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SAWTELL NAME
The name Sawtell seems to have originated in Somersetshire. Here the name is found in ancient records back to the early 1500s. Richard, John, and Robert Sawtell are listed in the Lay Subsidy Roll for 1524 in Curry Rivel, Somerset. Robert Sawtell of Langport Westover was Bailiff in 1537.
The Lay Subsidy return for 1327 lists several Christian names followed by place identifications. Among these listings was a Thoma Atte Hele, i.e. Thomas At Hele. It is suggested that this might be the origin of the Sawtell family of Somerset. Sometime between 1327 and 1524, the spelling changed, first to Thomas Sattel and then to Thomas Sawtell. This is believed to be the origin of the Somerset surname of Sawtell. Hele was a hamlet or part of Curry Rivel, and is possibly the present Heale, where the first trace of the Somerset Sawtell family is found.
The fact that the name is not found in England before 1500 seems to preclude a Norman origin unless it is a variation of Sortell. Humphrey de Sartillei, who lived in Boxgrove in 1180, is said to have come from the Canton of Sartilly in Normandy, and on settling in Sussex, became one of the four Elder Knights of the Honor of Arundel under Henry II. Some of his descendants changed the spelling to Sortell. The will of Adam de Sotel of London was proved in 1298. Robert de Sotel of Bedfordshire was Bailiff in 1273. The name Sautel appears amongst the French Huguenots in Ireland in the 1600s, and is found in France at an early date and even now.
There are indications linking American, Australian, and Canadian Sawtells back to Somerset.
There is evidence of Sawtells in the United States as early as 1599. At least one woman was linked back to Somerset. One Sawtell was at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the War of Independence. There seems to be a large numbers of Sawtells in the northeastern states, and some in the northwestern states.
There were Sawtells in Australia since and New Zealand since the 1800s. Some genealogical studies done in Australia have links back to Somerset. There is a town in Australia on the coast of New South Wales called Sawtell. It is a suburb of Coffs Harbour. Apparently it was named after Oswald Sawtell, who subdivided land there in 1923.
There were Sawtells in central Canada in the 1800s, maybe even earlier.