LAWSON

"Windows Into Our Past A Genealogy of the Garton, Smith & Associated Families, Volume 2", compiled by Judy Parsons Smith © 2003

Text Box:  The surname Lawson is taken from 'Law' and denotes someone who is the 'son of law'. The most likely source of the name is either from the name Lawrence believed to have originated from a person who lived near a laurel tree or from the Old English word hlaw meaning a hill and therefore a person 'the son of who lived on or near the hill'.

Records indicate that the earliest use of the Lawson name was documented in the 14th century in Upper Littondale, Yorkshire , an area close to the present day villages of Litton and Arncliffe on the River Skirfare, a tributary of the River Wharfe. Surnames or 'add-on' names can generally only be traced back to this time in history when they were adopted in order to distinguish individuals of the same forename. From that time the surname was handed down from father to son and occasionally from mother to son[i].

Sir Ralph Lawson  of Brough Hall, Catterick, co York, England, d. will dated 4 Sept. 1623, proved 9 Oct. 1623; m. Elizabeth Burgh.

Sir Ralph Lawson  had  children:

·         Jane Lawson [ii], m. Thos. Rokeby  
·        
Alice Lawson [iii], m. Thos. Ingleby
·        
Henry Lawson [iv]
·        
Margaret Lawson [v], m. Thomas Rakely  
·        
Roger Lawson [vi], b. 1573; d. 1613
·        
John Lawson [vii], b. Yorkshire , England [viii] (who is said to have) m. 15 May 1569, London , England [ix] to Sarah Rowland , daughter of Thomas & Joyse (Lyttell) Rowland [x] [son of __ & Elizabeth Rowland , d. aft. Oct 1628, St. Stephen ’s Parish, Bristol , England [xi]], b. London [xii].  Possible father of the Virginia Lawson ’s. How is it known that this John and Sarah (Rowland) Lawson  were the parents of the Virginia immigrants? [xiii]
·        
Edmund Lawson [xiv]
·        
Marmaduke Lawson [xv]
·        
James Lawson [xvi]
·        
Anthony Lawson [xvii]
·        
George Lawson [xviii]
·         William Lawson [xix]

John Lawson

John Lawson [xx], son of Sir Ralph & Elizabeth (Burgh) Lawson, b. Yorkshire, England[xxi] (who is said to have) m. 15 May 1569, London, England[xxii] to Sarah Rowland , daughter of Thomas & Joyse (Lyttell) Rowland [xxiii] [son of __ & Elizabeth Rowland , d. aft. Oct 1628, St. Stephen ’s Parish, Bristol , England [xxiv]], b. London [xxv].  Possible father of the Virginia Lawson ’s. How is it known that this John and Sarah (Rowland) Lawson  were the parents of the Virginia immigrants? [xxvi].  

John & Sarah (Rowland) Lawson  are said to have four (4) sons:

·         Rowland Lawson , d. May 1661
·        
Epaphroditus Lawson  
·        
Richard Lawson  
·        
William Lawson

Rowland Lawson, Immigrant

Rowland Lawson[xxvii], son of possible son of John & Sarah (Rowland) Lawson **, d. May 1661; m. Lettice Wale

Rowland Lawson immigrated to Virginia by 1633.  He was a justice in Lancaster Co., VA

Rowland & Lettice (Wale) Lawson  had a son:

·         Rowland Lawson, d. will pr. 1706.  In Boddie’s Historical Southern Families, Vol. III it notes that he used a seal with the arms (a chevron between three marlets) of the Lawsons of Brough Hall, Catterick, co. York .

How the above is tied into the following Lawson families is unknown at this time.  The above pedigree is included here as a source of additional research, however, it would need to be explored further as it is shell information provided from an internet correspondence. - JPS

[Lawson-William] [Lawson-John]


** Candidate Ancestry – Not Yet Proven


[i] Gerald D. Lawson, Leeds, England  gdl@yorksgen.org.uk http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~gdl/lawson.htm
[ii]
Lawson generations appearing in the Robert J. Brown, Jr. Home Page and in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[iii]
Lawson generations appearing in the Robert J. Brown, Jr. Home Page and in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[iv]
Lawson generations appearing in the Robert J. Brown, Jr. Home Page.
[v]
Lawson generations appearing in the Robert J. Brown, Jr. Home Page and in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[vi]
Lawson generations appearing in the Robert J. Brown, Jr. Home Page and in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[vii]
Lawson generations appearing in the Robert J. Brown, Jr. Home Page.
[viii]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[ix]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[x]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xi]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xii]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xiii]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xiv]
Listed in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[xv]
Listed in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[xvi]
Listed in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[xvii]
Listed in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[xviii]
Listed in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[xix]
Listed in the Philip Hugh Lawson Pedigree.
[xx]
Lawson generations appearing in the Robert J. Brown, Jr. Home Page.
[xxi]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xxii]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xxiii]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xxiv]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xxv]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xxvi]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net
[xxvii]
Information from Franceine Perry Rees, imperial@ecu.campus.mci.net