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The Bytheway Surname |
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Humble Men & Gentlemen
Was there ever a Lord Bytheway of
Somerset??? Bideawhile, Bydawell, Bidewell, Bythewell, etc Bide/Bidee/Bidy/Bidey/Byday/Bythy,
etc Bidwith, Bedwith, Bidewith,
Bidawith Quirky Deviations and One-time
Sightings |
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As nearly as I have been able to
discover, no one knows the exact place and time of the appearance of this
surname, except that it is exclusive to England, and may hold the distinction
of appearing only one place in England, rather than simultaneously in various
parishes, which is so often the case. As early as 1538 (when parish registers
began) small gatherings of Bytheway families were concentrated in the region
where the borders of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Wales conjoin. The parish
registers of Leintwardine and Brimfield in Herefordshire, Knighton Upon Teme
in Worcestershire (a bit farther to the east), as well as Richard’s Castle
and Bromfield in Shropshire contain the earliest known extended Bytheway
families. These parishes lie along the north and south banks of the River Teme.
By the beginning of the 18th century, a branch, or branches, of
the family, probably out of Bromfield, had entered the parishes of
Stottesden, Kinlet, and Stoke St. Milborough in Shropshire. Most of the
Bytheways who later migrated into Staffordshire originated in one or more of
these places, although many were also out of Worcestershire. The family has,
when compared with other surnames, always remained small in number. Even
today, the surname Bytheway is considered extremely rare, and some of it’s
variations even rarer. |
Humble Men & Gentlemen
The general consensus is that
Bytheway is a place name, indicating a person who was born, found, or lived
“by the way” or alongside the road in some now-forgotten place. There could
hardly be a more humble beginning for a surname. Bytheway does not even have
the stature of an occupation, however menial, or of rank, however low. The occupations of the Bytheway
family in England were no different than other ordinary folk. In the parish
registers and censuses we find them occupied, almost consistently, as
farmers, gardeners, shoemakers, blacksmiths, miners, and occasionally, in the
late 18th and early 19th centuries, vituallers, or
publicans, or both, indicating they owned a drinking and eating
establishment. In some cases, improved income allowed them to upgrade to
innkeepers, allowing them to offer sleeping accommodations, and perhaps horse
stabling, for travelers. It was not uncommon to ply several trades at one
time under these conditions, and attached to the inn one would find their
secondary occupations: blacksmith shed, shoemaker shop, even a grocery
supplied from their own gardens and herds. But by far the most common
occupation was simply that of a laborer. These men took the opportunity to
work wherever they could find it, in any occupation matching their skills in
order to feed and clothe their families. Most often they labored in the
fields or in the mines. Hard work, long hours, and little pay made these
occupations the most humble of all. Yet we do well to keep in mind that it is
frequently the lowliest of laborers in any society who are the most relied
upon for its survival. Sometimes, when a family disappears from one parish,
it is not uncommon to find them in another, and then another, their children
being baptized along the way as they sought out the most promising work
conditions. Alongside all the working-class
Bytheway families, I am aware of only one branch of the family holding any
rank. That was the Bytheway family of Leintwardine, in Herefordshire. In the
earliest parish registers of that place (mid to late 1500’s) we find the head
of household referred to as Mr. Richard Bytheway, Gentleman, and by the mid
1600’s, “Esquire” is attached to his name, and then to his son, who carried
the name Richard, as well. Having been granted the additional title, the
Leintwardine branch is probably, but not absolutely, the source of the
Bytheway Coat of Arms offered for sale in catalogs and on websites. In actuality, no one has the
right of ownership of a coat of arms except that individual whose exclusive
right it was, and his direct male heirs. Burke’s
Commoners refers to Bytheway as “the
ancient family residing at Leintwardine, in Herefordshire”, holding “a
considerable property in the parishes of Llancrril, Hirnant, and Llanrhayder
in Montgomeryshire, [Wales]”, and goes on to explain that all their
holdings “eventually fell into the
hands of the Lower Moor branch of the Coke family” through the marriage
of George Coke and Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Bytheway “by failure of male issue in the other
lines”. This is the situation we have become familiar with through Jane
Austen’s novels as having one’s estate entailed away. Once the estate is
gone, the coat of arms belonging to the direct male heir cannot be
legitimately claimed by another person simply by virtue of having the same
surname. And so, if you should choose to purchase the Bytheway coat of arms,
enjoy it for its historic value and its beauty, but keep in mind this
injunction from The Heraldry Society: How can a company know my coat of arms simply from
my last name? They can't. Any company which purports to supply you
with a 'coat of arms for your surname' is misleading you. Coats of arms do
not belong to surnames. They belong to individuals, and are either granted to
a particular person, or inherited by descent from someone to whom arms have
been granted in the past. For those wanting to know more about the Heraldry Society in England: http://www.theheraldrysociety.com/index.htm |
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Was there ever a Lord Bytheway
of Somerset??? There are, as you probably
know, companies selling family crests which make the claim that Bytheway is “first found in Somerset where they were
anciently seated as Lords of the Manor”. Although Burke’s Commoners refers to Bytheway as the “ancient family residing at Leintwardine, in Herefordshire”, no
mention, or even hint is made of the any branch of the Bytheway family in
Somerset. That does not mean, however, that the name could not have appeared
much earlier in Somerset, and then moved north, or that a branch of the
family, bearing the same, or a similar coat of arms did not migrate into
Herefordshire. That is another intriguing field of research. And regarding
the question of possible knighthood, to the best of my knowledge at this
time, no member of the Bytheway family was ever knighted. I wrote, in 2006,
to the noted heraldic researcher Cecil R. J. Humphrey-Smith concerning this
possibility as an explanation for the coat of arms, and he answered that, “This name nor any variant has ever appeared
among those who have been knighted in the reign of any British monarch.”
That’s
pretty straight-forward, to my thinking. In my mind, it seems he would not
have failed to mention “Lord Bytheway seated at Somerset”, if such a person
or persons had ever existed, considering his knowledge and the resources
available to him. Please note that if any reader
has undisputed evidence that the Bytheway family originated in Somerset, other than the statement of the family
crest salesmen, I would love to see it, and would be delighted to amend
my opinion to include the new perspective, and give credit where credit is
due. |
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Bideawhile,
Bydawell, Bidewell, Bythewell, etc Appearing
almost exclusively in Bromfield, and neighboring parishes in Shropshire until
about the 1680’s, Bideawhile (also seen as Bydewhayle, Bydawhile, etc.) gave
way gradually to Bydawell and Bythewell, Bidewell, and even Bedell (one
occasion), and then emerged as Bytheway by the 1780’s. The better known
spelling of “Bytheway” was co-existent with the Bideawhile variation in
earlier years in nearby parishes on both the north and south sides of the
River Teme, particularly in Richard’s Castle, in Shropshire, and
Leintwardine, in Herefordshire. It can be reasonably theorized that
Bideawhile was a dialectic (pronunciation) difference which gradually gave
way to the better known and earlier form as printing became more common and
spelling more standardized, leaving only a few of the more isolated families
to carry the name as Bydawell or Bythewell into the 19th century and our
present day. There is one early notable case of the spelling “Bythewell”
being used by choice some distance north and east of Bromfield in the Parish
of Cleobury North, Shropshire. In 1689, Joseph “Bythewell”, of the Parish of
Cleobury North, married Bridget Jones in the Parish of Stoke St. Milborough.
Their children were baptized with the name Bythewell in Cleobury North. In
one instance, the recorder wrote the surname as Bytheway (having heard the
name from neighboring parishes), but crossed out There
is also a Cradley branch of the Bydawell family, with connections to
Bromyard, Herefordshire. A problem develops with this line when, in 1766,
their most distant known ancestor is surnamed “Bytheway”, as are two of his
siblings. One begins to wonder whether the two names, Bytheway and Bydawell,
are an either/or conundrum. |
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Bide/Bidee/Bidy/Bidey/Byday/Bythy, etc These abbreviated forms are found almost exclusively in the lower southeastern region of Shropshire, and most particularly the parishes of Stoke St. Milborough, Chetton, Bridgnorth (St. Leonard’s) and Chelmarsh between 1780 and 1850. Their great variety indicates a manner of speech, or truncation of the syllables of the name, with an emphasis being placed on the beginning, rather than the ending sound. There is certainly no consideration given to consistency in spelling, since standardization was still in flux. Tracking the marriages and migrations of these families, both those who remained in Shropshire, and those who migrated into western Staffordshire and elsewhere, we see a consistent change to Bitheway, and then Bytheway. An excellent example of this is the family of William and Mary Bide, located in Chelmarsh from 1795 to 1800 (origin unknown). By 1803 they had moved to Alveley Parish and by 1820 into Staffordshire. Two of their daughters, with the distinctive names of Honor and Charlotte were baptized in Chelmarsh under the spelling Bide, but later married in Staffordshire under the spelling Bytheway. The regional shift appears to have made a difference in the interpretation and pronunciation of the name. Sometimes we see a random use of variations within one generation as children, even within one family unit, are baptized with widely differing spellings. In Stoke St. Milborough the children of several couples (all brothers and sisters) raising their families between approximately 1750 and 1850 have children baptized variously as Bytheway, Bitheway, Bidy, Byday, and Bythy. (An older family member is even buried as Bryday.) Almost all of those who survived to adulthood were using the Bytheway spelling by the time they married. |
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Bideway, etc Bideway and Bidaway are clearly variations of Bitheway, found in the 1841 census in Beckbury, Shropshire, and some parish registers of the same period in that region. They also give way to Bytheway by the 1850’s and 1860’s. Bidway is less clear. Sometimes it appears in a Bytheway family and then disappears by the next generation. The numbers of Bidway families in later censuses may indicate this family has another origin. |
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Bidwith, Bedwith, Bidewith, Bidawith There is no clear evidence that these names belong with the Bytheway family, but they do appear simultaneously with Bytheway in some instances, especially in the parishes of Stottesden and Farlow, Shropshire. |
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This name could either be a variation of Bytheway or Bridway, but I have included it because it appeared in reference to one particular couple (1745) in Chetton Parish, Shropshire, and then gave way to Bitheway and Bytheway by the 1780’s. It may have been simply a misspelling, or at least a mishearing of the name, as in the use of Bryday in a burial at Stoke St. Milborough in 1774, or Blythe in a baptism at Loughton Chapelry in 1797. However, there is one anomaly. In the 1841 Census of England only one family in all of England is found with the surname Brideway, living in All Saints, Herefordshire: John Brideway and his wife, Elizabeth and two small daughters. By 1851 another Brideway family is found, though it is unclear whether or not they are the same one, unless John’s wife, Elizabeth died and he remarried. This John with wife, Fanny, and five children, ages 4-17 reside in Hanley, Staffordshire. John and Fanny, according to the censuses, were born in Shropshire. This family continues on in Hanley through the 1901 census, but without varying their surname spelling, and showing little growth in numbers. |
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This
variation belongs almost
exclusively to one family. William Bytheway, born 1796 in Dudley,
Worcestershire, and his wife Sarah Tomkies raised a family of seven sons and
two daughters. William was a Methodist Minister who traveled extensively to
preach, with their children being born in wide variety of counties:
Shropshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Hertfordshire, Sussex,
Gloucestershire and Devonshire. They are an interesting, and highly educated
family. William and Sarah eventually settled in Lancashire, and were buried
there. Having probably also accompanied their father as he served in Wales,
the children were very familiar with that country. Two of the sons lived in
Wales and raised families there. At some point in time, the family began
spelling their surname without the “e” in the center – probably around 1865.
All the marriages, baptisms and deaths of the descendants have this same spelling.
The censuses after 1861 also reflect the change, although there are a few
others found in the General Registry with this spelling variation who are not
descendants of William and Sarah. In these cases (with a few exceptions) the
variation is generally written for someone who could not write, nor give the
spelling, such as in a marriage record, or they are an indexing error. |
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Quirky Deviations and One-time Sightings One of the fun and interesting things about reading parish registers, censuses, and ship passenger lists is the appearance of strange, one-time spelling changes caused by a misunderstanding in pronunciation, coupled with the inability to read and write. It takes a bit of patience and detective work to sort through these types of records. Just a few notable sightings are: Bithwe, Bathewe, Byetheway, Buytheway, Bythewan, Bythewas, Bythewent, Betterway, Bethaway, Bettaway, and my personal favorite – Eitherway. This last variation appears, to my knowledge, only once, in 1798, in a marriage recorded at St. Leonard’s Bridgnorth Parish. It may have been intended to be “Nethway”, which is a legitimate surname, or “Bytherway”, which is not unheard of. Perhaps it developed in response to a question: “Which way should we spell this name?” Answer: “I suppose eitherway will do.” If “Eitherway” is truly a surname, I would be delighted to know. |
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Batho, Bathowe Batho is a Welsh surname, and is
fairly common in England, especially in the bordering counties. In early
records, in England but not in
Wales, this name is sometimes spelled Bathowe and Bathoway. It has been my
experience that when the name retains the “o” in the middle, regardless of
the ending, it is almost always Batho. If, however, the name is spelled
Bathawe or Bathewe, it is almost always Bytheway. |