The following
information is presented by Susan Barlow Holmes at
barlowgenealogy.com,
who cites
that it is from the book, Bunches of Barlows, by John Hawkins and Elizabeth
H. Michaels; and credits
the original to notes from Allan Poe, Caldwell County, North Carolina
genealogist.
-
_________________________________________________
Barlow
was originally a place name of Anglo-Saxon
derivation, signifying a hill or clearing planted in barley
(Anglo-Saxon "Baerlic").
There are several villages and manors bearing
the name -- all in the north of England, (Lancashire, Yorkshire and
Derbyshire).
The oldest and by far the most numerous of the Barlow families
originated in Lancashire, taking their name from a manor in the parish
of Whalley, near the modern industrial center of Manchester; and near
the point where the three counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire and
Cheshire meet. They descend from a 13th century knight, Sir Roger
Barlow of Barlow, in the reign of Edward I.
The
senior male line of the family continued in possession of the manor of
Barlow for at least four centuries, with Thomas Barlow as lord of the
manor in the reign of Charles II, in 1664.
The medieval coat of arms of the Lancashire Barlows was (in simple
terms), a two-headed silver eagle on a black shield, very similar to
the arms of the German emperors, still used. I think, as the arms of
West Germany.
Some of the junior branches of the family produced some individuals of
moderate importance--a Bishop of Rochester (1603), an Archbishop of
Tuam in the Church of Ireland (1634), the ancestor of a Lord Mayor of
Dublin (1715).
Records of descendants of more modest pretensions include:
-- George Barlow, a baker in Manchester in 1583.
-- Henry Barlow of Derbyshire, a student at Oxford in 1584.
-- John Barlow of Cheshire, another Oxford student in 1600.
-- Sir Alexander Barlow, Knight of Barlow, whose will was probated in
1620 at Chester. (Whalley Parish, in which the manor of Barlow was
situated, was in the diocese and archdeaconry of Chester).
The Reverend Canon C.W. Bardslay, who was a rector of a city parish in
Manchester for 30 years, published his authorative dictionary of
English and Welsh surnames in 1896; and he remarked in it that the
Barlow name in Lancashire "has ramified in an extraordinary
manner."
The 1873 Post Office Directory for Lancashire listed 75 Barlow
householders in the city of Manchester. Other directories of the period
listed 15 Barlow householders in the West Riding of Yorkshire; and 33
in the city of London.
The following is copied directly from the...
A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames With
Special American Instances by Charles Wareing
Endell Bardsley:
Barlow - Local, 'of Barlow,' near Manchester. The
Lancashire Barlows spring from Barlow Hale and Barlow Moor, near
Manchester. The name has ramified in an extraordinary manner. Barlow is
also a parish in co. Derby, near Chesterfield, but nearly all our
Barlows trace back to the neighborhood of Manchester. The Barlows of
Barlow Hale (whence William Barlow, bishop of Lincoln, born about 1550)
were seated there so early as so Ric. II. The first entry below
probably represents Barlow, a chapelry in the parish of Brayton, West
Rid. Yorks.
- Johannes de Berlowe, 1379: P.T. Yorks. p.33.
- 1584. Henry Barlow, co. Derby: Reg. Univ. Oxf. vol. ii. pt. ii. p.
139.
- 1600. John Barlow, co. Chester: Ibid. p. 244.
- 1583. George Barlow, of Manchester, baker: Wills
at Chester, i. 12.
- 1594. Ottiwell Barlow, of Hreston Norris: ibid.
- 1620. Sir Alex. Barlow, of Barlow: ibid.
- 1656. Married--John Barlow and Mary Tolley: St. Dionis Backchurch, p.
32.
- West Riding Court Dir., 15; Manche
________________________________
- Additional Information -
HISTORY OF BARLOW HALL
There has
been a
dwelling situated on the site of Barlow Hall
for over 800 years now. The earliest dwelling was probably timber-built
and was possibly situated near to the river Mersey for protection,
fortification and transport purposes.
Roger, or Robert de
Barlow, knight living during the reign of Saxon
King
Edward 1 (1272 - 1307), founded the eminent Catholic Barlow family; and
Barlow Hall continued to be the family home of the Barlow family for a
further 500 years.
In
1584, during the reign of King Henry VIII, Barlow Hall was rebuilt by
Alexander Barlow. It is believed that a mile long underground
passage to Hough End Hall exists, as well as a priest's hole.
The last member of the Barlow family to reside at the Hall was Thomas
Barlow who died in 1773. The Hall then fell into the estate
of the Egerton family and was leased to various tenants.
Fire
ravaged the Hall on March 19th 1879, but the bay window dated 1574 and
the first floor oriel window above it still remain.
St Ambrose Barlow
Barlow
Hall has special significance for the Catholic community as the
birthplace of St Ambrose Barlow.
Sir
Edward Barlow was born at Barlow Hall in 1585 and took the name Ambrose
when he was ordained as a priest of the Order of St Benedict.
He was hanged for his faith at Lancaster Gaol in 1641. He was
later canonised by Pope Paul VI, as one of the 40 martyrs of England
and Wales, on October 25th 1970. The ghost of St Ambrose is
said to haunt the upper floors of the Hall to this day.
