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The surname |
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About
123
Howcutts were living in England, Wales and Scotland at the beginning of
2006. They all owe
their surname to one or another of:
Mark
and Charles both grew up at Brixworth, Northamptonshire. Frederick
William's grandfather had also come from that village. The branches of the
Howcutt family that originated from places other than Brixworth have
either died out in England or do not spell their name as Howcutt any more.
These families were to be found at places including Coventry, Lichfield
and Birmingham. In
past centuries, 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 too had died young there would be no Howcutts living
in Britain today. There
is no proof of the origin of the Howcutt surname.
Some villages that might have inspired the surname are:
The
earliest probable reference to the family is in 1474 at Coventry. At
first, Hulcot
and similar spellings were used there but by the late 1500s
Howcott was generally adopted there. The 1524 lay subsidy taxation list for Leicestershire includes William Hulcott at Husbands Bosworth and Thomas Harcatt at Claybrooke. These places are within a few miles of villages where Howcotts lived in the second half of the 16th century, so these people are probably related to the family. The
earliest record of the surname at Bitteswell, Leicestershire is dated
1568. It is likely that the Howcotts who lived nearby at Shearsby during
the 17th century were
related to the Bitteswell branch. 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 probably come from that city. It
is likely that he
was an ancestor of the Howcutts who lived at Birmingham 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 this Edward. James
Howcutt, who arrived at Brixworth, Northamptonshire by 1721, had almost
certainly been born at Shearsby. During
the period from about around 1800 onwards, a number of Brixworth Howcutts
moved 70 miles south to London on a temporary or permanent basis. 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, no doubt helped by the growing railway system. Army service took
some men as far afield as Jamaica and India. The furthest permanent moves
were:
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. The last Howcutt at Brixworth died in 1900, the same
year as the final descendant of the Bitteswell branch expired at Leicester.
Since then very few Howcutts have lived anywhere in the original heartland
of Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire - and then only for a
few years. 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
“William Howcott”, who was a churchwarden and the register of
Shearsby in 1673.
The spelling Howcutt is first found in 1698, when James was christened at Shearsby. His father was a churchwarden there in the previous year and signed his name as "Will. Howcut". After
the family reached Brixworth in 1720, they lived only a few miles from the village
of Holcot. Spellings of the surname in the Brixworth parish records during
the 18th century often started with "Hol-"
or "Hal-". An example of the variety of ways in which the same surname could be spelled is the will of Thomas Ward of Brixworth (1670-1731), whose daughter Mary was married to James Howcutt. The will spells their surname as Houcoute, Houcout, Houcut and Howcoute. 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 given as Howcutt, apart from one American Howcott who was born in England. Other surnames that may be linked It is possible that the Hawcutt family may be distantly related. The surnames Orcott, Orcutt, Aucott and Aucutt also may be connected to the Howcutt family. Extensive information on the Orcott and similar surnames can be found on Joel Orcutt's website.
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