Showler, Shouler Family History & Genealogy

Shouler Family History

Shouler / Showler Early History

The history of my branch of the Shouler family as discovered so far (much of the early history of the Shouler family is based on research carried out by Martin Shouler of Melton Mowbray).

Origins

The surnames of Shoveller, Shouler and Showler are all ‘occupational surnames’ and have the same common derivation from the Middle English word: schovelyn - to shovel or one who works with shovels. The study of Middle English Occupational Terms¹, lists William le Schouelere in 1301, Oxfordshire and Walter le Shouelere in Hertfordshire. The Court Rolls of the Borough of Colchester² list Nicholas Schoueler, 1366 in Colchester.

The origins of my branch of the Shouler family have been traced to the Wavendon and Westbury areas of Buckinghamshire, and among the earliest references found so far is in a Westbury Subsidy Roll for 1524 which mentions “John Showler £2”. In 1552 there was a Thomas Showler as Churchwarder at Westbury and there were Shoulers living there well into the 19th. Century. At the time of writing the earliest known records which directly link to our branch of the family start with Thomas Showler of Great Horwood, who was probably born around 1620 and died in 1690. The parents of Thomas were probably Richard and Mary Showler, although this link has not yet been proved conclusively as no baptism record has been found.

Early History

Thomas Showler married Jane or Joane Whithe at Winslow on 13th. February 1660 and was churchwarden at Great Horwood from 1663 to 1666. In his will of 1690 he gave £8 to each of his sons, Edward and Francis and the same to daughters Mary, Jane, Ann and Age (Agnes?) but only one shilling to daughter Joane! His son, Thomas, was appointed executor but not mentioned as a beneficiary.

Thomas and Joane had a son called Edward, born in 1673, who lived at Great and Little Horwood as a farmer. Edward married Elizabeth Pardy on 19th. April 1704, and they had three sons, Edward, Thomas and Francis. In his will Edward (Senior) describes himself as a husbandman, he left livestock and implements to his son Edward and money to hold until the other two sons (Thomas and Francis) attained the age of 23 years. The eldest son Edward was also to pay his mother £10 per year in two equal installments, whilst she remained a widow. The bequests to Thomas and Francis amounted to £200 each - a very sizable sum in those days.

Moving on to the next generation, the name has evolved from Showler to Shouler by now and we see Francis Shouler (senior) (1715-1776), the third son of Edward Shouler, as a prosperous Yeoman Farmer, also married to an Elizabeth. Francis Shouler was baptised at Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire, moving to Great Horwood and then to Wavendon. He was a Churchwarden and Overseer of the Poor and a comparatively wealthy man for the time, leaving in his will £20 to each of five sons and five daughters. They were Thomas, Edward, John, Francis and William; Elizabeth Scarborough, Mary Shouler, Ann Shouler, Alice Hammond and Martha Shouler.

As Churchwarden Thomas Shouler would have been elected annually and represented the interests of the church or parish. He would have dealt with the administrative role of the parish and may have had responsibility, amongst other things, for the Parish Registers, the distribution of charitable doles and he may have worked alongside the ‘Overseer of the Poor’ for the administration of the ‘Old Poor Law’. ‘Overseer of the Poor’ was the office later held by his son Francis for a while, it was also an annually elected office and probably unpaid.

The next generation of Shoulers continues with Francis Shouler (junior), the youngest son of Francis Shouler (senior). Francis was also a farmer, and baptised in 1756, but not married until 1793, to Elizabeth Smith at Broughton in Buckinghamshire. He died in 1814 at the age of 57 and in his will he left his house and two cottages to his wife for her life, then to his two sons equally, the eldest to take the house at valuation, with the provision that no division of the property was to take place before their second son, William, had reached 21 years.

William Shouler, the second son of Francis and Elizabeth, was born on 8th. June 1800 in Wavendon, and married Phobe Scott Battams at Wavendon on 4th November 1819. Phoebe Scott Battams was born on 21st July 1793, her parents were John Battams and Elizabeth Scott, who were married on 15th February 1779 at Foscott Bucks.. Phoebe had three sisters (Mary b. 1781, Elizabeth b. 1785 and Sarah b. 1798) and a brother, William Battams born in 1788.

The Churches at Little Horwood (Left) and Wavendon (Right)

¹ B. Thuresson, Middle English Occupational Terms, 1950, Lund.

²Court Rolls of the Borough of Colchester, 3 vols., 1921 - 41, Colchester.

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