Sewul History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Anglo-Saxon name Sewul comes from when the family resided in any of the places named Sewell, Showell, Seawell, and Sywell in England. Sewul 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 Sewul 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 Sewul family

The surname Sewul 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 Sewul family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sewul 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 Sewul History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sewul 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. Sewul has been recorded under many different variations, including Sewell, Shewel, Sewel, Sewall, Shewall, Shewal and many more.

Early Notables of the Sewul family

Distinguished 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...
Another 111 words (8 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Sewul Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Sewul family to Ireland

Some of the Sewul 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.

Migration of the Sewul family

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 Sewul or a variant listed above: Thomas Sewell settled in Virginia in 1637; along with Charles in 1654; Martha in 1652; John in 1639; Thomas in 1773; Charles and John Sewell settled in Maryland in 1774.

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)