The surname Bewick was first found in Berwickshire in Scotland and Northumberland in England, where "this surname is derived from the famous Border town of the same name. Rather curiously the surname is not uncommon at the present day in Fife. John de Berwic was rector of Renfrew in 1295, and in the year following Geoffry of Berewick, Burgess of Roxburgh, rendered homage [to King Edward I of England]. " [1]
Further to the south in England, John de Berewyk (d. 1312), was an English judge, who "was entrusted with the charge of the vacant abbey of St. Edmund, 1278-1279, and of the see of Lincoln during the interval which elapsed between the death of Benedict, otherwise Richard, de Gravesend, 1279, and the appointment of his successor in the episcopate, Oliver Sutton, 1280-1281." [2]
In Wiltshire, there were two early listings in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273: Sampson de Berwyk; and Philip de Berwyke. [3]
Moving further north again, the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Johannes de Berwyk as holding lands there at that time. [3]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bewick research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1476, 1615, 1628, 1629 and 1728 are included under the topic Early Bewick History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The name, Bewick, occurred in many references, and from time to time, it was spelt Berwick, Bewick, Berwicke, Bewicke and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Bewick Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The New World beckoned settlers from the Scottish-English borders. They sailed aboard the armada of sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. Some called them, less romantically, the "coffin ships." Among the early settlers bearing the Bewick surname who came to North America were: William Berwicke who settled in Virginia in 1648; James Berwick who settled in New Orleans in 1821.