THE SURNAME CARSWELL by Debrett Courtesy of Robert Ford DeBoo

Different surnames might be used in different documents, or more than one surname given in one document. Early descriptions were fairly elaborate and by the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries these were simpler, but still variable, and indeed the instability of surnames continued until well into the seventeenth century.

Although some Normans would already have had hereditary surnames on their arrival in Britain. the passing on of a surname from generation to generation only became customary in Britain gradually during the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. At the end of this period most of the population apparently had surnames.

Variations in the spelling of a family's surname continue to be found until the present century. Before this, as most people could not read or write, the parish clerk or other official would write down the name as they heard it.

There are four main groups of surnames:

1. Local names, which describe a person by his place of residence or origin.
2. Occupational names, which describe a person by his trade or profession.
3. Surnames of relationship, which refer to the Christian name of the father or other important relative.
4. Nicknames or sobriquets, coined to describe a person in terms of his appearance or character.

Many surnames have uncertain origins, but the name Carswell (which in this report is treated together with its variants) clearly falls into Category A.

Origins and Early Examples

There are several surviving English place names which derive from the Old English words caerse (cress) and wiella (well or spring); watercress needs a plentiful supply of fresh spring water to grow and it evidently grew in many different areas in medieval times.

The place name survives today in Berkshire and Devon as Carswell, as Caswell in Dorset, Northamptonshire and Somerset; as Crasswall in Herefordshire; as Cresswell in Derbyshire and Staffordshire; as Kerswell in Devon and Worcestershire; and as Kerswill in Devon. There is also a Carsewell in Renfrewshire in Scotland. It will be noted that there is a particular preponderance of the place name in Devon.

The surname Carswell is evidently related to this group of place names and might have originally been applied in two different ways: firstly to describe someone who lived in one of the places so called; or secondly to describe someone who lived near a watercress stream, which did not necessarily acquire a formal place name.

To try to narrow down the place names that might have given rise to forms of the surname Carswell, it is necessary to look at how the place names appeared in manuscripts at the time when surnames were developing. Eilert Ekwall's Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names (1987) draws upon a general survey of early and secondary sources including charters, deeds, the Domesday Book and maps, to chart the various early forms of a given place name and thus explain its meaning. He charts the following examples under Carswell, Caswell, Crasswall, Cresswell and Kerswell:

Carswell, Berkshire

Chersvelle Domesday Book 1086

Cressewell 1191 Pipe Rolls

Caswell, Northamptonshire

Karswell 1196 Curia Regis

Caswell. Oxfordshire

Cressewell 1186 Pipe Rolls

Carsewelle 1316 Feudal Aids

Crasswall, Herefordshire

Cressewell 1231 Chaney . Rolls

Crassewalle 1255 Hundred Rolls

Cresswell, Derbyshire

Cressewella 1176 Pipe Rolls

Cresswell, Northumberland

Kereswell 1234 Cost Rolls

Cressewell 1242 The Book of Fees

Cresswell, Staffordshire

Cressvale Domesday Book 1086

Cressewella 1190 Pipe Rolls

Kerswell, Devon

Carswill 1212 The Book of Fees

Carswill 1315 Inquisitiones Post Mortem

Ekwall states that Caswell in Dorset and probably also Caswell in Somerset are identical in origin to the Oxfordshire place name.

The early form Cressewella. found in Oxfordshire, Herefordshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire, survives as the surname Cressweller.

Additionally Ekwall found the following interesting variations on the Devon place name:

Abbotskerswell, Devon

Aæt Cærsylle, Carswellan landscore 956 Cartularium Saxonicum

Carsuella Domesday Book 1086

Kareswill 1242 The Book of Fees

Karswill Abbatis 1284-6 Feudal Aids

KingskersweIl, Devon

Carsewell Domesday Book

Kyngescharsewell I 270 Feet of Fines

 

In 1086, Abbotskerswell was held by the Abbot of Horton and Kingskerswell was held by the King.

The surname Carswell has been found in several variant forms including Casewell. Casswell, Caswall, Caswell, Caswill, Crasswell, Craswell, Cressal, Cressell, Cresswell, Creswell, Crisswell, Criswell, Crissell, Kerswell, Kerswill and Cresweller.

Reaney and Wilson's Dictionary of English Surnames (1995) cite the following medieval examples of the surname:

Other early examples of the surname are as follows:

1165 Basilia de Caswella Devonshire Pipe Rolls

1190 Tomas de Cressewella Staffordshire Pipe Rolls

1212 Reginald de Kersewell' Oxfordshire Curia Rolls

1221 William de Kereswell Worcestershire Assizes

1275 Robert de Carswall Devon Hundred Rolls

1275 William de Karswille Devon Hundred Rolls

1327 Robert de Carswell Somerset Subsidy Rolls

The preposition 'de' clearly indicates a place name origin and was common in Anglo- Norman usage. In most cases the preposition would have been dropped by the end of the fourteenth century. It will be seen that again there is a cluster of examples from Devon , where the place name appeared as Carswill in the thirteenth and fourteenth century. In Staffordshire the place name appeared as Cressvale in the Domesday Book which gave rise to the surname Tomas de Cressewella, the only example in which the later form 'cress' rather than 'caerse' appears.

The Patronymica Brittanica (1860), a very early but still useful surname dictionary, gives the following explanations for the surnames Carswell, Cresswell and Kersewell:

Carswell - A parish united with Buckland co Berks.

Cresswell, Creswell - A township and estate in Northumberland, possessed by the family temp Rich I and still belonging to them.

Kerswell - "Kerswell of Kerswell is noticed by Norden as being one of the principal houses of his day, but we have not been able to ascertain in what part of the county Kerswell was situated'
(C S Gilbert’s Cornwall).

Distribution

The existing volumes of the English Surname Series (which is very incomplete) show the following references to the name:

Yorkshire
Creswell is found in Yorkshire as Greswell in some sources.

Devon
There was a hamlet known as Carswell Farm in Uplyme parish in East Devon in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. This was probably associated with a free family named de Carswell (1275 - c1370) at Uplyme; in Devon hereditary surnames were evolving amongst the free tenantry in the late thirteenth century.

Oxfordshire
In 1312 William de Karswell was a landholder at Stoke Abbot and the sole heir of his mother Matilda le Justice. who was married to Robert le Fraunceys; Matilda was known by both names (le Justice and le Fraunceys) but never as de Karswell, indicating perhaps that William had a connection with Caswell village in Oxfordshire.

Sussex
John Kerswollere appears in an estate survey of the Fitzalans of Arundel, ca 1405. Cres(s)weller is found as a Sussex surname and Richard McKinley, editor of this volume, suggests that it is a rare example of the suffix 'a' being used to denote someone who lived in a given place (as in Londoner). However, this disregards the earlier form of the place name and surname noted by Runty and Ekwall (admittedly, none of them from Sussex) Cressewella, which. it would seem. might equally have given rise to the Sussex surname.

H R Moulton's Palaeography, Genealogy and Topography, printed in the 1930s, is primarily a sale catalogue printed in the 1930s listing historical documents, ancient charters, leases, court rolls etc., but provides a useful overview of the national distribution of surnames. Here there were several examples of the surname:

Devon
18 September 1536
Indenture of a lease by Martin Ferreys of Venyton Esq to Simon Rewle of Kingswere of a tenement and 2 gardens lying in Kyngswere which tenement lies between his land on the ewst and the highway on the south and the land of [blank] German of Exeter on the East and the land of Wm Cosby on the north. And one of the gardens lies there between the land of the Abbot of Torre on the West and East and the land belonging to the chapel of St Thomas of Kyngeswere on the north and the and formerly of Robert Savory of Dertemouth on the south. And the other garden lies there between the land of the said Wm Cosby on the west and the land of Wm Carswell on the south and the land belonging to the said chapel of St Thomas on the north of the highway on the east. To have and to hold to Simon Rewle his executors and assigns for 40 years from Michaelmas rendering therefore yearly. 7/- [with various conditions] seal £2

Huntingdonshire
29 November 1802
Exemplification of a Recovery. Great Stoughton etc Robert Parnther against Michael Smith Parnther. Vouchees: George Caswell and Anne his wife, Charles Browning. Seal missing. 20/-

Lincolnshire
29 May 1591
Bond of Geffrey Harpur of Grantham co Lincoln to William Lunde of Apley co Lincoln concerning indenture of even date, premises not mentioned. Witnesses: Simon Dobson, Nicholas Smyth, H Creswell. Signature of Jeffrey Harpur. 20/-

10 May 1595
Bargain and Sale. Manor of Houlton Beckering John Draycot of Draycott co Staff. To Charles Caldecott of Beckering co Lincoln. Witnesses: Alban Draycott, - Creswell, Thomas Heeley, Henry Caldecott. Signature John Draycott. Armorial Seal. Also Bond of same date and same parties. 30/-

Worcestershire
18 July 1550
Letter patent granting to Peter Waynwright of London and Robert Catlyn of the Middle Temple of the late chantry hospital and free chapel of Doderhill [Dodderhil] Worcs. Cottages and lands called the Chantry Priest's House. Cribbes, Spyttell Close, Priest Meadow, Commenknockenham and four 'saltewallynge fattes' cottages and lands in the tenure of Richard Cornwall and Francis Bybbe. William Luffekyn, John Williams, John Hill, Thomas Creswell, Nicholas Saunders, Thomas Alexander, Andrew Stewarde, Richard Wylde, William Palmer, William Dethycke and Gilbert Dethycke in Droitwich, Hillend, Wytton [Witton in Droitwich], Wychebolde [Wychbold in Dodderhill), Doderhill, Bentley Pauncefote [in Tardebigge] Forde [Ford in Dodderhill), and Elmbridge, Worcs, the rectory and advowson of Doderhill the tithes of the rectory in Doderhill, Imney [Impney in Dodderhill), Holwey, Rasshid (Rashwood in Dodderhill] Huntingthorp [Huntingtrap in Dodderhill] Blockmere and Fycknamtre [in Hampton Lovett) also in Wichebolde, Astwood. Sagebury [all in Dodderhill) and Olden, Worcs and a messuage, barn and land in the tenure of John Cove in Northefelde in the parish of Wokesey [Oaksey) Wilts. Leighes (Great Leighs, Essex] 18 July Edward VI. Hand drawn portrait of King Edward VI with fine illuminated heading (rare). £21

Essex
29 April 1582
Lease for 1000 years. Liston Weston etc., manors, parcels of. William Clopton of Liston co Essex and Anne his wife. To Edwards Coleman of Great Waldingfield co Suffolk Robert Crisall of Melford co Suffolk. Witnesses: Stephen Shepherd, John Crysall, Thomas Haveringe. Signatures: Wyllyam Clopton, Anne Clopton. £2

14 May 1593
Release. Liston Weston etc., Manors, parcels of. Robert Crysall of Melford co Suffolk. To Edward Colman of Great Waldingfield co Suffolk being assignment of residue of a lease of 1000 years by William Clopton to above parties. 29 April 1582. Signature Robert Crysall. £2

Kent
19 Jun 1675
Declaration of trig by Anthony Nowers of Pluckley co Kent esq. To Richard Gyles, of Mickley clothier, concerning an assignment of messuages and lands made by Edward Young of Charing co Kent executor of the will of Edward Taylor late of Poole. Caring yeoman, deceased. to Anthony Nowers. Witnesses: Jo Creswell, George Signature Anthony Nowers 15/-

West Indies
6 August 1800
Grant in the name of John, Archbishop of Canterbury, of administration of the will of Thomas Ruddach late of the island of Tobago esq deceased, to Charles Ruddach, brother of the said Thomas. Will dated 30 June 1796 attached in which Charles Stewart uncle of the said Thomas, Charles and Alexander Ruddach, brothers of the said Thomas, James Campbell, John Balfour and Robert Miller are named as executors. Witnesses to the will: William McKenzie, Geo Baird, Andrew Thompson. Signatures to the administration: George Gosling. Nathaniel Gosling, R C Cresswell, Deputy Registrar. 20/-

As might be expected of a surname deriving from several different place names, itwas widespread throughout the country and had even reached the West Indies where R C Cresswell was the deputy registrar.

In 1890 H B Guppy published his Homes of Family Names in Great Britain, still the only published work on surname distribution in Britain as a whole. His work was based on printed genealogies and a survey of county directories for the 1880s, in which he looked especially at the names of farmers, reasoning that they were among the most stable groups in society. The names Casswell and Cresswell (but not Carswell) both appeared in sufficient quantities to be mentioned; Guppy restricted his study to names which appeared in a proportion of 7:10,000 or higher:

Casswell

Lincolnshire 17

Creswell

Derbyshire 7
Worcestershire 18

Guppy also noted that Caswell or Caswall was 'a very notable name in Leominster' in Herefordshire; several bailiffs or mayors of Leominster were called Caswell or Caswall and Sir George Caswell represented Leominster in parliament in 1720; he lost his estates through the South Sea Scheme. Guppy also noted that 'Caswell is the name of a Somerset tithing and of a Dorset hamlet.'

We had been asked to specifically consider the possibility of Scottish origin for the surname Carswell. George F Black. in The Surnames of Scotland (1946), declines to comment on the original etymology of the name (there is to date no Scottish equivalent of the detailed academic studies of English surnames and placenames) but be notes three possible place name derivations for the surname Carswell in Scotland; firstly Carsewell in the parish of Neilston, Renfrewshire, where a Carswell family is said to have been settled for centuries but rarely appear in the records there. Secondly, Carswell, in the barony of Carnwath in Lanarkshire, was shown as Creswell and Carswell in the fifteenth century. Thirdly, there was a tenement Carswell in the barony of Hassendean, Roxburghshire. Black gives the following examples of the surname in Scotland which indicate that the placename Cressewell had been formed by about 1200 at least:

C 1200 Alexander de Cressewell witnessed charter by Roland of Galloway, son of Vchtred

C 1287-98 Willelmus de Cressewell was chancellor of Moray

1296 Robert de Cressewelle was one of the Scots prisoner of war at Dunbar

1351 William de Creswille witnessed a charter by Thomas de Stradeqwhyn in the Mearns

1373 William Kersseuyle or Cresseuyle had confirmation of a charter of lands in the barony of Roberton in the sheriffdom of Lanark

1413 Johnanes de Kerswell witnessed a notarial instrument

1567 'Ane chenyie of gold was redeemed in Stirling for Master John Carswele, person of Kilmertyne, afterwards the first protestant bishop of the Isles and translator of the Book of Common Order into Gaelic

1572 Malcolm Carsuel constable of Craginche appears in records

1931 Catherine Carswell's Life of Robert Burns was published

Thus in Scotland the name appears to have had an independent existence, but etymologically speaking the origins of the three place names cited by Black are probably the same as in England. The placename Kirkcarswell near Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire, to which we had been alerted, might have a separate origin related to the great Northumbrian King and Saint Oswald, but this is something of a red herring in the overall context of the history of the many place names and surnames in the group to which Carswell belongs. Northumberland has its own Cresswell, which as far as the evidence goes would seem to derive from the growing of watercress as do the other English place names.

There was no sign of the name in Edward MacLysaght's Guide to Irish Surnames (1965) or in T J and Prys Morgan's Welsh Surnames (1985).

Many of the sources available for charting surname distribution through the centuries are necessarily confined to the wealthier sectors of the population: In general, nobody wanted to know the names of the poor but the names of those with money or land were naturally of interest to the authorities. However, one source that avers the whole of the social spectrum is provided by English parish registers, the earliest of which began in 1538 following a mandate that all parish priests should keep a weekly record of all baptisms, marriages and burials that took place in their parish. A survey of a cross section of parish registers for the years 1601 and 1602 was carried out in 1910 by F K and S Hitching; incidences of a particular surname are noted by parish and county, although with no indication of numbers of references.

Very few examples of the name was found in 1601 and 1602, but those that were found were widely scattered across the country from Devon in the south west to Derbyshire in the north west to London in the east.

A useful guide to the distribution of surnames for the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in England is provided by the indexes to wills proved, and administrations granted, at the Prerogative Court of (the Archbishop of) Canterbury in London, which had superior jurisdiction over local ecclesiastical courts where wills were proved until 1858. The PCC thus provides a national index, although it is not a completely representative one, as testators whose wills were proved in the PCC were mostly among the wealthier members of society, and a disproportionate number of them were from London or Middlesex.

A search of the printed indexes for the years 1558 to 1583; 1584 to 1604; 1605 to 1619; 1620 to 1629; 1653 to 1656; 1657 to 1660; 1661 to 1670; 1671 to 1675; 1676 to 1685; 1686 to 1693; 1694 to 1700; 1701 to 1749; and 1750 to 1800 found many entries for the following variants of the name:

No examples of Carswell were found during this period. Creswell was the most prolific, as it would be from now on.

Carswell appears in Devon, London and Somerset. As can be seen, Creswell and other variants are all widely scattered across the country during the seventeenth century.

Carswell appears in Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Northamptonshire, Shropshire and Sussex and at least one bearer of this name died overseas. The PCC was the usual court used for testators who died abroad and these testators are marked as `pts' which is short for in partibus transmarinus.

For the nineteenth century, H B Guppy's survey has been mentioned above. Another important Victorian source is the Return of Owners of Land of 1873, sometimes known as the Modern Domesday Book. This source lists, county by county, every owner of an acre of land or more, with their residence (not necessarily the address of their property) and the acreage of their holding.

It will be seen from this list that the surname by the nineteenth century had, in very general terms, crystallised into local variants, with Carswill and Kerswill or Kerswell being specific to Cornwall and Devon (but also found in one instance in Lancashire). The highest showing of any variant of the name was in Lincolnshire where ten Caswells owned land; this bears out Guppy's findings for that county; and in general, the survey confirms Guppy's indication that the surname was found in greatest numbers in the centre of the country. The form Carswell appeared in Cornwall and Lancashire only. Again, Cres(s)well is the most widely found variant.

Casswell

Lincolnshire 17

Cresswell

Derbyshire 7
Worcestershire I8

In The Personal Names of the Isle of Man (1937) J J Kneen mentions only Creswell as an English place name, and states that it appears in the parish registers of Douglas in 1773.

Famous bearers of the name

The following references for the name were found in the Dictionary of National Biography for the British Isles:

• John Carsewell (fl 1560-1572) - Bishop of the Isles
• Sir Robert Carswell (1793-1857) - physician and pathologist
• Madam Cresswell (fl 1670-1684) - notorious courtesan and procuress
• Sir Cresswell Cresswell (1794-1863) - Judge
• Daniel Cresswell (1776-1844) - divine and mathematician Joseph Cresswell (1557- ?1623) - Jesuit

There are six coats of arms listed in Burke's General Armory granted to men of the name Carswell. One for Cressall, a Cressel and six Cres(s)wells:

Carswell (Hach Arundel) co Devon the heiress m Langworthy) Sable a bend or

Carswell (Staffordshire) Sable three bars gemelles argent

Carswell Argent two bars gemels sable Carswell Or fretty gules a fesse ermine Carswell Azure fretty argent a fesse gules.

Carswell ( London) Argent three bars gemelles sable. Crest - An Arm embowed in mail proper hand holding a cross crosslet fitchy or.

Cressall Azure on a pile Argent three crescents in pale proper. Crest - Two lion's paws erased. supporting a bezant.

Cressel (Scadbury, co Kent) Sable a fesse argent between three chaplets or

Creswell (co Hams temp Edward 1) Argent three bars gemelles sable Crest - A sinister arm in chain armour, holding in the hand proper a cross bottonee fitchee or.

Creswell (Purston, Co Northampton. Arms conflrmed and crest granted to Robert Cresswell Esq of Purston by Dethick, Garter 31 Elizabeth) Azure three plates each charged with a squirrel gules cracking a cut or . Crest - A Branch of a tree barways vat, thereon a squirrel gules cracking a nut or between two twigs of hazel of the first, fructed of the third. Another crest - A Saracen's head proper.

Creswell (Ravenstone, co Leicester) Same Arms and Crest.

Creswell (Pinkney Park, Barnehurst, co Stafford and Sidbury co Wilts) Gules three plates each charged with a squirrel sejant of the field. Crest - A Saracen's head, proper wreathed about the temples vert and argent. Motto - Aut nunquam tentes aut perfice.

Creswell or Creswyll . Argent on a bend sable three rams' head cabossed of the field (another or).

Cresswell (Cresswell to Northumberland, exemplified to Addison John Cresswell esq of Creswell on his assuming in right of his wife Elizabeth Mary Reed cousin of John Baker esq of Hinton the additional surname and arms of Baker) Quarterly, 1 st and 4 th erminois three torteaux two and one, each charges with a squirrel sejant argent for Cresswell; 2 nd and 3 rd gules a goat statant armed and crined or between three saltires of the last for Baker; on a shield of pretence 1 st and 4 th for Baker as above; 2 nd and 3 rd azure two chevronels argent between two garbs in chief or for Reed. Crests – 1 st Cresswell: A mount vert thereon a torteau charges as in the arms; 2 nd Baker : A goat's head erased argent armed and crined or gorged with a collar gemel and charged on the neck with a saltire gulfs. Motto - Cressa ne careat.

Cresswell (of Creswell, Northumberland) Argent on a bend sable three bulls heads cabossed of the field.

Printed Genealogies

Two references have been found to printed genealogies of Carswell families. Re also note other printed genealogies for Cressell, Cres(s)well:

Carswell
Harleian Society xv, 141
J L. Vivian, The Visitations of Devon 146

Cressell/Creffell
J 3, Vivian, The Visitations of Cornwall 121 Harleian Society ix, 55

Cre(s)swell
Burke's Landed Gentry 1846-52, 1858, 1863, 1871, 1879, 1894, 1921, 1937, 1969 Visitation of Surrey 1662 Harleian Society lx, 32; lxiii, 63; lxiv 5, 115; lxxxvii, 63
Staffordshire Pedigrees
Sir T Phillipps. Visitation of Hampshire 1622 19
Metcalfe, Visitation of Northamptonshire 1681 83
Visitations of Staffordshire 1614 & 1663-4
A History of Northumberland issued under the Direction of the Northumberland County History Committee (1893-1940) v 311, vii 341
Lady Russell, Three Generations of Fascinating Women (2 nd ed 1905) L Cresswell, Stemmata Alstoniana (1905) 54
W Rye, Norfolk Families (1915) 132
J P Jones, A history of the Parish of Tettenhall (1894) 89
F Turner, Egham: A History of the Parish under Church and Crown (1926) 150 Berry 's Hampshire Genealogies 24, 248
Burke's Commoners iii 475
Foster, The Visitations of Yorkshire149
Shaw, Staffordshire ii, 210
Rev Peter Whalley, Bridge's Northamptonshire i, 191
Hodgson, Northumberland II, ii, 200
Baker. Northamptonshire i, 668 William Salt Society 101

Creswell-Baker
Burke's Commoners ii, 290
Burke's Landed Gentry 1846-52, 1858, 1863. 1871, 1879

Summary

To conclude, the name Carswell is one of a group of family names that can clearly be derived from a similar group of place names, in England and Scotland, which indicated the proximity of a stream in which cress grew; and there seems to have been no shortage of watercress in medieval England or Scotland. Within these groups, certain regional patterns can be discerned; for example, the surname Carswell or Kerswell in Cornwall and Devon is likely to derive from the place names there, which maintain similar forms through the centuries. However, Cornwall and Devon, being just about the most remote corner of England (until about 1600, virtually a separate nation), are something of a special case, and given the general mobility of the population and the great flexibility with which surnames changed form in the pre- literate age, it would be unwise to make too many attempts to disentangle strands of surname and relate them to a specific place. It is only by tracing a specific family back through ancestral research that the exact place of origin of its surname can be safely identified. Nevertheless, if a family has been traced back as far as records allow in Scotland it is probably reasonably safe to assume that their name relates to one of the place names identified by Black; unless, of course, they came from over the border in Northumberland.

Sources Consulted

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P H Reaney & R M Wilson, Dictionary of British Surnames (London: Oxford, 3rd edition 1995)

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(London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 2nd edition 1976)

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Ernest Weekley, The Romance of Names (London: John Murray, 2nd edition 1917) Ernest Weekley, Surnames (London: John Murray 1917)

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George Redmonds, The Surnames of Yorkshire West Riding, (Phillimore 1973) Mr Avenell, The Norman People, ( London 1874)

J J Kneen, The Personal Names of the Isle of Man, ( Oxford, 1937)