{{ad}} |
|
|
The annals of Scottish history reveal that Bowith was first used as a name by ancestors of the Pictish tribe of ancient Scotland. The Bowith family lived in the lands of Beath in Fife. 1 2 The name is a topographic or local surname, which was given to a family who held a barony or lands, had houses, manors or estates in that area. The name could have also been derived from the Gaelic beith which means birch tree.
The surname Bowith was first found in Fife, at the Hill of Beath, a hill and a village in Fife, Scotland just outside Dunfermline and joined to Cowdenbeath. The village is best known as the location of the meeting of the Covenanters at which John Blackadder was one of the preachers in the summer of 1670. As of 1896, it had a population of about 1,300 people.
The first entries for the family was "Edmund de Beeth witnessed the gift of 10s. annually to the monks of Dunfermline by Gilbert de Cles in 1231, and Malcolmus Beyth witnessed a charter by Maldouen, earl of Leuenauch to the monastery of Arnbroath in the same year." 1
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bowith research. Another 209 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1231, 1480, 1491, 1498, 1508, 1550, 1580, 1633, 1635, 1657, 1672, 1675 and 1696 are included under the topic Early Bowith History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Before the first dictionaries appeared in the last few hundred years, scribes spelled according to sound. spelling variations are common among Scottish names. Bowith has been spelled Beath, Beeth, Beith, Bait, Baith and others.
Another 43 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bowith Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In those unstable times, many had no choice but to leave their beloved homelands. Sickness and poverty hounded travelers to North America, but those who made it were welcomed with land and opportunity. These settlers gave the young nations of Canada and the United States a strong backbone as they stood up for their beliefs as United Empire Loyalists and in the American War of Independence. In this century, the ancestors of these brave Scots have begun to recover their illustrious heritage through Clan societies and other heritage organizations. Early passenger and immigration lists reveal many Scottish settlers bearing the name Bowith: Robert Beath who settled in Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina in 1766; Henry and Robert Beath arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1830; Robert Beeth settled in Savannah, Georgia, in 1820.