The Birtwistle Family Home Page

The original name of the family was Bridtwesell or similar phonetic spelling. This name dates back to 1209 when Reyner, son of Ralph, received a land grant from his Norman Liegelord. Thereafter the family was "de Bridtwisell", meaning "from Bridtwisell", a village in Blackburnshire, now Lancashire, United Kingdom, that no longer exists. The village was known to be near Hapton and Padiham between Huncoat and Burnley, about three miles north of Rossendale Forest and six miles southwest of Twist Castle. It is shown as Birtwistle on a Map of Blackburnshire dated 1311. The name finally derived to Birtwistle in the 1400s. In the 1500s, one branch of this family relocated to Calton in Yorkshire at which time someone keeping the records at Skipton changed the name of this branch to Birtwhistle and thereafter it is known as the "h" branch. A branch of the Birtwhistle family referred to herein came to the USA and Canada in the late 1800s from northern England. Several members of this family settled originally in Englewood, N.J. Two other members of the same family settled in western Canada with possibly one member settling in Terrace or Furnace, British Columbia. The family that settled in New Jersey resides now mostly in California with a few members still located on the East coast in Virginia. The New Jersey Birtwhistles are direct decendants of Ralph, father of Reyner de Bridtwesell as are the main Birtwistle tree of which the Birtwhistles are a branch. There was also another large branch whose name was changed to Birtwell while still in the UK. This branch has members in Massachusetts, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin in the USA and in the United Kingdom. Some other members spell their name Bertwistle or Bertwhistle or Burtwistle or Burtwhistle. There are also large family branches in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. The Birtwistle or Birtwhistle or Birtwell family has made many contributions to society among them, in English,law, politics, education, music, science, medicine, athletics as well as computing. An ancestor, Oliver Byrtwhistle, was granted a family coat of arms by the Tutors and two later descendants also were granted coat of arms.
I am seeking any information to expand the family tree world-wide. The tree at this site has less than 1/2 the family members. The tree now contains over 11,600 family members, but I have not updated the trees attached to this homepage since the number of people now is too large. I am seeking more detailed information on various members and branches as well as pictures, family histories and maps. A new book and tree has been compiled,with the help of many "cousins", adding on to the tree as I receive verified information as well as presenting a short family history. I gladly will share this information and I am acting as a clearing house for all information. I also will help, if I can, with your own research from the information I have.

GEDCOM Trees (viewing trees requires 4.0 or later)

• Birtwistle, Bertwistle, Birtwhistle & Birtwell (1602 KB)
  Updated 10/22/01

Family Photos

• 1567 Coat of Arms (141 KB)
  Representation of Coat of Arms granted to Oliver Birtwistle, 1567
• Another representation of 1567 Coat of Arms (137 KB)
  Black & white representation of 1567 Coat of Arms with explanation/
• Representation of 1750 Coat of Arms (204 KB)
  1750 Coat of Arms granted to John Birtwhistle
• 1311 Map of Blackburnshire (5111 KB)
  Map showing location of Village of Birtwistle as still existing in 1311.

Family Tree Maker Reports and Trees

• InterneTree: Lester A Birtwhistle


• Genealogy Report: Descendants of Ralph De Bridtwesell

Related Links

• Surname Web site