Snow
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Snow Surname Genealogy
The surname Snow does come from the Old English word snow meaning "snow." However, it did not have anything to do with snow. Instead Snow appears to have been a nickname for someone with a very pale complexion or someone with fair or white hair. It could therefore have been a description of a Norseman. They were rarer and thus possibly more noticeable in the south of England where the surname seems to have originated.
England. Early appearances as a surname were in the south of England - Richard Snow in Worcestershire in 1221, Robert Snow in Suffolk in 1239, Henry Snou in Buckinghamshire in 1273, and Gilbert Snawe in Essex in 1339.
Snows were to be found in sizeable numbers in Devon. They appeared, as farmers, in Sandford and South Molton from the 1600's. Snows were also cloth merchants in Exeter at this time, starting with Thomas Snow and then followed by his son Simon Snow who became mayor of Exeter in 1653. A later Snow, Thomas Snow, was a wine merchant and partner in the local bank in the early 19th century. His son, also Thomas, was mayor of Exeter in 1863.
Snows in Dorset included some interesting families. The children of Lieutenant Snow of Poole, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, included Parker Snow, the Arctic adventurer and writer, and Phillis Snow, who became a Buddhist monk. Another family, starting with the Rev. George D'Oyly Snow of Langton Lodge in Blandford Forum, has an interesting mix of military men and clergymen until the current generation of TV presenters - Peter Snow and his son Daniel of the BBC and his cousin Jon Snow, the Channel 4 news presenter.
The Snow surname also appeared in Yorkshire, although here it might have been a contraction of Snowden (a northern surname meaning "the hill where the snow lies long"). The Snows were clockmakers near Harrogate in the 18th century and John Snow, who did pioneering work on cholera in the 19th century, was from a York family.
America. Three Snows came early to Massachusetts:
There were also Snows in Newfoundland. In fact this is where Snows are mostly to be found in Canada today. John Snow was reported in Newfoundland as early as 1708. He is believed to have been the forebear of the Snows in Conception Bay. The Harbour Grace Methodist church parish register recorded the children of Edward and Frances Snow being born between 1785 and 1798. One Snow family of Salmon Grove in Port de Grave ended tragically in 1833.
Snow in Canada could be of Indian origin. Joseph Snow, who appeared with his family in the 1861 and 1871 censuses for Tuscarora, Ontario, was listed as an Onondaga chief. His Iroquois name of "Drifted Snow" translated into English as Joseph Snow.
Select Snow Miscellany
Select Snow Names
John Snow is considered one of the founders of epidemiology for his work in discovering the causes for the cholera outbreak in England in the 1850's.
Edgar Snow was an American jounalist best known for his articles and books covering China, Mao Zedong and the Communist Party during the 1930's.
Hank Snow, the Singing Ranger, was a country star of the 1950's. He grew up in Nova Scotia.
CP Snow was an English physicist and novelist best known for his lament on the arts/science divide - The Two Cultures - in his 1959 lecture.
Select Snows Today
Site Map: Select Names
The Origin/Spread of Surnames
The surname Snow does come from the Old English word snow meaning "snow." However, it did not have anything to do with snow. Instead Snow appears to have been a nickname for someone with a very pale complexion or someone with fair or white hair. It could therefore have been a description of a Norseman. They were rarer and thus possibly more noticeable in the south of England where the surname seems to have originated.
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Snow
Resources on
The
Internet
- The Snow Family of Neath. Snows from Devon to Wales.
- Snow DNA Project. Snow DNA.
England. Early appearances as a surname were in the south of England - Richard Snow in Worcestershire in 1221, Robert Snow in Suffolk in 1239, Henry Snou in Buckinghamshire in 1273, and Gilbert Snawe in Essex in 1339.
Snows were to be found in sizeable numbers in Devon. They appeared, as farmers, in Sandford and South Molton from the 1600's. Snows were also cloth merchants in Exeter at this time, starting with Thomas Snow and then followed by his son Simon Snow who became mayor of Exeter in 1653. A later Snow, Thomas Snow, was a wine merchant and partner in the local bank in the early 19th century. His son, also Thomas, was mayor of Exeter in 1863.
Snows in Dorset included some interesting families. The children of Lieutenant Snow of Poole, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, included Parker Snow, the Arctic adventurer and writer, and Phillis Snow, who became a Buddhist monk. Another family, starting with the Rev. George D'Oyly Snow of Langton Lodge in Blandford Forum, has an interesting mix of military men and clergymen until the current generation of TV presenters - Peter Snow and his son Daniel of the BBC and his cousin Jon Snow, the Channel 4 news presenter.
The Snow surname also appeared in Yorkshire, although here it might have been a contraction of Snowden (a northern surname meaning "the hill where the snow lies long"). The Snows were clockmakers near Harrogate in the 18th century and John Snow, who did pioneering work on cholera in the 19th century, was from a York family.
America. Three Snows came early to Massachusetts:
- first Nicholas Snow from London who arrived in Plymouth on the Anne in 1623, married Constance
Hopkins (who had come over on the Mayflower),
and they settled in Eastham on Cape Cod - where Nicholas was the town
clerk. Jonathan Snow of this family moved in Vermont in 1791 and
Nathaniel Snow was a prominent local artist and writer in that
state. Isaac Snow had gone to Duck Creek, Delaware in 1711 and
his descendants were to be found in North Carolina, Tennessee and
Alabama.
- then came Richard Snow and his wife Annis on the Expedition in 1635. They settled in Woburn. Benjamin Snow from this family was born in New Hampshire and fought in the Revolutionary War (his line was traced in Owen Wilcox's 1907 book History of the Family of Benjamin Snow). Other Snows moved to Maine or crossed the border into Canada and there was also a line from Becket, Massachusetts into northern Ohio. This line produced Lorenzo Snow of the Mormons who went out to Salt Lake valley in 1848.
- and there was a young west country boy called William Snow who
went out
as an indentured servant around 1637. After his service ended, he
settled in Bridgewater. A descendant Thomas Jefferson Snow headed
west and was a school principal during the 1840's and 50's in
Madisonville,
Kentucky and Peoria, Illinois.
There were also Snows in Newfoundland. In fact this is where Snows are mostly to be found in Canada today. John Snow was reported in Newfoundland as early as 1708. He is believed to have been the forebear of the Snows in Conception Bay. The Harbour Grace Methodist church parish register recorded the children of Edward and Frances Snow being born between 1785 and 1798. One Snow family of Salmon Grove in Port de Grave ended tragically in 1833.
Snow in Canada could be of Indian origin. Joseph Snow, who appeared with his family in the 1861 and 1871 censuses for Tuscarora, Ontario, was listed as an Onondaga chief. His Iroquois name of "Drifted Snow" translated into English as Joseph Snow.
Select Snow Miscellany
If you would like to read more, click on the miscellany page for
further stories and accounts:
Select Snow Names
John Snow is considered one of the founders of epidemiology for his work in discovering the causes for the cholera outbreak in England in the 1850's.
Edgar Snow was an American jounalist best known for his articles and books covering China, Mao Zedong and the Communist Party during the 1930's.
Hank Snow, the Singing Ranger, was a country star of the 1950's. He grew up in Nova Scotia.
CP Snow was an English physicist and novelist best known for his lament on the arts/science divide - The Two Cultures - in his 1959 lecture.
Select Snows Today
- 7,000 in the UK (most numerous in Hampshire)
- 15,000 in America (most numerous in California)
- 14,000 elsewhere (most numerous in Canada)
Site Map: Select Names
The Origin/Spread of Surnames
For other surnames check the companion selectsurname.com site where there are to be found the history and genealogy for more than 500 surnames.