Contents [hide]

Crowther History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Crowther History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

The name Crowther is part of the ancient legacy of the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was taken on by someone who worked as a person who played a crowd, a stringed instrument similar to a fiddle or six-string violin. This instrument was known as a crouth or croude in Old English, and is still known as a crwth in Wales and as a cruit in Ireland. People in the West of England still refer to a fiddle as a crowdy-kit. 1 Professional musicians of this sort made their livings primarily by playing at medieval fairs and wedding feasts. In Scotland "crowdie" means porridge.

Early Origins of the Crowther family

The surname Crowther was first found in Kent where it is generally understood that the first record of the name was found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1275 as Richard le Cruder. 2 3 A few years later, Hugo le Crouder was listed in Leicestershire in 1278 and Kenwrick le Cruther was listed in the Assize Rolls of Cheshire in 1289. 3 In Yorkshire, Adam le Crouther was listed in 1296 and Katerina Crowder and Thomas Crouder were listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 2

Early History of the Crowther family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Crowther research. Another 104 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1642, 1646, 1830 and 1874 are included under the topic Early Crowther History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Crowther Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Crowther include Crowder, Crowther, Crouder, Crowdder, Crodare, Crowdair, Crowdere, Crowthers, Crouder, Croader, Croather, Crother, Crawther, Craudder, Crauther, Crauder, Craudair, Crothair, Crowthair, Crowthare, Croder, Crouter, Crowter and many more.

Early Notables of the Crowther family

More information is included under the topic Early Crowther Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Crowther Ranking

In the United States, the name Crowther is the 9,720^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 4 However, in the United Kingdom, the name Crowther is ranked the 818^th most popular surname with an estimated 8,291 people with that name. 5

Migration of the Crowther family to Ireland

Some of the Crowther family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Crowther migration to the United States +

A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Crowther Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Crowther, who landed in New Hampshire in 1630 6
John Crowther who settled in New Hampshire in 1631

Crowther Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

David Crowther, aged 24, who arrived in New York in 1812 6
William Crowther, who landed in New York in 1838 6
Richard Crowther, aged 24, who arrived in New York in 1854 6
Mary Crowther, aged 59, who landed in New York in 1862 6
Mr. John Crowther, aged 59, British settler who arrived in New York aboard the ship "Cynosure" in 1863

Crowther migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Crowther Settlers in Canada in the 20th Century

Edwin Crowther, born in Carlisle, Cumberland, settled in St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1910 7
Edwin Crowther, born in Carlisle, England, settled in St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1910 7

Crowther migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Crowther Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Isaac Crowther, English convict who was convicted in York, Yorkshire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Elphinstone" on 27th May 1837, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 8
Mr. John Crowther, English convict who was convicted in Yorkshire, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Equestrian" on 25th January 1844, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island) 9
Miss Ann Crowther who was convicted in Liverpool, Lancashire, England for 7 years , transported aboard the "Aurora" on 22nd April 1851, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 10

Crowther 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:

Crowther Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Thomas Crowther, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840
Samuel Crowther, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1842 aboard the ship Birman
Samuel Crowther, aged 20, a mason, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Birman" in 1842
Eliza Crowther, aged 18, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Birman" in 1842
Isaiah Crowther, who landed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1843
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Crowther (post 1700) +

Thomas C. Crowther, American Republican politician, Member of Massachusetts State House of Representatives Eleventh Bristol District, 1923-24 11
John Crowther, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Massachusetts, 1908 11
George L. Crowther, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Utah, 1940 11
George Calhoun Crowther (1849-1914), American Republican politician, Member of Missouri State Legislature; U.S. Representative from Missouri 4th District, 1895-97 11
Frank Crowther (1870-1955), American Republican politician, Member of New Jersey State House of Assembly from Middlesex County, 1906-07; U.S. Representative from New York 30th District, 1919-43 11
Bosley Crowther (1905-1981), American journalist and film critic for The New York Times for 27 years
Johnathan Crowther (1794-1856), English Wesleyan minister, born at St. Austell, Cornwall, on 31 July 1794 12
Johnathan Crowther (1760-1824), English Methodist preacher, appointed to the itinerant ministry by John Wesley in 1784
James Crowther (1768-1847), English botanist, the youngest of seven sons of a labourer, born in a cellar in Deansgate, Manchester, on 24 June 1768
Charles Crowther (1831-1894), English-born, Australian politician, member of the Western Australian Legislative Council (1873 to 1887)
... (Another 7 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Crowther family +

Empress of Ireland

Mr. John George Crowther (d. 1914), British Leading Fireman from United Kingdom who worked aboard the Empress of Ireland and died in the sinking 13

HMS Royal Oak

W.H. Crowther, British Engine Room Artificer with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he survived the sinking 14

SS Caribou

Mr. A. F. Crowther, British passenger who was Royal Army was travelling aboard the railway ferry "SS Caribou" when it was struck by a German submarine torpedo on 14th October 1942, the most significant sinking in Canadian waters at that time, he survived the sinking

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
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)
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 18th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elphinstone
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 4th May 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/equestrian
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th August 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/aurora
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 2) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020
Commemoration Empress of Ireland 2014. (Retrieved 2014, June 17) . Retrieved from http://www.empress2014.ca/seclangen/listepsc1.html
Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html