Doun is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in an area that was described by a downward slope. The surname was originally derived from the Anglo-Saxon word dun which means a hill.
The surname Doun was first found in Sussex. Another branch was located at Roosdown in Devon. "This place, which was formerly a parish, was anciently called Ralphdown, from its owner, Ralph de Downe, in the reign of Henry II." [1]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Doun research. Another 329 words (24 lines of text) covering the years 1270, 1226, 1066, 1350, 1327, 1379, 1407, 1445, 1779, 1810, 1619, 1805, 1549, 1628, 1570, 1631, 1570, 1609, 1666, 1662, 1710 and are included under the topic Early Doun History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Doun family name include Down, Downe, Downer, Doune, Douner, Dounner, Downner and many more.
Distinguished members of the family include Andrew Downes, also known as Dounaeus, (c. 1549-1628), English classical scholar, one of the seven translators of the Apocrypha for the King James Version of the Bible.
John Downe (1570?-1631), was an English divine, son of John Downe, by his wife, Joan, daughter of John...
Another 50 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Doun Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Doun family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 50 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Doun surname or a spelling variation of the name include: