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