Saywell History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The roots of the Anglo-Saxon name Saywell come from when the family resided in any of the places named Sewell, Showell, Seawell, and Sywell in England. Saywell is a local surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. There are a variety of types of local surnames, some of which include: topographic surnames, which could be given to a person who lived beside any physical feature, such as a hill, stream, church or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. It is also possible that the surname Saywell is a patronymic surname, which derives from the Old English given name Siwal(d). This surname is composed of the elements sige, sæ and weard, which mean victory, sea, and rule, respectively.

Early Origins of the Saywell family

The surname Saywell was first found in Warwickshire where the earliest record of the name was Sewallis, a "noble Saxon" who possessed Lower Eatington before the Norman Conquest. Sewallis was an ancient personal name and was not uncommon in Saxon times. 1

Girart de Sevele was listed in Normandy in 1180 and the Rotuli Hundredorum lists Roger Sevale in England c. 1272. 2

Two references claim that four different listings of the name were found in Warwickshire the Domesday Book, our translation 3 only listed one Sewell, in Bedfordshire as land held by the King that was originally belonging to the Odecrooft hundred but Ralph Taillebois added it to the manor of Houghton Regis with King William's consent.

Today Sewell, is a hamlet located in central Bedfordshire and is still in the Houghton Regis civil parish.

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had quite a few listings for the name as a forename and as a surname: Sewallus de Cleton, Hertfordshire; Sewale de Retcote, Oxfordshire; Robert filius Sew, Norfolk; Thomas Sewald, Oxfordshire; and Godard Sewale, Cambridgeshire. 4

Early History of the Saywell family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Saywell research. Another 166 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1150, 1257, 1366, 1393, 1643, 1652, 1654, 1667, 1671, 1674, 1676, 1688, 1701, 1720 and 1730 are included under the topic Early Saywell History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Saywell Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Saywell has been recorded under many different variations, including Sewell, Shewel, Sewel, Sewall, Shewall, Shewal and many more.

Early Notables of the Saywell family

Distinguished members of the family include

Gabriel Saywell (died 1688), was rector of Pentridge, Dorset; and his son, William Saywell (1643-1701), was an English churchman and academic, known as a controversialist, Archdeacon of Ely, and Maste...

Migration of the Saywell family to Ireland

Some of the Saywell family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 41 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Saywell migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Saywell or a variant listed above:

Saywell Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

David Saywell, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1666 5

Saywell migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Saywell Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Charles Saywell, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840 aboard the ship Martha Ridgway
Geo Saywell, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840 aboard the ship Martha Ridgway
William Saywell, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840 aboard the ship "Martha Ridgway"
George Saywell, aged 35, a carpenter, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Martha Ridgeway" in 1840
Susan Saywell, aged 30, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Martha Ridgeway" in 1840
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Saywell (post 1700) +

Michael Saywell (1942-2023), British equestrian from Lincolnshire, England who competed in two events at the 1972 Summer Olympics
John Saywell, Canadian lawyer, urban planner and political candidate in the 2008 Quebec provincial election
Jeremy Saywell, Maltese silver medalist judoka and flag bearer for Malta at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics
John Tupper "Jack" Saywell (1929-2011), Canadian historian, editor of the Canadian Historical Review (1957 to 1963) and Canadian Annual Review (1960 to 1979)

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)