Origin of the Crewdson Surname

I propose in this section to analyze the chief family names in the register, those that appear in its earliest and latest pages, and represent the stock from which a large proportion of the indigenous population of High and Low Furness is descended. Furness has an interest of its own in this matter. It has been so shut out from the rest of the world by such natural barriers as the two estuaries of Morecambe and Duddon, and the hills to the north, that the mass of the people to-day are the direct descendents of a few stocks settled here some seven or eight centuries ago. In many cases we can make our way beyond the period of surname formation into the dimmer age, when only baptismal names existed, and by the favour shewn then to some particular names, explain the present large number of surnames founded on them. As these surnames have been hereditary about 600 years, 1545, the first year of registration, will be nearly halfway between their establishment and the present...

Baptismal names are a remarkable index to local history -- especially in the case of a people who never roamed abroad. Font-names have ever reigned capriciously. Every generation discovers new or revives old ones; each district, too, has its favourites. The interest of fontnames in the 12th, 13th, and 14the centuries is supreme for this reason. They were to become the roots of surnames which were to last for all life time.

We may put it briefly this way.

(a) The favourite Christian names in existence in Furness about AD 1200 were Bennet, Adam, Cudbert, Roger, Christopher, Rowland, and Robert. There is evidence which places this statement beyond dispute.

(b) Equally certain is it that in every day life none of these were ever known as such. They were Ben, Atkin, Crud, Hodge, and Dodge, Chris (perhaps Case), Rawlin or Rowlin, and Robin or Dob.

(c) At this time (circa 1200) surnames were becoming hereditary, and a large proportion of our patronymics are formed from baptismal names, every nick form or pet form then popular was a candidate for immortality.

(d) Hence Ben-son, Atkin-son, Crewd-son or Crowd-son, Hodg-son, or Dodg-son, Cas-son (probably), Rawlin-son or Rowling-son, and Dob-son or Robin-son, are with us today, and represent some of the oldest families in furness.

This is the simple explanation of the rise of several of the chief surnames of the district. They are not necessarily from one stock. Several Adams are the progenitors of our Atkinsons. Several Hodges can claim to have started a family ball of Hodgsons rolling down the steep of time.

But the question arises, why were these several names popular? We cannot always answer this question. The circumstance has become lost. But sometimes we can, and in the discovery of the cause we have probably found out some interesting local fact....

Another saint in high favor in the district was St. Cudbert ( Cuthbert). This made its mark on the family nomenclature. Crewdson, and Croudson are common as buttercups, and particularly Furnessian, although they have spread to Kendal. Originally the nick form of Cudbert was Cuddy, whence cuddy, a donkey. By degrees the emblem of obstinacy had no other name: and to prevent an unpleasant conjunction of ideas, the 'r' was restored, and the nick form for children became "Crud" or "Cruddy". From this the patronymic was readily formed. I would suggest to Mr. Halliwel Phillips, that the old English croudwain, which he explains as a large kind of wheelbarrow (vide Dic.Arch.) is but the donkey-cart of those days.

But how did the Durham Saint become a popular font-name in Furness? A very curious story comes down to us from Reginald, of durham, a contemporary monk, who has chronicled the "Miracles of St. Cuthbert". In Henry the second's reign, the abbot of Furness, John (Cantsfield) was in great discomfort, as the king had kept him out of some of his territorial rights. He committed, in his distress, his cause to the "blessed Cuthbert", promising to erect an alter to the saint in the convent, "that his memory may be cherished among us". He was met by the king with great favour, and won his cause. The alter was not forgotten, and in further proof of gratitude he made a pilgrimage to St. Cuthbert's shrine. Curiously enough, we find that the churches of St. Cuthbert at Aldingham, and St. Cuthbert at Kirkby Ireleth, were both dedicated in the same reign. If we accept the historical part as facts (as I think we may), we have at once a solution of the great Crewdson and Croudson family of today. Numberless children would be baptised with the saintly name, and thus popularized, in due time Crud, and Cruddy, the nick forms, would be promoted into patronmics. Nothing that I could say could emphasize more strongly the importance of studying the indigenous names of a district like Furness, with a view of gleaning history out of them....

Ernest Weekley has this to say: "As for Crowdson, Crewdson, I believe it is the son of the Crowder or fiddler, a kind of cousin of Tom the Piper's son. It belongs to Lancashire, which is the home to this type of name."

Spelling of the Name - comments by Ernie

In trying to read original 18th century parish records, it has been my experience that unless the parish cleric wrote precisely, it is difficult to distinguish between a lower case "e" and an "o". In comparing original documents, I did not always agree with the FHL interpretation of the spelling; however, I have acquiesced to their (professional) opinion for my records.

** "Surnames of the United Kindom: A concise Etymological Dictionary", by Henry Harrison; page 99; Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore; 1969

*** "Surnames", by Ernest Weakley; page 240; E.P.Dutton and Company, New York; 1916.