The tale of the name Cowile begins with a family who lived in Coull, a parish, in the district of Kincardine O'Neil, county of Aberdeen. "This place is supposed to have taken its name, which signifies a "corner," from its situation in the south-eastern extremity of the district of Cromar." [1]
The surname Cowile was first found in Aberdeenshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain), where one of the first records of the family was "William de Cull [who] was one of the witnesses to a charter by John, Earl of Huntington to Norman filius Malcolm of the lands of Lesslyn etc., between 1219-1237." [2]
Coull Castle was an 13th-century castle to the south of Coull. Only traces of the castle can be found today.
Some of the first records of the family in Scotland include: John Cowl who possessed a tenement in Glasgow in 1458, and Sir John Cowill, a cleric, was witness in Aberdeen, 1567. Patrick Coule at Newburgh is mentioned in the Lindores Chartulary in 1479. David Cowle, a native of Scotland, had letters of naturalization in England in 1481, and in the same year Alexander Coule was admitted burgess of Aberdeen." [2]
Further south in northern England, the Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1332 listed John de Couhill, of Rishton, Lancashire; and John de Coule, of Blackburn, Lancashire, 1332. [3]
"The Cowells of Lancashire probably take their name from Cowhill, a district and seat in Lancashire." [4]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cowile research. Another 173 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1219, 1567, 1479, 1481, 1567, 1554, 1611, 1554 and 1570 are included under the topic Early Cowile History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Before the first dictionaries appeared in the last few hundred years, scribes spelled according to sound. spelling variations are common among Scottish names. Cowile has been spelled Coull, Coul, Cowill, Cowell, Cull, Cowles, Cowl, Cowle and many more.
Another 27 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cowile Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In those unstable times, many had no choice but to leave their beloved homelands. Sickness and poverty hounded travelers to North America, but those who made it were welcomed with land and opportunity. These settlers gave the young nations of Canada and the United States a strong backbone as they stood up for their beliefs as United Empire Loyalists and in the American War of Independence. In this century, the ancestors of these brave Scots have begun to recover their illustrious heritage through Clan societies and other heritage organizations. Early passenger and immigration lists reveal many Scottish settlers bearing the name Cowile: John Coule who settled in Virginia in 1654; Francis Coull arrived in Philadelphia in 1856; Martin and Sam Cowl arrived in San Francisco in 1850; Ira Cowles arrived in New York in 1820 with his apprentice.