Melvyn & Sharron Pearson |Tandragee|Co Armagh BT62
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HISTORY OF THE LAW FAMILY
THE LAW SURNAME
Recorded in the spellings of Law, Laws and Lawes, this is an Anglo-Scottish surname.
It originates fro
m the Northern Medieval English word "law", itself from the Old
English "hlaw", usually describing a burial ground or a distinctive hillock or mound,
and as such was probably given as a topographical surname to a person who was resident
by such a feature. The surname is also widespread in Scotland where there are ten
or more places named with the above element, and consequently the surname may be
locational as well as topographic in origin. Early examples of recordings include
William de Lawe of the county of Essex in 1229; William Law of Cambridgeshire in
1279 and Hugh del Lawe of Yorkshire in 1309. Robert de Lawe of Scotland, was granted
a safe conduct to pass through England on his return from Spain in 1428, and in 1488
James of Law was noted in the records of the burgh of Prestwick. Henry Lawes (1596
- 1662) a notable musician, was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1626, and a composer
of note. His brother William Lawes, also a musical composer, lost his life fighting
for the royalists against the Parliamentarians at the siege of Chester in 1645. The
first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de la Law.
This was dated 1208, in the Curia Regis Rolls of the county of Worcestershire, during
the reign of King John of England, 1199 - 1216. Throughout the centuries, surnames
in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants
of the original spelling.
