Casewell Family History

From one or more of several places in Staffs called Cres(s)well, formerly also called Carsewell and Kersewell. It is a compound of Old English cærse ‘(water)cress’ + Old English wælle ‘a spring’; see Cresswell. Candidates include Cresswell near Dilhorne, Creswell Green near Lichfield, a lost place called Cresswell near Tettenhall, and Creswell near Stafford.

The latter is recorded as Karsewell and Kersewell in 1203 and as Keyeswell in the late 13th century. The full Middle English form survives in the modern surname spellings Careswell and Carswell in Staffs and neighbouring Shrops.

While loss of /r/ before /s/, which is common in Middle and early Modern English, has given rise to modern Cas(e)well and Casewall. Loss of /w/ has produced Cas(e)all, Caysall, and Keysell as additional variants.