Bakewel History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Bakewel is one of the many names that the Normans brought with them when they conquered England in 1066. The Bakewel family lived in Derbyshire, in the town of Bakewell.

Early Origins of the Bakewel family

The surname Bakewel was first found in Derbyshire, at Bakewell, today a small market town in the Peak District. The town dates back to at least Anglo Saxon times when it was listed as Balecanwell in 949. By the time of the Domesday Book, the place was listed as Badequella and was derived from an Old English personal name + wella meaning "spring or stream of a man called Badeca." 1

At that time, King Edward had 18 carucates of land to the geld and the land was large enough to hold 18 ploughs. There was one mill, one church and one lead mine with 80 acres of meadows. 2

Bakewell Castle in the town of Bakewell was a motte and bailey castle built in the 12th century that was razed to the ground during the English Civil War; now only ruins can be seen.

John de Bankwell, Bakwell, or Banquelle (d. 1308), was an early English judge, "appointed in 1297 to travel the forests in Essex, Huntingdon, Northampton, Rutland, Surrey, and Sussex, for the purpose of enforcing the observance of the forest laws of Henry III." 3

Roger de Bankwell (fl. 1340), the English judge, was "perhaps of the same family as John de Bankwell, and was one of three commissioners entrusted with the assessment of the tallage in the counties of Nottingham and Derby in 1333." 3

Early History of the Bakewel family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bakewel research. Another 47 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1618, 1650, 1654, 1665, 1682, 1683, 1685, 1689, 1690, 1701, 1708 and 1752 are included under the topic Early Bakewel History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bakewel 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 Bakewell, Backwell, Bakwell, Balkwell, Balkwill, Backwall, Bakewill, Bagwell and many more.

Early Notables of the Bakewel family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Sir Robert Bakewell of the Old Hall
Robert Bakewell (1682-1752) was a skilled English ironsmith, examples of his work can still be seen today at Derby Cathedral and a number of other churches: Alvaston, Ashbourne, Borrowash, Duffield, E...

Migration of the Bakewel family to Ireland

Some of the Bakewel family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 88 words (6 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 Bakewel family

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 Bakewel name or one of its variants: Henry Bagwell who settled in Virginia in 1623; Peter Bagwell settled in Barbados in 1685; Thomas Bagwell in Virginia 1623; Francis Bakewell settled in Virginia in 1635.

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print