8 September 2014 -

Based on the book series, “Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield," that was published beginning in 1901 some important information in these books confirms that the Crowther surname was established in the Halifax Parish area (that resides within the Manor of Wakefield in West Yorkshire) by 1296.  For the period covered by these five volumes of books, both Adam le Crouther of Sowerby and Thomas le Crouther of Sowerby are mentioned 28 times in the records of the Court proceedings in the Manor of Wakefield region between the years 1274-1317 and 1322-1331.  Adam le Crouther is mentioned 24 times between the years 1296 and 1315 and Thomas le Crowther is mentioned 4 times between 1307 and 1324 (with five years missing between 1317 and 1322). Both Crouther men are landed freeman famers and while they live in close proximity to each other there is no indication from these records that Thomas was the son of Adam. Because standard spelling was not used during these times the Crowther surname is transcribed from the Court rolls as Cruder, Cruther, Crouder, Crowether, and Crowther, but most often as Crouther.

Although no direct family connection can be made at this time between these two Crouther men and Crowther N-L1022 Y-DNA there is now proof that the Crowther surname was established in the Sowerby area of West Yorkshire before the 14th Century. The discovery of these Crouther men also helps to confirm the population statistical analysis that shows that Crowther N-L1022 needed to be established in England before the year 1260 to obtain the population of Crowther men recorded as born in Yorkshire in the British 1851 Census. The benefit of this discovery is that there were not just Crowther men residing anywhere in North England, but Crowther men who resided within the parish of Halifax by 1296.  Hopefully the research effort of this project will eventually prove a family connection between one of the project's participants to Adam or Thomas le Crouther.  However, by following the research published in the book, “Surnames, DNA, & Family History,” by George Redmonds, Turi King, and David Hey, there is a very good possibility that Crowther N-L1022 Y-DNA was established in the Halifax Parish area of West Yorkshire by the late 13th Century.