• Home
    • About the Guild
    • About one-name studies
    • Starting your ONS
    • Conducting ONS (videos)
    • Join Us
    • Guild Shop
  • Studies
    • Surnames A-Z
    • Recent Registrations
    • Study websites
    • Available Studies
    • Registered Societies
  • News
    • Guild Elections
    • General News
    • Education News
    • Guild Public Newsletters
  • Forums
    • Facebook (public page)
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Conference
    • Seminar events
    • Guild Webinars
  • Resources
    • DNA
    • Fun Zone
    • Guild Indexes
    • Guild Journal
    • Knowledge Zone – Presentations
    • Members’ Websites
    • Modern Surnames
    • Newspaper Index
    • Pharos ONS Courses
    • Speakers
    • Those Who Served
  • Help
    • Reset your password
    • Contact Us
  • Log In

Guild of One-Name Studies

One-name studies, Genealogy

Is your surname here?

    • 2,137 members
    • 2,054 studies
    • 7,298 surnames

Retained profile for the former
Spowage One-Name Study

This study is no longer registered with the Guild, but this profile page has been retained at the member's request. Please note that neither officers nor members of the Guild are able to answer any questions about this study.

About the study

 

THE STUDY IS BEING TRANSFERRED TO THE FAMILY HISTORIAN SOFTWARE LATE IN 2020.  THIS INVOLVES THE CONVERSION AND EDITING OF RECORDS PREVIOUSLY HELD IN THE  MASTER GENEALOGIST V9.   IN ADDITION SOME CHANGES ARE BEING MADE TO THE PARALLEL CUSTODIAN DATABASE. THIS WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO COMPLETE.

My maternal grandmother, Alice Spowage, died ten years before I was born. I grew up knowing that she had looked after a seriously ill husband and had seen four children to young adulthood. She imbued my mother and her siblings with a determination to do well and all achieved success in their chosen careers. (A Master Mariner/Chief Pilot (Sail and Steam), a Professional Singer who matriculated at 16, a Music Teacher (LRCM) although blind and a very qualified and experienced Hospital Matron at the age of 34.)
After retiring I decided to discover more about the Spowages' and it soon became clear that this was an unusual name. A chat to a friendly Guild Member at the Woking Family History Fair in late 2003 convinced me that a one name study was a good idea.
Research into the Spowage name started slowly near the end of 2004. The first task was to obtain relevant information from the Births Marriage and Death registers held at the Family History Centre (now closed) and as much Census information that was easily available. A systematic approach was taken to enter the observations into a database.   Considerable help was also obtained from contacts through Genes Reunited. The study will eventually evolve to include everyone who enjoyed the name.  Progress has been relatively slow over the years due to other priorities and unexpected computer failures.

Variant names

The main variant observed so far to the name of Spowage is Spouge. There are many other variants, misspellings and incorrect transcriptions that will be recorded as the study develops.

Name origin

The surname Spowage does not yet appear to have a clear origin. It has been suggested that it is derived from the plant €˜"spurge"€™. The 1841 Census lists John Spowage and family living at Spowage'€™s Hill, Blidworth' Nottinghamshire. As the study matures it may be possible to define the origin more accurately.

Historical occurrences of the name

There is the usual mix of agricultural labourers, miners, silk workers, shoe makers, framework knitters and domestic servants.

Only a few Spowages emigrated but two that are not directly related were transported to Australia as convicts.

Name frequency

Based on the United Kingdom census returns and the data extracted so far there were 248 with the surname Spowage resident in the UK in 1911, 310 in 1901, 167 in 1891, 192 in 1881, 128 in 1871, 81 in 1861, 96 in 1851 and 73 in 1841.
In an extract of the UK Office of National Statistics database for 2002, the name Spowage is ranked 14,758, with 349 instances.

Distribution of the name

Nearly all the Spowages in 1881 can be found in Nottinghamshire (54%), Derbyshire (20%) East Yorkshire (11%). West Yorkshire (9%) and Lincolnshire (6%).
A similar pattern occurs in 1911- Nottinghamshire (47%), Derbyshire (17%), Lincolnshire (10%), West Yorkshire (9%), and East Yorkshire (8%).

Data

The registered births, marriages and deaths for the SPOWAGE surname have been extracted and transcribed from the General Register Offices indexes for England and Wales (from 1837). Census returns 1841-1911 have been analysed
Other details have started to be extracted from the International Geographical Index (IGI), parish registers and burial records. Information from contacts is being included as the project evolves.

A small amount of data on the Spouge population has been analysed, so far, as the name occasionally appears to morph into Spowage without a clear explanation.

Although due care has been taken there is no guarantee that the information in this profile is accurate.

Links

 

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Spowage in the Guild Indexes
(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)
  • Global Marriages (public)  117
  • Global Marriages (members)* 118

Other Guild Websites

You may find our other Guild websites of interest:

  • Members’ Websites Program
  • Guild Members’ records on FamilySearch
  • Guild’s “Surname Cloud”
  • Guild Marriage Locator

Contact Us

Email: Guild General Contact
Postal address:
c/o Treasurer,
3 Windsor Gardens,
Herne Bay,
Kent, CT6 8FE. UK.
Call us free on:
UK: 0800 011 2182
US & Canada: 1-800-647-4100
Australia: 1800 305 184

Follow Us


  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • YouTube

Guild of One-Name Studies Policies:    Privacy   CIO Membership and Registration Conditions   Sales   COVID-19 Impact

© 2013–2026 Guild of One-Name Studies CIO. Registered Charity in England and Wales, No. 1197944.