The problem with the surname Kneeshaw is that it has never been prolific and early references
are not easy to locate. On the face of it a place-name origin seems likely, but there is no
immediately obvious source, not even among minor localities.
It looks as though the solution to its origin lies in its history, and it is the
pattern of distribution that provides significant pointers.
In 1881 just 261 people bore the surname, and 248 of these were resident in Yorkshire, a
remarkably tight-knit concentration. The majority of these families were in the Eastern or
mainly rural half of the county, strongly represented in Malton, Pickering and Pocklington.
Right: Distribution of the Kneeshaw name throughout England in the 1881 census
Source: British 19th Century Surname Atlas, Archer Software
[In 1881 the distribution of Kneeshaws in the East Riding of Yorkshire
was focussed on Malton, with numbers decreasing in successive concentric rings. Perhaps
this represents the migration from the original East Riding source. This mirrors the
historical distribution.]
[…] the history of the surname in East Yorkshire takes us back over 500 years, with many
examples occurring first in the neighbourhood of Malton, then later in the Whitby area,
which is much further North. [Our Kneeshaws would have been in area of the Pocklington
Union.]
Right: The distribution of the Yorkshire Kneeshaws by Poor Law Union in the 1881
census
Source: British 19th Century Surname Atlas, Archer Software
[…] in the hearth tax returns of 1672 and 1673, there are mentions of just eight Yorkshire
Kneeshaws, among them Thomas Kneshawe of New Malton and George Kneshaw of Sneaton [south-west of
Whitby].
The earliest reference found so far is to a minister named William Kneshawe. He lived in the
late 1480s, and crops up in the records because he was twice fined for woodland offences in the
Forest of Pickering.
Kneeshaw Info 1 sheet 2
Other examples have been found in 16th and 17th century sources in the villages of Levisham
[north of Pickering] and Ugglebarnby, [south-west of Whitby] along with the territory of Eskdale
Side, while an apparently unrelated name, Cuthbert Kneeson, has been located in Barton le Willows
in 1672. This village is just a few miles from New Malton, so Cuthbert's surname is probably
the best linguistic clue we have to a possible origin for Kneeshaw.
The suffix -shaw, which derives from an Old English word for a copse, is found in numerous
north country place names. […] Indeed, the suffix was so popular that it assimilated other
suffixes with which it had something in common. In Nottimghamshire the surname Somersall had
Somershaw as an alias, and in Lancashire Buersill became Beardshaw. […] There are, […] a number
of early surnames in Yorkshire that derive from Kneesall.
Two examples occur in the West Riding poll tax records of 1379, in the neighbouring villages of
Ledston and Allerton Bywater, John de Knesall and Richard Knesall. Between 1413 and 1423 an Ellen
Knesall was living in Methley, a village just a mile or two South of Allerton Bywater.
The inference must surely be that these families were related, and that the surname was already
hereditary, but unfortunately no further references have yet been found in the West Riding, and
there is no evidence of a genealogical link between the West Riding Kneesalls and the North Riding
Kneeshaws.
[…]
Kneeshaw almost certainly derives from Kneesall.
Source:
Redmonds George, ‘A Known Northern Name’, Ancestors, April 2006, The National Archives,
London
George Remonds is author of ‘Christian Names in Local and Family History’ (TNA, 2004)
This page was created by Richard Crompton
and maintained by Chris Glass
