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The origins of the Crutcher name lie with England's ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. It comes from when the family lived near a crossroads. The name is derived from the Old English word crouch, and/or cruc.
The surname Crutcher was first found in Somerset where John atte Crouche was the first listing of the family 1, Edward III (during the first year of the reign of King Edward III.) 1
The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed: John atte Cruche (no county); Millesenta Cruche, Norfolk; and Robert Cruche, Norfolk. 2
"This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the cross,' i.e. the roadside or market-cross, once so familiar a sight at the intersection of the great country thoroughfares, or in the chartered market-steads. Crouch still lingers in our 'crutched' or 'crouched friars.' Langland describes a pilgrim as having 'many a crouch' embroidered 'on his cloke.' Blomefield says of an old Norwich church, 'St. Crowche's was dedicated in honour of the Invention of the Holy Cross, but is now totally demolished; the churchyard is still surrounded with common lanes or passages'." 3
The word crouch "was applied in general to such crosses as stood at the intersection of two roads and although they have long disappeared, they have left the name of 'cross' and 'crouch' upon many localities, especially in the South of England. In Sussex, where the name is one of the oldest indigenous designations (especially in the Cinque Ports) it is found in the forms of Crouch and De Cruce, 20 Edw. I." 4
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Crutcher research. Another 114 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1200, 1607, 1628, 1635, 1660, 1671, 1679, 1681, 1710, 1775, 1780 and 1786 are included under the topic Early Crutcher History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Before the last few hundred years, the English language had no fast system of spelling rules. For that reason, spelling variations are commonly found in early Anglo-Saxon surnames. Over the years, many variations of the name Crutcher were recorded, including Crouch, Crooch, Croucher, Croutch, Crowch, Crowcher, Crouche and many more.
Notables of this surname at this time include: Thomas Crouch (1607-1679), an English academic and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1679.
Humphrey Crouch or Crowch (fl. 1635-1671), was an English ballad-writer and pamphleteer, probably belonged to the family of publishers named Crouch, who traded largely in popular literature in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. "Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps has suggested that Humphrey was brother of John Crouch, the Royalist verse-writer. It is equally likely that he stood in the same relation to Edward Crouch or Crowch, John Crouch's publisher, and that he was father or uncle of Nathaniel...
Another 310 words (22 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Crutcher Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Crutcher is the 3,095th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 6
To escape oppression and starvation at that time, many English families left for the "open frontiers" of the New World with all its perceived opportunities. In droves people migrated to the many British colonies, those in North America in particular, paying high rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Although many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, those who did see the shores of North America perceived great opportunities before them. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Research into various historical records revealed some of first members of the Crutcher family emigrate to North America: Richard, Nicholas, Richard, and Thomas Crouch who settled in Virginia in 1623; followed by Eliza in 1653; William Crouch settled in Charlestown in 1654.