Clew History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancient roots of the Clew family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Clew comes from when the family lived in Cheshire in an area that was described by the Old English word as cloh, which means that the bearers of this surname lived near a ravine or hollow. It also could be described as the place that was set back from the town or village.

Early Origins of the Clew family

The surname Clew was first found in Yorkshire where the first record of the family was Willelmus de Clowe who was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 1

Early History of the Clew family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Clew research. Another 122 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1450, 1543, 1582, 1595, 1604, 1605, 1616, 1645, 1648, 1649 and 1725 are included under the topic Early Clew History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Clew Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Clew has appeared include Clowes, Clowe, Clows and others.

Early Notables of the Clew family

Distinguished members of the family include William Clowes the Elder (c.1543-1604), an early English surgeon and author. He was the "son of Thomas and grandson of Nicholas Clowes, both of Kingsbury in Warwickshire, and great-grandson of Geffrey Clowes of Tutbury in Staffordshire, all of them gentlemen bearing tokens and arms of honour, helm, mantle, and...
Another 54 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Clew Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Clew migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Clew arrived in North America very early:

Clew Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Daniel Clew, aged 21, who arrived in New England in 1699 2

Clew migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Clew Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. William Clew U.E. who settled in Eastern District [Cornwall], Ontario c. 1783 3

Clew migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Clew Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Samuel Clew, (b. 1845), aged 15, British farm labourer travelling from Bristol aboard the ship "Matoaka" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 2nd December 1860 4

Citations +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html