Topics

• About the Entwistle One-Name Study
• Variants
• Origin of the surname
• Historical occurrences
• Frequency of the name
• Distribution of the name
• Data
• Links
• Contact Details

About the Entwistle One-Name Study

My mother was an Entwistle by birth, and my interest in the name began when I was researching her family. Through contact with others researching the name I became co-founder of The Entwistle Family History Association, devoted to the surname Entwistle, in September 1999. The Association registered the name as a One-Name Study in June 2003.

Variants

The Entwistle One-Name Study also includes Entwisle and Entwhistle, but other variants, not so common nowadays, include Entwhisle, Entwisel, Entwissell and Antwisel.

Origin of the surname

The surname originated in the township of Entwistle, just north of Bolton, Lancashire. It is thought the name could be of Old English origin, 'twisle' or 'twisla' meaning a tongue of land in the fork between two rivers - a strong feature of the Entwistle Township area. The first element could have been from an OE personal name 'Enna' or 'Henn' from water hen, another local feature.

Historical occurrences

• Sir Bertine Entwisle fought in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and at the Battle of St. Albans in 1455. A loyal Lancastrian, he lived to the age of 59 at Entwistle Hall, Entwistle.
• Edward Entwistle drove Stephenson's 'Rocket' on the first passenger railway run from Liverpool to Manchester.
• William Snowley Entwistle managed the Marconi Radio Station in Cornwall, which sent the first trans-Atlantic Morse message.
• Rear-Admiral James Entwistle (1837-1910) U.S. Navy, was a hero of the Battle of Manilla Bay, Phillipines, during the Spanish-American War.
• James Greenwood Entwistle had the township of Entwistle, Alberta, Canada named after him in 1909.

Frequency of the name

A check of the 1881 Census Surname Index shows that in the United Kingdom there were 5515 people named Entwistle, Entwisle or Entwhistle.

Of these, 4933 lived in Lancashire, 140 in Cheshire, 109 in Yorkshire, and 86 in London.

Where did the Lancashire Entwistles live? Top of the list was my hometown of Darwen with 681; followed by Bolton (584), Blackburn (265), Bury (177), Accrington (164), Turton (134), Edgworth (77), and Preston (58). Manchester was home to 83 and Liverpool to 23.

What of the hamlet of Entwistle where the name began? There were only 19 Entwistles remaining. Most of them had moved into the neighbouring industrial towns mentioned above.

Distribution of the name

Outside Britain the largest numbers of Entwistles live in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America.

Data

• Entwistle births, marriages and deaths have been extracted from the General Register Office indexes from 1837 to 1900, and this is gradually being extended.
• Entwistle entries have been extracted from the National Calendar of Wills and Grants of Probate from 1858 to 1930.
• Entwistle entries have been extracted from the censuses of Lancashire towns with a large Entwistle population.
• Extractions of baptisms, marriages and burials from Parish registers is an ongoing task.

Links

The Entwistle Family History Association has its own website: www.entwistlefamily.org

It contains interesting and useful information about the name, and gives details of membership.

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mrs Barbara Nightingale
Entwistle FHA,
58 Earnsdale Road,
Darwen,
Lancashire
BB3 1HS
UNITED KINGDOM
E-mail:

This page last updated 25 February 2008.

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