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Colees is a name whose ancestors lived among the Picts, a tribe in ancient Scotland. The Colees family lived in Coull, a parish, in the district of Kincardine O'Neil, county of Aberdeen. "This place is supposed to have taken its name, which signifies a "corner," from its situation in the south-eastern extremity of the district of Cromar." 1
The surname Colees was first found in Aberdeenshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain), where one of the first records of the family was "William de Cull [who] was one of the witnesses to a charter by John, Earl of Huntington to Norman filius Malcolm of the lands of Lesslyn etc., between 1219-1237." 2
Coull Castle was an 13th-century castle to the south of Coull. Only traces of the castle can be found today.
Further south in northern England, the Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1332 listed John de Couhill, of Rishton, Lancashire; and John de Coule, of Blackburn, Lancashire, 1332. 3
"The Cowells of Lancashire probably take their name from Cowhill, a district and seat in Lancashire." 4
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Colees research. Another 173 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1219, 1479, 1481, 1554, 1567, 1570 and 1611 are included under the topic Early Colees History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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. Colees has been spelled Coull, Coul, Cowill, Cowell, Cull, Cowles, Cowl, Cowle and many more.
Another 27 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Colees Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Colees: John Coule who settled in Virginia in 1654; Francis Coull arrived in Philadelphia in 1856; Martin and Sam Cowl arrived in San Francisco in 1850; Ira Cowles arrived in New York in 1820 with his apprentice.