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The Howcutt & Howcott name |
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About 126 Howcutts were living in
England, Wales and Scotland in 2015. They all owe their surname to one or
another of:
Mark and Charles both grew up at
Brixworth, Northamptonshire and left there as young men. Frederick William's
grandfather came from Brixworth to London, probably in the 1820s. The branches of the Howcutt family
that originated from places other than Brixworth have all either died out in
England or do not spell their name as Howcutt any more - those families were
to be found at places including Coventry, Lichfield and Birmingham. Until the 20th century,
a large proportion of children died in infancy. Only two of the nine brothers
and sisters of William Howcutt (1726-1782) of Brixworth survived to get
married; if he also had died young there would be nobody called Howcutt
living in Britain today. Possible origins The origin of the Howcutt &
Howcott surname is not clear. The main possibilities are that it evolved from
the surname Harcourt (which can be found in the latter part of the Middle
Ages in south Leicestershire where Howcutts later emerged) or, alternatively,
from a place name such as:
Where the family moved Coventry The earliest reference to a family
whose name was later standardised as Howcott or Howcutt is in 1474 at
Coventry. At first, Hulcot and similar spellings
were used there but by the late 1500s Howcott was the version generally used
in that city. Claybrooke and Husbands Bosworth The 1524 lay subsidy taxation
lists are valuable records of individuals as this tax was levied on an
assessment of wages as well as on property and so covers a substantial
proportion of the adults who were living at that time. Amongst the are two men who lived in south Leicestershire, either
or both of whom may be forebears of later generations of the Howcott/Howcutt
family:
Bitteswell & Shearsby The earliest record of the Howcott
family at Bitteswell, Leicestershire is of a baptism in 1568. There is strong
circumstantial evidence that the Howcotts who lived nearby at Shearsby during
the 17th century were descended from the Bitteswell branch. London Some of the Howcotts recorded in
London during the 17th and early 18th century were definitely from Coventry,
Bitteswell or Shearsby, others being of uncertain origin. Lichfield, Birmingham & North
Carolina A Howcott family is recorded at
Lichfield, Staffordshire from the early 1670s and remained there until 1729.
Edward Howcott (c1645-1729) of Lichfield was a freeman of Coventry and so had
presumably come from that city. It is probable that he was an ancestor of the
Howcutts who lived at Birmingham from the early 18th century until
1878. There is strong circumstantial evidence that the brothers John and
Edward Howcott who arrived at Edenton, North Carolina around 1700 were sons
of Edward of Lichfield. Brixworth James Howcutt, who arrived at
Brixworth, Northamptonshire by 1721, had been christened at Shearsby in 1698. The Nineteenth Century During the period starting around 1800,
a number of Brixworth Howcutts moved the 70 miles south to London on a
temporary or permanent basis. Also in the early 19th century,
descendants of the Bitteswell branch established themselves in Leicester. Migration continued at a greater
pace during the course of the 19th century, helped by the growing
railway system. Army service took some men as far afield as Jamaica and
India. The furthest permanent moves were: ·
James Howcutt
- Brixworth to Tasmania, 1827 ·
John Howcutt
(of Scotland) - Liverpool to New York, 1835 ·
Sarah Ann
Howcutt - Brixworth to Australia, 1882 The Twentieth Century During the past hundred years,
people moved home more often and over longer distances. New clusters of
Howcutts formed at Lambeth, Wiltshire, Bradford and Paisley. In 1900, the last Howcutt at
Brixworth died as did the final descendant of the Bitteswell branch with the
Howcutt surname. Since then very few Howcutts have lived in the original
heartland of Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire - and then
only for a few years. Spelling variations Between 1474 and 1511, records at
Coventry mention the surname Hulcot or Holcot(e). These are probably versions of
the name Howcott that is found
there from 1578 onwards. The Howcott spelling is first
found at Bitteswell in 1572, though Howcote
was more usual there until after 1600. During the 17th century,
spelling there gravitated to Howcott
before settling as Howcutt during
the 18th century. At Shearsby, a similar pattern is found with Howcutt
first appearing in 1698. Before the 1700s, spellings were
not standardised, even amongst people who could read and write. In 1627,
“Robert Howcotte” provided the earliest
signature of a family member. However, the same person wrote his surname as Holcott when making his will in 1655. The next known autograph is by
“John Howcott” of the parish of St
Sepulchre, London, who signed his will in 1659. “William Howcott” used
the same spelling when he signed the parish register and wrote out the
bishops transcripts for 1673 at Shearsby. There were very few occasions
before 1700 in which the “-cutt” or “cut” ending to
the surname has been found:
After the family reached Brixworth
in 1720, they lived only a few miles from the village of Holcot.
[4] Spellings of the surname in the Brixworth parish records during the 18th
century often started with "Hol-" or "Hal-",
but none of the documents with those spellings contain signatures of members
of the family, at least some of whom were illiterate until the latter part of
the 18th century. By 1800, the surname was normally
spelled Howcutt in England and has
remained so ever since. The only Howcott entries to be found in the births,
marriages and deaths registered in England and Wales from 1837 onwards record
people whose surnames were usually spelled as Howcutt, apart from one
American Howcott who was born in England. William Howcott was a
churchwarden and the parish register of Shearsby in 1673. An example of his
handwriting appears below:
American versions It is probable that all the
Howcotts currently living in the USA have received their surname through one
of two brothers, John & Edward Howcott, who arrived in the area of Edenton,
North Carolina around 1700. Fewer than 100 Howcotts currently
live in the USA. Most if not all are descendants of one of the following
people: ·
Nathaniel Howcott of Chowan
county, North Carolina (died 1820) ·
Miles Howcott (c1830-1905) ·
Benjamin
Howcott (c1850-1890). Miles and Benjamin both lived at
or near Plymouth, North Carolina and were released from slavery at the time
of the American Civil War. A much larger number of Americans
bear other surnames that are or may be variations of Howcott. At 28 February
2014, the numbers of entries in the US Social Security Death Index [5] for
Howcott and similar surnames were:
Other surnames that may be linked Hawcutt, Orcott, Orcutt, Aucott
&/or Aucutt.
Howcutt as a forename The earliest record found of Howcutt
or Howcott being used as a christian name was written in 1726, when Raphael
Howcott of Coventry made his will and remembered a relation who was called Howcott
Longworth. The births, marriages and deaths
that were registered in England and Wales from July 1837 to 2005 include the
following entries where Howcutt was one of a person's forenames. The month
under the heading "Quarter" is the final month of the 3-month
period during which the event was registered, except for the death in 1988,
which shows the actual month of registration.
"The Cork Examiner", 6 June
1863, records the marriage at Cloyne Cathedral, Ireland on 4 June 1863 of W.
Howcutt Perkins, Esq., of Westfield House, Arnesby, Leicestershire to Caroline Jane, daughter of
John Wilkinson, Esq., of Barnabrow.
Howcutt Lionel Bent Burdett, son of Thomas and Eliza Burdett, of 41, Windermere St.,
Leicester; husband of Annie Elizabeth Burdett, of 10 West Bridge, Leicester
died on 1 August 1917 and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin
Gate) memorial, panel 19-22. Howcutt in fiction Frances Ridley Havergal
(1836-1879) is probably best known as the author of the devotional hymn “Take
my life and let it be”. Another of her works was a book titled “Bruey; a little worker for Christ” in which the heroine
obtained contributions towards missionary work in Ireland from characters
including “Mr Howcutt”, a fictitious butcher, and his wife. [6] The equally fictitious “Lady
Elspeth Howcott” is mentioned in an erotic novel. [7] Notes [1] The National
Archives (TNA): E179/133/122. [2] TNA:
E179/133/109. [3] TNA:
E179/251/8. [4] From the 16th
century onwards, various Northamptonshire parish registers and wills refer to
individuals with the surname “Holcott” and close
variations. The earliest is the will of Robert Holcott
of Oxendon, which was proved at Northampton Archdeaconry Court in 1513. Other
places in the county with such references in the 16th century are Barnwell, Blatherwycke, Braybrooke, Fotheringhay,
Hanging Houghton, Stanion and Stoke Albany. Because
some of these are within a few miles of the village called Holcot, the Holcott surname is
more likely to have been derived directly from that place name than from the
Howcott surname which was then focussed on Coventry and south Leicestershire. [5] Family Search –
United States Social Security Death Index (consulted 23 July 2016). [6] “Bruey: A Little Worker for Christ” (London, 1873),
pages 229-232. [7] “The Intimate
Memoir of Dame Jennie Everleigh” by Anonymous (Bill
Adler 2004), page 41. |
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