Lowell family

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Lowle Coate of Arms
Lowle Coate of Arms

The Lowell family settled on the North Shore at Cape Ann after they arrived in Boston on June 23, 1639. The patriarch, Percival Lowle (1571–1664), described as a "solid citizen of Bristol"[citation needed], determined at the age of 68 that the future was in the New World.

Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor, John Winthrop needed solid dependable people to settle the North Shore area as a buffer against the French from Canada and he urged that the Lowells relocate to Newburyport on the north shore of the Merrimack River on the border of the failing Province of Maine.

Contents

[edit] Ancestry in England

[edit] Origin of the name

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Many suggestions about the origins of the medieval name Lowle were offered during the late 20th century. Some argued that it was Welsh or Saxon while others supported the name was of Norman origin. It was even suggested that it originated from the Latin word lupus, meaning wolf and was a cadet branch of an ancient Franco noble family, most notably of the family that included Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, also known as Hugh Lupus, a nephew of William the Conqueror.

Lowell family historian Delmar R. Lowell, gave much weight and persuasion to the origins of the name Lowle in his work and he and others concluded the Lowles of England were unquestionably of Norman descent and came into England with William the Conqueror. He gives no authoritative proof.

Lowell's research relied heavily on a few principles that must be assumed to be true in order to support his theory. First, he cites a William Louel as being listed on the Battle Abbey Roll; a list of Norman supporters who attended the invasion of England at the side of the Duke of Normandy in 1066 and fought in the Battle of Hastings. This list, which began with just over 600 names, grew to over 3000 in the centuries afterwards, and has since been discredited, having many names from emigration following the Norman conquest. Second, he assumes that Louel was transformed to Lowle, at some point in the 200 years between 1066 and 1288, when his own documentation runs into a dead end with William Lowle of Yardley in Worcestershire.

There is a possibility that Lowell is right. The use of the letters U and V, being interchangeable in medieval times, and of W, made popular by the Normans by 1300, do make such a transition appropriate.

There were still Louels in England on the Scottish Marches in the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh when Edward Longshanks, King of England, ordered the nobility and gentry in Scotland to swear an oath of allegiance to him in the Ragman Roll in 1291. It is during this period, in 1288 that the earliest documentation for the name Lowle appears. William Lowle of Yardley in Worcestershire is documented as a yeoman, and standing as a witness to a border dispute between two of his neighbors. It is from this period that Delmar Lowell traces the descent of the Lowles through England until their departure for the colonies.

Documentation for this period also exists in The National Archives of England showing that there were also Lowels in the Welsh Marches. In 1317, William de Braose, 1st Baron Braose petitioned King Edward II, the King's Council, and the Parliament to request that Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March send two justices to arrest and bring to trial 200–300 men he accused of attacking his Knights and Ministers and for, "trespasses made against the King's peace to Brewose and his people of Gower." now called Glamorgan in Wales. Members named in this band of men included Ieuan and Griffith Lowel for the attack at Eynon.

Delmar Lowell also suggests the long line of noble Norman families that Lowle progenitors married into implies that the name Lowle is of Norman origin. Again, he may be right. However, as the Norman and Angevin Dynasty's proved time and time again, powerful and noble men married their daughters to their enemies in order to create peace and alliance when fighting could be avoided. So presuming Norman fathers married their daughters to good Norman boys would be a mistake. It was often a business arrangement made for the protection, profit, property, or peace of the noblemen themselves. And while tithe and title were not typically handed down through these alliances, often money, property, economic opportunity, and other favor were. And this proved an especially useful and politic tactic in the Scottish and Welsh Marches where powerful nobles, often referred to as the Marcher Lords, were placed by Kings to act as a buffer between England and its enemies to the north and to the west.

Speculation has it that the Lowells are related to the Lovells, the Howells, and the Powells. No documentation been offered to support this. While the Lowles enjoyed centuries of favor under the nobles, and they married daughters of noblemen like Wake, Lyttleton, Russell, and Perceval to name a few, there is no documentation suggesting they are a cadet branch of any of these noble families.

[edit] Coate of Arms

The Harleian Society, a British publisher of the official Royal Heraldic visitations, describes the Lowle Coate of Arms from the herald's records taken in Somersetshire in the years 1573, 1591, and 1623.

  • Blazon: Sable, a dexter hand couped at the wrist grasping three darts, one in pale and two in saltire, all in argent.
  • Crest: A Stag's head cabossed, between the attires a pheon azzure.
  • Motto: Occasionem Cognosce (Awk-kaw-see-OH-nem Kaw-GNAW-skeh).

The English translation: A shield with black field displaying a right hand cut-off at the wrist and grabbing three arrows, one vertical and two crossed diagonally, in silver. Above the shield, a male deer's head mounted behind the ear, and between it’s antlers a barbed, broad arrowhead in blue. And a loose translation of the family motto, Know Your Opportunity.

The use of the Lowle Coate of Arms has varied slightly between the generations; some families omitted the pheon azzure or substituted blunted bolts for the pointed darts; and one generation, notably a pastor, used an urn in his families crest instead of the stag's head. The right for a man to bear arms traditionally passes from father to eldest son; occasionally subsequent generations change the Coat of Arms to reflect their lives or vocations better, sometimes even "quartering" their Coat of Arms with another family by way of marriage.

It's mentionable that some believe that the Lowle Coat of Arms fell into abeyance when Percival Lowle and his son's emigrated to Massachusetts. They were still subjects of the Crown and its favor until the colonies declared Independence from Britain in 1776 and were entitled to bear their Coat of Arms. Also, there were a number of Lowles who remained in England who could claim the right.

[edit] Registered root

First Generation

  1. James
  2. Andrew
  3. Samuell
"Within a few miles of Yardley, lived a noble Norman family, the Lyttletons; with this family, William became connected by marriage. The Lyttletons held large domains spreading out around Frankley and extending toward Yardley..." (Lowell 1899, p xxxvii) [1]

Delmar R. Lowell's arrival at a probable birth date before 1288 was speculation based on a marriage record from about 1308.

In 1288, a William Lowle of Yardley was described as being a Yeoman and was documented as a witness in a boundary dispute between two of his neighbors (a Yeoman in the Middle Ages was considered to be a soldier/servant in a noble or royal household between rank of Page and Sargent in the service of his Lord's Knights. A Yeoman also owned his own land and paid taxes to his Lord.) This record suggests that William Lowle was probably born about 1270.

Whether these two records are from father and son or are the same William Lowle is a matter that requires further research.

See Baron Lyttelton.

Second Generation

  • James Lowle —m. to dau. of family Baskerville
  1. Raffe
  2. George
  3. Edmond
  4. Andrew

Third Generation

  • Raffe Lowle —m. to dau. of family Haselrigg
  1. Walter
  2. Thomas
  3. Anthony
  4. Sabity

Fourth Generation

  • Walter Lowle —m. to Joane, dau. of family Russell
  1. Richard, d. at Yardley, Worcestershire

See Baron Russell.

Fifth Generation

  • Richard Lowle —m. to dau. of family Turner
  1. Thomas, b. 1479
  2. Richard, slain at Birmingham, Warwickshire

Most successive generations bore their first children around the age of 25. Applying this cycle to the 5th through the 1st generations suggests that William Lowle would have been born about 1350. However, the known records support the earlier birth date. This suggests that there is at least one generation, or possibly two, missing during this period. The Harleian MS from 1591 states, "Richard Lowle of Yardley, and later Somersetshire, grandson of William Lowle of Yardley dyed at Yardley and was there buried with his Coate." (Grazebrook 1873, p 351) [2]

Whether this William Lowle is the registered root or son of a missing generation is a matter that requires further research.

Sixth Generation

  • Thomas Lowle —m. to Margaret dau. of family Mayhouse, b. 1483
  1. John, b. (1505–Mar 08, 1552), d. at Clevedon, Somersetshire
  2. William
  3. Thomas
  4. Roger (1515–1568) —m. to Joane dau. of John Gage of Walton in Gordano, Somersetshire
  5. Mary

See Baron Gage.

Seventh Generation

  • John Lowle —m. to dau. of Roger Wake, b. 1507 at Clevedon, Somersetshire
  1. John Lowle, b. 1527 at Walton in Gordano, Somersetshire, d. about 1552 at Portbury, Somersetshire
  2. Roger

See Baron Wake of Liddell and Clevedon Court.

Eighth Generation

  • John Lowle —m. to Apolyn dau. of Richard and Agnes Leversedge, b. 1529 at Walton in Gordano, Somersetshire
  1. Richard, b. 1547 at Bristol, Somersetshire, d. before Apr 10, 1570
  2. Edmond, b. 1551 at Walton in Gordano, Somersetshire
  3. John, b. 1553 at Walton in Gordano, Somersetshire

Note: Edmund Leversedge was Lord of the Manor of nearby Frome prior to this generation. It's likely that Edmund was Richard Leversedge's father or grandfather.

Ninth Generation

  • Richard Lowle —m. to Ann (Crispiana) dau. of Edward and Elizabeth Perceval, b. 1549 at Weston in Gordano
  1. Andrew, b. before Apr 10, 1570, d. before Apr 14, 1573
  2. Percival, b. 1571 at Kingston Seymour, Somersetshire, d. Jan 8, 1664, age 93, at Newburyport, MA
  3. Margaret, b. before Apr 14, 1573, d. before 1576
"In a general survey of Henry Lord Berkeley's commissioners sitting at Berkeley in Oct 1576 the records of the Manor of Portbury show that Crispiana Lowle widow wife of Richard Lowle was admitted (with Andrew Lowle) tenant of a messuage and land in Portbury...on April 10, 1570.
At the same commission Percival Lowle and Margaret Lowle were shown to have been admitted tenants of 8 acres of land in Portbury...on April 14, 1573 (Margaret was dead in 1576.)" (Yeomans 1977 p 5) [3]

See Baron Lovel and Holland and Baron Holand.

Tenth Generation

  • Percival Lowle —m. in Bristol, Somersetshire to Rebecca, b. 1575 at Kingston Seymour, d. Dec 28, 1645 at Newburyport, MA
  1. John, b. at Bristol, Somersetshire in 1595, d. Jul 10, 1647 at Newburyport, MA
  2. Richard, b. 1602 at Kingston Seymour, Somersetshire, d. Aug 5, 1682 at Newburyport, MA
  3. Benjamin, b. about 1604, d. after 1678
  4. Joanna, b. 1609 at Bristol, Somersethire, d. Jun 14, 1677 at Newburyport, MA
  5. Anne, b. 1612 at Portbury, Somersetshire, d. Nov 27, 1690 at Newburyport, MA
Percival and his family sailed by the ship Jonathan from London, though he may have boarded her at Southampton or Plymouth, on April 12, 1639. The Lowell party consisted of Percival himself and Rebecca, his wife, his sons John and Richard, with their wives and four children, his daughter, Joan, and her husband, John Oliver, his partner, William Gerrish, his clerk, Anthony Somerby, with his brother Henry, and Richard Dole, apprenticed to John Lowle. They reached Boston on June 23, 1639, after a voyage of nine weeks. (Greenslet 1946) [4]

[edit] Lowle to Lowell

After Percival Lowle emigrated to the New World with his sons and after some subsequent generations Lowle became Lowell. Delmar Lowell suggests that Rev. John Lowell was the catalyst in getting the Lowell family into cohesion regarding the spelling of the surname sometime after 1721. At the time, Lowells all over New England spelled their names as many different ways as there were branches. Some spelled their surname Lowel, Lowle, Lowell, Lowl, and some spelled it Louell, and Louel even after arriving in the new world. Spelling was so poorly controlled that some early wills show one son with the name Lowle while another son is Lowel and the wife as Lowell all in the same document. It's unlikely that one member of the family had such a big impact on the name. He may well have influenced many Lowells in America to be consistent, however, documentation shows that Lowles in England started spelling their name Lowell around this time as well. By the mid 18th century in England there are plenty of documents for Lowells and none for the prior spellings. This suggests that the proliferation of literacy and a trend to and standardize the English language caused members of the family on both sides of the Atlantic to adopt the phonetic spelling.

[edit] Notable Lowells

Among those, Abbott Lawrence, Amy, Augustus, Carey, Charles Russell Sr., Charles Russell, Edwrad Jackson, Francis Cabot, Guy, John Amory, Judge John, Percival, and Robert are known to be descendants of Percival Lowle.

Other notable descendants by way of marriage:

Other descendants of Percival Lowle:[citation needed]

[edit] Portrait Gallery

James Russell Lowell
Percival Lowell
A. Lawrence Lowell

This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. It may be deleted after Saturday, 22 September 2007.
John Lowell, Jr.
Charles Russell Lowell
John Amory Lowell

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lowell, Delmar. (1899) The Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America from 1639 to 1899, Rutland: The Tuttle Company. ISBN 9780788415678.
  2. ^ Grazebrook, Henry S. (1873) The Heraldry of Worcestershire, London: John Russell Smith.
  3. ^ Yeomans, Henry A. (1977) Abbott Lawrence Lowell 1856–1943, New York: Ayer Company Publishing. ISBN 0405100094
  4. ^ Greenslet, Ferris. (1946) The Lowells and Their Seven Worlds, Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0897602633.

[edit] External links