On Sun, 3 Dec 2000 15:06:13 EST, [log in to unmask] wrote:

>Is anyone researching the Bonnewell family of Virginia?  They might have
>settled in Accomack at first.
>
>Floyd
>

Which of the Bonnewells/Bonnevilles(pick your spelling) are you
researching?

In the 1700s you can find all kinds of spellings and very little
consistency. As the family spread out other spellings appeared, some
becoming more prevalent than others in different areas. Only in recent
times has the spelling of the name in the various branches became stable
and consistent.

The Bonniwell spelling in the Colonial American branch of the family
developed with those members that remained on Virginia's Eastern Shore
until more recent times (although Bonewell and Bonnewell are still common
in the mid 1800s).

By contrast, in Maryland, Bonnawell became prevalent in the early 1800s,
going back to Bonnewell and at about the beginning of this century,
Bonneville became the spelling. The branch which today lives in Colorado
left Maryland in 1852, taking the Bon(n)ewell spelling with them.

Maryland/Delaware:
Bonewell/Bonwill/Bonneville -
Somerset & Worcester Cos., MD & Sussex & Kent Cos., DE
I believe thhis family connects to the Bonwell family which originally
settled on the Eastern Shore of Virginia; but no firm connection has been
made.

Virginia:
Bonwell/Bonewell/Bonnewell/Bonniwell
Accomack, Northampton, Gloucester, & Matthews Cos. VA + City of Norfolk
The first member of this family was James Bonwell (1620-1667) who is named
as a headright for William Johnson in Northampton County in December of
1653. His children spelled the name Bonewell and sometimes Bonwell.

Minnesota:
Bonniwells
Around 1830, William Bonniwell immigrated from Kent, England to Canada and
died in Montreal in 1832. His son Walter Bonniwell moved to Wisconsin and
then to Hutchinson, Minnesota. What little information we have on this
family, and assuming it's accurate, indicates that Bonwell and Boniwell
were common spellings in England on back into the 1500s. The Virginia
branch and the Minnesota branch probably don't connect until sometime
before 1620.

Washington state:
Bonneywell
William Bonneywell immigrated from Kent, England to Nevada, then on to
Washington, in 1878. The Ship's Passengers List shows William, his wife
Sarah and their children on the SS Holland from London to New York, 1878.
From time to time you find the Bonnywell spelling in records for the
Virginia families, but its one that apparently didn't survive into modern
times. On the other hand, it looks like the prevalent spelling in England
today, although there are a few Bonewells still there too. You would expect
a common link between the Washington Bonneywells and the Minnesota
Bonniwells probably in the 1700s. Their ancestors both lived in the same
towns in Kent, England."

Canada/France:
Bonneville
Ontario & Quebec, Canada & New York state
A French family whose connections which go back to 1680 in France, and
spread to the US and Canada. There are also descendents in Wisconsin of a
branch of this family dating from the 1800s.

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html