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BOWLES Family History

This interesting name has a number of possible origins. The first of these is a Norman surname, and derives from the place called Bouelles in Seine Martime, being introduced into England sometime after the 1066 Norman Conquest. In this case the place derives its name from the Old Norman-French "boelle", meaning enclosure and specifically one cleared for agriculture. The recording of one Walter de Bowell in the 1275 Hundred Rolls of Hertfordshire is from this source. Secondly, the modern surname, which can be found as Bolle, Bolles, Bowell, Bowells, Bowle and Bowles, may be Welsh in origin, from the patronymic form of the given name Howell.