, transported aboard the "Exmouth" on 3rd March 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he was first convicted in Durham, England and transported aboard "Malabar" in 1821, then again in 1829 on the "Georgiana", he died in 1834 4
Mr. James Swallow, English convict who was convicted in Essex, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Canton" on 20th September 1839, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
Hiram Swallow, aged 33, who arrived in South Australia in 1849 aboard the ship "Calphurnia" 6
Hiram Swallow, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Calphurnia" in 1849 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Swallow 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:

Swallow Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Edward Swallow, aged 23, a bricklayer, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Coromandel" in 1840
Ann Swallow, aged 23, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Coromandel" in 1840
Edward Swallow, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1842

Contemporary Notables of the name Swallow (post 1700) +

Steve Swallow (b. 1940), American jazz bassist and composer
William C. Swallow, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from New Hampshire, 1928 7
Silas Comfort Swallow (1839-1930), American politician, Prohibition Candidate for Pennsylvania State Treasurer, 1897; Prohibition Candidate for President of the United States, 1904 7
Joseph Patrick Swallow (b. 1932), American Republican politician, Alpena County Prosecuting Attorney, 1963-64; Member of Michigan State House of Representatives 105th District, 1965-72 7
John R. Swallow, American Republican politician, Kansas State Auditor, 1865-69 7
John Swallow (b. 1962), American Republican politician, Member of Utah State House of Representatives, 1996-2002; Candidate for U.S. Representative from Utah 2nd District, 2002, 2004; Presidential Elector for Utah, 2012 7
Howard A. Swallow, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Illinois, 1920 7
Herbert Swallow, American politician, Member of Rhode Island State Senate from North Providence, 1911 7
George N. Swallow, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Massachusetts, 1900; Candidate for Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, 1903 7
A. H. Swallow, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 1928 7
... (Another 8 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Swallow family +

RMS Lusitania

Mr. Allan Swallow, English 3rd Class passenger residing in Hamilton, USA, who sailed aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and died in the sinking 8

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Albion voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1823 with 200 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/albion/1823
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th May 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/exmouth
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 17th December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/canton
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The CALPHURNIA 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Calpurnia.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 6) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/