Canuteson History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

The ancestors of the name Canuteson date back to the days of the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from their residence at the knot, the summit of a rocky hill, from the residence near that place.

Early Origins of the Canuteson family

The surname Canuteson was first found in Derbyshire where traditionally the name was descended from the Scandinavian King Canute, or Cnut.

Drayton sings "The Knot that called was Canutus, bird of old, of that great King of Danes, his name that still doth hold, his appetite to please that far and near was sought, for his, as some have said, from Denmark hither brought."

Cnut or Canute the Great (994?-1035), and by Scandinavian writers the Mighty and the Old, was king of the English, Danes, and Norwegians, and was the younger son of Sweyn, king of Denmark. 1

Early feudal rolls provided the king of the time a method of cataloguing holdings for taxation, but today they provide a glimpse into the wide surname spellings in use at that time. Randulfus filius Cnut was listed in the Pipe Rolls for Devon in 1191; Knot pater Alani and Alanus filius Knod were both listed in the Assize Rolls for Lincolnshire in 1202; Radulfus filius Knut was found in the Pipe Rolls for Yorkshire in 1203; Walter and Robert Cnot were in the Pipe Rolls for Suffolk in 1165 and were later Knights Templar in 1185 ; William Cnotte was found in the Curia Regis Rolls for Bedfordshire in 1206; William, John Knotte in the Assize Rolls for Worcestershire in 1221; and Stephen le Knotte was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296. 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had two listings for the family: Richard Knotte, London; and Peter Cnotte, Salop (Shropshire) while the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 had the following: Robertus Knotte; Ricardus Notte; Isabella Notte; and Thomas Knot. 3

Up north in Scotland, "A ship of Knut the wealthy, citizen of Berwick, was carried off by Erlind, earl of Orkney, in 1156 (Orkneyinga Saga, Edinburgh, 1873, p. 161.) Hugo Cnot granted an annual-rent of two shillings to the Priory of Inchcolm, c. 1210-1229. The name also occurs in records of Coldingham Priory as Cnoyt. Richard Knut witnessed resignation of the lands of Langholm and Brakanwra, 1281. Adum Knout and John Knout were burgesses of Roxburgh, 1296, and rendered homage [to King Edward I of England] in that year. " 4

Early History of the Canuteson family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Canuteson research. Another 116 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1582, 1606, 1621, 1622, 1626, 1629, 1632, 1633, 1641, 1656, 1681, 1708, 1724, 1729, 1730, 1734, 1763, 1777 and 1811 are included under the topic Early Canuteson History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Canuteson Spelling Variations

Canuteson has been spelled many different ways. Before English spelling became standardized over the last few hundred years, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. As the English language changed in the Middle Ages, absorbing pieces of Latin and French, as well as other languages, the spelling of people's names also changed considerably, even over a single lifetime. Many variations of the name Canuteson have been found, including Cnot, Cnotte, Canute, Cnut, Knot, Knout, Knotte, Knott and many more.

Early Notables of the Canuteson family

Distinguished members of the family include William Knott of Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire. Edward Knott (1582-1656), born with the name of Matthew Wilson, was an English Jesuit controversialist, twice provincial of the Society of Jesus in England. He was born at Catchburn, a township in the parish of Morpeth, Northumberland. During 1626 he was a missioner in the Suffolk district. He was apprehended in 1629, and was committed to the Clink prison in Southwark, but at the instance of the queen he...
Another 81 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Canuteson Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Canuteson family to Ireland

Some of the Canuteson family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 148 words (11 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Canuteson migration to the United States +

In an attempt to escape the chaos experienced in England, many English families boarded overcrowded and diseased ships sailing for the shores of North America and other British colonies. Those families hardy enough, and lucky enough, to make the passage intact were rewarded with land and a social environment less prone to religious and political persecution. Many of these families became important contributors to the young colonies in which they settled. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Canutesons to arrive on North American shores:

Canuteson Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Oliver Canuteson, who landed in Illinois in 1834-1835 5
Canisto Canuteson, who arrived in Texas in 1850-1906 5

Citations +

Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
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)