St Chad's Poulton-le-Fylde
St James Stalmine (Over Wyre)
Holy Trinity  Freckleton
St Michael's  Kirkham





These photographs of churches connected with the Lewtas families are from an excellent website - www.lancashirechurches.co.uk

THE LEWTAS FAMILY TREE


Westby
family  of Mowbreck

Lewtas of Out Rawcliffe


Lewtas of Kirkham & Freckleton

Lewtas of Poulton

Unidentified members of the Lewtas family

 

Although in the 21st century the name LEWTAS is found across the world, evidence suggests it probably originated on the border of  Lancashire and Cheshire where it is first recorded in 1324.

            HOW THE NAME CHANGED  -   LATEWYSSE to LEWTAS 

 Lewtas or Latus is a shortened form of the name Latewysse,  and similar spellings.     The earliest references to the more modern form 'Lewtas'  are found in wills which also bear the name Latewise or even Latehouse.     These names  -   said  with a Lancashire  accent and abbreviated  -  soon come to sound like Layt'us and Lewtas,  and,  in a time when spelling was quite free,  they could be written  in a variety of ways and still sound the same.   Few people could read or write even their own name and that together  withthe style of handwriting  -  with the letters a and e, i, and u appearing similar in form -  led to several versions of the name  developing across the Fylde
 
 WHERE THE NAME BEGAN  -  from WINWICK to THE FYLDE

The name seems to have originated in south Lancashire and first appears in a record of 1323.       The early 14th century was  a time  of crisis and political turmoil in the north of England.       In  1322  several leading Lancashire  families and their followers seized the  opportunity to settle old scores  and violence and lawlessness erupted.    A knight,  William de Bradshaw,  "gathered to himself a  great host of armed men on horse and on foot and rode armed with his company through the country,  sometimes to market towns and to county courts and to fairs and elsewhere in that county, against the king's peace and to the terror of  the people."         In 1323  Edward II visited Lancashire in an attempt to restore order,  holding special courts at Wigan. The records of  shows that   'John son of John Latewys'  was in the company brought to justice. 

Other early  references to the name  include Thomas Latwys  who  in 1373 was appointed to be his attorney  by  Gilbert de  Culchit and nearly 2 centuries later  in 1546  a  Thomas Latewise was Vicar of St John's Chester.
 

WINWICK PARISH REGISTERS  

The Winwick baptismal registers  began in 1563.  The registers list the  baptism of  two  children of John  Latwy(i)sse appear on September 13th  1564 and  May 7th 1567. (Unfortunately the children's names are  unreadable) .  Wills can be valuable in providing details of families.   The first will  is that of Robert Latwise of Winwick   proved in 1578.      Next is  that of William Latewise of Culcheth 1604.     One of those preparing his inventory in 1608 was John  Sterrope;  this may have been William's future son-in;law - a  John Sterrope  married an Anne Latewise in September 1613.
 
 
THE MOVE TO THE FYLDE
 
A rough survey of the place of residence named in the parish registers   of the Fylde area in which instances of the name  appear suggest that the families were firstly in Goosnargh, Plumpton, Wood Plumpton,  Kirkham, Inskip, Lea and Eaves in the late 1500s  and early 1600s onwards.  They appear to have spread into Garstang,  Poulton, Out Rawcliffe and St Michaels  by the mid to late 1600s and  to Freckleton, Hambleton, Stalmine by the mid 1700s.  Liverpool had attracted them from the  1700s and Manchester from the 1800s.

Frank Coady  is researching all Lewtas families, particularly those originating from the Kirkham area.  whitlew2@btinternet.com

Christine Storey is researching all Lewtas families, particularly those originating from Over Wyre and Poulton-le-Fylde       mc.storey@virgin.net