The Twemlow family name seems to have its origin in Anglo Saxon Britain.
The name literally translated means between or adjacent to the two burial mounds.
It has been assumed that this relates to the two mounds close to the village
of Twemlow in Cheshire. These mounds have virtually disappeared due to ploughing,
but with the aid of old ordnance survey maps they can still be found. There
are similar mounds to the south of Whitchurch where there is also a Twemlow
connection. The family seems to have no direct connection with the place called
Twemlow. Twemlow Hall in that place has never been inhabited by the Twemlow’s
and not had any direct link with the family other than through the name. Twemlow
Hall was owned by the Booth family and this may explain the similarity between
the Coat of Arms of Twemlow and Booth.
Contrary to some thoughts the name Twemlow is not Welsh, Cornish and even less
likely to be French Huguenot in origin. Though there is some doubt as to whether
its origins are Anglo Saxon or Scandinavian.
To date the Twemlow family appears to have developed around the Sandbach and
Church Lawton areas. There is, as yet, no definitive proof of any aristocratic
origin as most seem to have been farm workers and labourers, some of whom moved
into the towns during the industrial revolution. Those Twemlow’s who did
achieve financial reward seem to have done so by choosing their spouse very
carefully- they married into it by finding a single woman who was heir to the
fathers estate. The Twemlow’s also lost their fortunes the same way.
It is likely that there is more than one Twemlow line albeit with origins fairly
close to each other. There are also Twemlow’s by adoption and Twemlow’s
by assumption. As my work has progressed there are now some 50 families which
I would like to unite into some of the 20 or so major trees that have been drawn
up. Bear in mind that two years ago this figure was in excess of 200.
Some of the questions regarding the Twemlow’s may never be answered fully,
1) Do all the modern Twemlow’s have a single origin?
2) Where do the original Twemlow’s have their roots?
DNA sampling may help with this, but until the cost of this reduces significantly
and willing volunteers come forward they will remain unanswered. Anyone interested
in a DNA project should contact me directly- particularly if they have access
to a functioning DNA testing lab!!!
I will continue with the work I have started till I reach a point where further
effort becomes futile.
I would like to thank all of the Twemlow’s and related families for the
help they have given to date. To those who have not played a part I would like
to say that it is not too late to unite with the rest of their namesakes, any
information no matter how trivial would be a great help.