Bowls History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Bowls came to England with the ancestors of the Bowls family in the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Bowls family lived in Lincolnshire. The name, however, is a reference to the family's former residence in Bouelles, near Neufchatel, in Normandy. 1

The Domesday Book "presents us with two tenants in chief called Bolle and Bollo, the former in Hants, and the latter in Dorset. Bouelles is the name of a place near Neufchatel in Normandy. " 2

However, two junior sources claim the name is a trade name for "one who made or sold concave vessels or bowls." 3 4

And one source claims the name was "probably from the sign of an inn, as 'John at the Bowl,' i. e., at the sign of the bowl." 5

Early Origins of the Bowls family

The surname Bowls was first found in Lincolnshire where they settled after the Norman Conquest. They were originally from Bouelles, near Neufchatel in Normandy where it was listed under the spellings Bowles or Buelles. 1

"Bowles is an old Wiltshire name. The most influential families bearing this name are said to have come from Bristol during the 15th century. In the following century they were resident in Burcombe, and during the 18th century they supplied sheriffs and members of parliament for the county." 6

Entries in early rolls were scarce, but we did find: John de Boweles in the Feet of Fines for Huntingdonshire in 1292. 7

Early History of the Bowls family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bowls research. Another 100 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1613, 1619, 1637, 1644, 1645, 1652, 1661, 1662, 1663, 1669, 1690, 1696, 1702, 1714, 1722, 1728, 1742, 1762, 1773, 1786 and 1850 are included under the topic Early Bowls History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bowls Spelling Variations

Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Bowles, Bolles, Boles, Bowls, Boals and others.

Early Notables of the Bowls family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Edward Bowles (1613-1662), an English Presbyterian minister from Sutton, Bedfordshire. His father, Oliver Bowles, B.D., minister of Sutton, was one of the oldest members of the Westminster Assembly. Bowles was educated at Catherine Hall, Cambridge, under Sibbes and Brownrigge. He was chaplain to the second Earl of Manchester, and after the surrender of York, 15 July 1644, was appointed one of the four parliamentary ministers in that city, officiating alternately at the minister and Allhallows-on-the-Pavement. On 10 June 1645 the House of Commons voted him 100l. as one of the ministers in the...
Another 154 words (11 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bowls Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Bowls family to Ireland

Some of the Bowls family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bowls migration to the United States +

Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Bowls or a variant listed above:

Bowls Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Robert Bowls, who landed in Virginia in 1760 8

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)