Show ContentsWincelowe History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Wincelowe is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived in Buckinghamshire. The family name Wincelowe is derived from the Old English personal name Wine, meaning friend, and the Old English word hlaw, meaning hill or mound, and means that the original bearer of the name lived near a hill owned by someone name Wine.1

Early Origins of the Wincelowe family

The surname Wincelowe was first found in Buckinghamshire, at Winslow, today a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Cottesloe with a population today of about 4,500. The town dates back to 795, when it was listed as Wineshlauu as land given by King Offa to the Abbey of St. Alban's. Years later in the Domesday Book, it was listed as Weneslai, land held by the Bishop of Lisieux and at that time was in the Murley Hundred and the manor there belonged to the Church of St. Alban. 2

Apart from being the source of this distinguished family's heritage, the market-town and parish of Winslow was well known in the 1800s for another reason which would be quite out of place today. "The white poppy was so successfully grown here, in 1821, as to produce 60lb. of opium, worth at least £75, from four acres, and 143lb. in the next year from eleven acres; for which, on both occasions, the prize of 30 guineas was awarded by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce." 3

Early History of the Wincelowe family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wincelowe research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1595, 1607, 1620, 1633, 1636, 1644, 1655 and 1663 are included under the topic Early Wincelowe History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wincelowe 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 Wincelowe family name include Winslow, Winselow, Winsloe and others.

Early Notables of the Wincelowe family

Notables of the family at this time include Edward Winslow (1595-1655), an English Pilgrim leader on the Mayflower who served as the 3rd, 6th and 10th Governor of Plymouth Colony in 1633, 1636, and finally in 1644. Born at Droitwich, near Worcester, he was the grandson of Kenelm Winslow (d. 1607) of Kempsey. "In July 1620, with his wife and three servants, he sailed from Delft Haven in the Speedwell to...
Another 70 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Wincelowe Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Wincelowe family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, 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 Wincelowe surname or a spelling variation of the name include : Sarah Winsloe who settled in Virginia in 1685; Edward Winslow who settled in Hingham Massachusetts in 1633; Edward Winslow settled in Maine in 1622; Gilbert Winslow settled in Plymouth Massachusetts in 1620.



  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  2. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  3. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.


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