THE LEWTAS FAMILY HISTORY

    these photographs of churches connected to the Lewtas families are from www.lancashirechurches.co.uk

Frank Coady  whitlew2@btinternet.com and Christine Storey mc.storey@virgin.net are researching all Lewtas families

Please contact both of us for more details and to share information 

For details of our Lewtas research click here

WHERE THE NAME BEGAN - CULCHETH ON THE LANCASHIRE/CHESHIRE  BORDER

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. Fifty years later another reference to the name was at Warrington in 1373/4 when a document in which Gilbert de Culchit (Culcheth) granted his land to various people  was witnessed by  Thomas Latewys among others.  In another document of the same year Thomas Latwys is described as ‘his attorney’.  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.

THE EARLIEST CHURCH RECORDS - WINWICK IN CHESHIRE

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.

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  with the 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 Matthew Letus buried in Goosnargh on  December 11th 1624 is recorded as being the son of William Leatwyse; the inventory of  George Lewtas of Out Rawcliffe, buried on June 22nd 1675 in Stalmine registers names the deceased as ''George Latehouse'  John Lewty's will has Lewtas on the outside and Lewty on the inventory heading.  The IGI shows several LEWKAS families - this may be an alternative for LUCAS or a misspelling of LEWTAS - it is only 1 letter out.  However the variations Latwys(s)e is found in the earliest documents researched.  The Hearth Tax returns of  1663 and 1673 give even more variations on the spelling:  Ralph Laytus in Myerscough;  Edmund Leuty & John Leuty in Lea; Ralph Lattuss in Inskip with Sowerby;  Andrew Leutuss in Weeton with Preese - Andrew Lewty of Plumpton in the parish of Kirkham  married Jennnet Warbreck of Mythop in St Chad's on January 11th 1687/8.   The Hearth Tax returns and wills also serve to  illustrate the geographical spread of the name throughout the Fylde and beyond. Leonard Leutie in Plumpton Magna; Thos Luty in Higher end of Whittingham; Jo Leutie in Greenhalgh with Clifton;  Ellen Latus widow in Wood Plumpton.  Other spellings found in Fylde registers are Lewtes, Lewtis,  Leautis,  Lattwys  and Latos.  The families appear all round the Fylde - Plumpton, Cockerham, Singleton Magna & Parva,  Bispham & Norbreck, Westby with Plumpton,  Garstang,  Out Rawcliffe,  Great Eccleston,  Hambleton,  Inskip, Lea  and  St Michael's. By the early 18th century the various spellings which had arisen over the centuries may have been used specifically to differentiate between different branches of the family

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.into

updated September 2007

 2007