Douthwaite History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Douthwaite is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Douthwaite family once lived in either Dowthwaite, in Cumberland or Dowthwaite Hall in the North Riding of Yorkshire. 1 2

The name literally means "a piece of ground cleared of wood, from the Anglo-Saxon thweotan, to cut." 3 4

Early Origins of the Douthwaite family

The surname Douthwaite was first found in the Subsidy Rolls of Cumberland where John de Doventhuayt was recorded in 1332. Much later in Yorkshire, John Dowthwayt was recorded there at Whitby in 1540. 1 The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included an entry for Robertas de Dowthwayt. 5

Early History of the Douthwaite family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Douthwaite research. Another 116 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1572, 1662, 1667, 1714 and 1733 are included under the topic Early Douthwaite History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Douthwaite Spelling Variations

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 Douthwaite family name include Douthwaite, Douthert, Douthet, Douthat, Douthit, Douthirt, Douthwrait, Dowthwaite, Dowthert, Dowthet, Dowthirt and many more.

Early Notables of the Douthwaite family

Notables of the family at this time include

William Douthwaite who eventually migrated to Philadelphia

Douthwaite migration to the United States +

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 Douthwaite surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Douthwaite Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Douthwaite, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1803

Contemporary Notables of the name Douthwaite (post 1700) +

Harold Douthwaite (1900-1972), English cricketer who played for Lancashire from 1920 to 1921
Adam Douthwaite (b. 1985), English football player
Richard Douthwaite (1942-2011), British economist, ecologist, campaigner and writer, co-founder of the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability (Feasta), an Irish economic think tank. His books include "The Growth Illusion", "Short Circuit", and the "Ecology of Money"
Arthur Henry Douthwaite (1896-1974), British physician, Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians, foremost expert on heroin in Britain in the 1950s
Christopher Thomas Douthwaite (1875-1949), British socialist politician, elected to Cheshire County Council in 1937
Pat Douthwaite (1934-2002), Scottish artist

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. 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)