The Fouler name was originally an Anglo-Saxon name that was given to a person who worked as the fowler or the bird-catcher having derived from the Old English word "fugelere" which literally means "hunter of wild birds, fowler" [1]
The surname Fouler was first found in Wiltshire where one of the first records of the name was John the Foeglere who was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. A few years later William le Foggheler and Henry le Fogheler were both listed in Somerset during the reign of King Edward III.
By the time of the Yorkshire Poll Tax in 1379, Ricardus Foghler and Rogerus Foghler were both listed in Yorkshire. [2] Fawler is a hamlet and civil parish in the valley of the River Evenlode in Oxfordshire. It dates back to 1205 when it was first listed as Fauflor and probably meant "variegated floor" as in "tessellated pavement" from the Old English words fag + flor. [3]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fouler research. Another 118 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1218, 1270, 1358, 1451, 1685, 1537, 1579, 1537, 1577, 1610, 1678, 1662, 1590, 1560, 1612, 1632, 1714, 1691, 1714, 1693, 1756, 1555 and 1585 are included under the topic Early Fouler History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Fouler has undergone many spelling variations, including Fowler, Fouler, Fowlers, Fouler, Fowlar, Folar, Fouller, Fowlare, Foweller, Fowaller, Foulier, Foullar, Foular and many more.
Distinguished members of the family include John Fowler (1537-1579), English Catholic printer and scholar, born at Bristol in 1537; Abraham Fowler ( fl. 1577), an English poet, a Queen's scholar at Westminster; Christopher Fowler (1610?-1678), an English ejected minister by the Uniformity Act of 1662; Thomas Fowler, (died 1590), English lawyer, diplomat, courtier, spy...
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Fouler Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Fouler family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 80 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Fouler were among those contributors: