Researching John Sowerby
Investigate the background of John Sowerby using the links below. We hope you find this information useful!
 | Did you know that in the 1881 UK census there were 1615 people with the Sowerby surname? In that year Sowerby was ranked number 2091 for popularity in the UK. |
The name John means "God is gracious" and is of Hebrew origin.
Records of John Sowerby on Ancestry
Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of John Sowerby in your family tree. A vast range of data is available to search ranging from census records, births, deaths and marriages, military records and immigration records to name but a few. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to fill out a lot of your tree quickly.
| Country Collection | |
|---|---|
 |
Ancestry.com Global records search results for John Sowerby. |
 |
Ancestry.com US records search results for John Sowerby. |
|
Ancestry.co.uk UK records search results for John Sowerby. |
 |
Ancestry.ca Canadian records search results for John Sowerby. |
 |
Ancestry.com.au Australian records search results for John Sowerby. |
DNA
Sometimes you can run into a brick wall in your tree and you just don't have enough evidence to make that next step back in time. If you are lucky then you may find some previously undiscovered Sowerby ancestors. Additionally, the modern DNA test can give you a breakdown of your ethnic mix - you may be surprised at the results!
Have you reached a brick wall in your Sowerby Tree?
Birth, Death and Marriage Records for John Sowerby and the Sowerby Family History
Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Sowerby Genealogy that will form part of your family tree. Although records vary from country to country, they are normally the most formal record of a person's relations. From the sources listed below it will be possible to locate a birth record and, from that record, a birth certificate may be obtainable which is likely to list the names of the parents, therefore taking you back another generation. A marriage certificate may also list the names of the respective fathers of the bride and groom which may then help you to find them earlier in life on a census record enabling you to fill out more detail in the Sowerby family tree.
Explore Parish Records for John Sowerby at Find My Past.
Search for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of John Sowerby using the FreeBMD database.
Explore Genealogy Bank for John Sowerby records.
Study MyHeritage for John Sowerby information.
Look at the LDS Database for records about John Sowerby.
Research the Sowerby surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Sowerby Military records.
| Did you know that there are currently 2609 people with the Sowerby surname in the UK? Sowerby is now ranked number 2001 for popularity in the UK. |
Sowerby Family History Databases
Another way to build your tree quickly is to use the research other people have already done. This can help to confirm or refute your own deductions - however, be wary of taking this data at face value as other researchers may not have been as meticulous as you. Always try to back up deductions with some definitive sources rather than relying too heavily on others.
Explore the WikiTree database for user contributed records for John Sowerby.
Study MyTrees for information on the Sowerby family and people looking to contact living Sowerby relations.
Search One Great Family for Sowerby records submitted by people who are already researching the Sowerby Family Tree.
Find John Sowerby from Ireland on findmypast.ie
Sowerby Forums
There are a number of forums which are dedicated to rearching particular surnames. These can be good places to share your findings and also to tap into the knowledge that others may already have. These can sometimes be a good way of finding living relations as these tend not to show up on the other sources of information for privacy reasons.
Research the Sowerby surname using Genealogy.com forums .
Miscellaneous Sowerby Databases
Explore the Ellis Island Database for information on John Sowerby. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.
Some Famous People called John Sowerby
John Edward Sowerby
John Edward Sowerby (17 January 1825 – 28 January 1870) was a British botanical illustrator and publisher born in Lambeth, London on 17 January 1825. Part of the Sowerby family, he was eldest son of Charles Edward Sowerby and grandson of James Sowerby. John inherited a taste for botanical drawing, and in 1841 produced his first work—the plates for his father's Illustrated Catalogue of British Plants. His life was thenceforth mainly spent in illustrating botanical works, in collaboration with Charles Johnson (1791–1880), and Charles Pierpoint Johnson, who contributed the text. His only independent work was An Illustrated Key to the Natural Orders of British Wild Flowers, published in 1865. He died on 28 January 1870 in London at Lavender Hill, Clapham. He married on 10 February 1853 Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Roger and Ann Dewhurst of Preston, Lancashire. She survived him, and, in recognition of the scientific value of his work, was granted a civil list pension.
Source: John Edward Sowerby, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
John George Sowerby
John George Sowerby (1849–1914) was an English painter and illustrator from Gateshead, and director of Ellison Glass Works, the Sowerby family business, which during the 1880s was the largest producer of pressed glass in the world. The grandson of naturalist James Sowerby, his paintings were exhibited in the Royal Academy of Arts, and his children's book illustrations were generally well received.
Sowerby's landscapes and floral paintings, while not numerous, were described as showing "a genuine Pre-Raphaelite intensity of vision". He brought designs inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement into Ellison Glassworks. He collaborated with the painter H. H. Emmerson on the 1880 children's book Afternoon Tea, which was generally praised by book reviewers but generated some controversy: artist Kate Greenaway and her supporters viewed it as an inferior imitation of her 1879 picture book Under the Window: a commercial success that inspired a wave of similar books. Sowerby countered that the illustrations were not imitations of Greenaway's art but merely within the same genre. Afternoon Tea also suffered from printing inconsistencies and colour misalignment, the result of somewhat haphazard assembly by three different engraving firms before publication. Two of Sowerby's later children's books however (At Home and At Home Again, each decorated by Thomas Crane), are regarded as superior; described by librarian scholar Roger Dixon as "among the loveliest books ever produced."
Sowerby married Amy Margaret Hewison in 1872. They had one son and five daughters. His daughter Githa Sowerby became a noted playwright and children's book author, with many of her books illustrated by sister Millicent Sowerby, who also illustrated classic nursery rhymes and stories such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She portrayed John Sowerby, as the owner of a failing glassworks in the north-east of England in dispute with his children, in her play Rutherford and Son (1912).
Sowerby died on 14 December 1914 in Herefordshire, to where he had retired.
Source: John George Sowerby, Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaOther names that sound a bit like Sowerby
Family names can get corrupted over time, particularly where literacy was not as good. The following list contains some names that have similar sounds so you may want to also look at one or two of the more likely possibilites.
Sarabia Saroff Sarvey Saurbaugh Scarbo Scarf Scarfe Scarff Scarffe Scerbo Scharf Scharff Scharpff Scherb Scherbo Scherf Scherff Schirf Schorb Schorpp Schraub Schreeve Schrob Schrope Schrubb Schryba Sciaraffa Sciarappa Sciurba Scrape Scrooby Scroop Scrope Scrowby Scruby Scryba Searby Seeripe Serpa Serva Sharbaugh Sharp Sharpe Sherb Sherba Sherbo Sherby Sherfey Sherfy Sheriff Sherrif Sherrife Shireff Shirreff Shorb Shorp Shreeve Shreve Shrieve Shrive Shroff Shrope Shroufe Shrubb Shurp Siervo Sirbaugh Skarp Skarupa Sorbey Sorbie Sorby Sroufe Surbaugh Surby Surf Survoy
Comments
Looking for information on a John Sowerby in your family tree? Why not post a question here -