Dowton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins and Etymology of Dowton

The surname Dowton was first found in Wiltshire at Downton, a village and civil parish on the River Avon that dates back to Roman times where in 1953 the site of a Roman villa was discovered there. Moving ahead in time, the Saxons held the area c. 672 when it was listed as Duntun. 1

More than 400 years later, the Domesday Book of 1086 lists the place name as Duntone. 2 The Manor House in Downton is generally thought to be the longest inhabited house in the South of England as it has been in use since c. 850.

There are two other locals named Downton: a civil parish in Herefordshire that contains the village of Downton-on-the-Rock; and a hamlet in Hampshire. Downton literally means "hill settlement" or "farmstead on or by the hill or down." 1

Early History of the Dowton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dowton research. Another 60 words (4 lines of text) covering the year 1615 is included under the topic Early Dowton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dowton Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Downton, Dounton and others.

Early Notables of the Dowton family

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

Dowton migration to the United States +

Dowton Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Dowton, who arrived in Virginia in 1704 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Dowton (post 1700) +

William Dowton (1764-1851), English actor, son of an innkeeper and grocer at Exeter, born in that city on 25 April 1764 4

Sources +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
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)
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020