The Strathclyde-Briton people of ancient Scotland were the first to use the name Boanacre. It is a name for someone who works as a person who made bows, a bowyer. "This surname is derived from an occupation. 'the bowmaker,' a bowyer." [1]
The surname Boanacre was first found in Peeblesshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd nam Pùballan), former county in South-central Scotland, in the present day Scottish Borders Council Area, where they held a family seat in the old manor of Bower in the parish of Drummelzier. Further south "a family of the name lived in Alnwick for several centuries, and it is chiefly in Newcastle and South Northumberland." [1]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Boanacre research. Another 184 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1343, 1376, 1395, 1422, 1557, 1558, 1385, 1449, 1417, 1449, 1539, 1648 and 1563 are included under the topic Early Boanacre History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Before the printing press standardized spelling in the last few hundred years, no general rules existed in the English language. Spelling variations in Scottish names from the Middle Ages are common even within a single document. Boanacre has been spelled Bowmaker, Bowmakker, Boumaker, Bomaker, Bowmacre and many more.
Notable amongst the family at this time was Walter Bower or Bowmaker (c. 1385-1449), Scottish chronicler, abbot of Inchcolm (1417-1449); Thomas Bowmaker, 1539, Newcastle-on-Tyne was noted as capabvle of bearing arms; well...
Another 31 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Boanacre Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Boanacre family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 36 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
For Scottish immigrants, the great expense of travel to North America did not seem such a problem in those unstable times. Acres of land awaited them and many got the chance to fight for their freedom in the American War of Independence. These Scots and their ancestors went on to play important roles in the forging of the great nations of the United States and Canada. Among them: John Boumaker who settled in Philadelphia in 1753.