Lowless History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Etymology of Lowless

What does the name Lowless mean?

The surname Lowless is derived from the Old English word "laweles," which means "lawless" and is ultimately derived from the Old English word "laghles," which means "outlaw." 1 As a surname, it may have come from a nickname for a person who was an outlaw, or was uncontrolled or unrestrained.

The name could have also been derived from the Old English words lufu ‘love’ and -leas ‘free from, without’, ‘loveless’. 1 Lawless is an extension of Lovelace. 2

Early Origins of the Lowless family

The surname Lowless was first found in Somerset where Edith Luvelece was found in the Assize Rolls for 1243. A few years later in Kent, William Luuelaz was registered c. 1250. John Loveles was a Freeman of Leicestershire in 1251 and Albricus Loveles was found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1275 in Suffolk. Richard Lovelas was registered in Kent in 1344 as was John Lovelace in 1367. Thomas Lagheles, was listed in the Register of the Freemen of the City of York in 1360. 1

The Hundredorum Rolls also include Albricus Loveles, Suffolk and Sarra Loveles, Huntingdonshire. 3 Robert Lovelisse from Berkshire was listed in the Register of the University of Oxford for 1587.

Early History of the Lowless family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lowless research. Another 66 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1367, 1533, 1548, 1551, 1561, 1562, 1568, 1572, 1574, 1577, 1599, 1616, 1618, 1627, 1634, 1638, 1650, 1658, 1660, 1664, 1665, 1670, 1675, 1693, 1734, 1735, 1754, 1773, 1789, 1799, 1837, 1853, 1861 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Lowless History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lowless 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 Lowless family name include Lawless, Lawlesse, Lawles, Lovelace, Loveless and others.

Early Notables of the Lowless family

Nicholas Lawless (1735-1799), created 1st Baron Cloncurry in the Peerage of Ireland, in 1789. John Lawless (1773-1837), Irish agitator, commonly known as 'Honest Jack Lawless,' born in 1773, was the eldest son of Philip Lawless, a respectable brewer at Warrenmount, Dublin, and a distant cousin of Valentine Browne Lawless, Lord Cloncurry [q. v.] He was educated for the bar, but being refused admission by Lord Clare owing to his intimacy with the leaders of the United Irish movement, he was for some time associated with his father in the brewery. 4 Matthew James Lawless (1837-1861), Irish artist, a son of Barry Lawless...
Another 532 words (38 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Lowless Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Lowless family to Ireland

Some of the Lowless family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 103 words (7 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lowless 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 Lowless surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Lowless Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Mary Lowless, aged 24, who landed in New York in 1854 5
Philip Lowless, aged 15, who arrived in New York in 1854 5

Sources +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Charnock, Richard, Stephen, Ludus Patronymicus of The Etymology of Curious Surnames. London: Trubner & Co., 60 Paternoster Row, 1868. 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)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)