Sewill History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsThe name Sewill has a long Anglo-Saxon heritage. The name comes from when a family lived in any of the places named Sewell, Showell, Seawell, and Sywell in England. Sewill 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 Sewill 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 Sewill familyThe surname Sewill 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 Sewill familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sewill 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 Sewill History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Sewill Spelling VariationsSpelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Sewill have been found, including Sewell, Shewel, Sewel, Sewall, Shewall, Shewal and many more. Early Notables of the Sewill familyDistinguished members of the family include Sewall de Bovill (d. 1257), Archbishop of York, a pupil at Oxford of St. Edmund (Rich), the future Archbishop of Canterbury.
John Suell (fl. 1393), was an English politician, Member of the Parliament of England for Totnes in 1393.
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 Master of Jesus College, Cambridge.
Samuel Sewall (1652-1730), was "a colonist and judge, son of Henry Sewall and Jane, daughter of Stephen Dummer, born at Bishopstoke, Hampshire. Emigrating in childhood... Migration of the Sewill family to IrelandSome of the Sewill family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Sewill, or a variant listed above: Sewill Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
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