Shadwell Family History

English: habitational name from one or more of several places called Shadwell including those in Middlesex, Sussex, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, and Yorkshire. The Middlesex and Sussex placenames derive from Old English sc(e)ald ‘shallow’ + wella ‘well, spring, stream’ while the Norfolk placename arises from Old English scēad ‘boundary’ + wella.

The Yorkshire placename may derive from Old English scēad or sceadu ‘shady place’ + wella. There are two places called Shadwell in Gloucestershire, one in Ham, named with Old English sceard ‘cleft, gap’ + wella, and the other in Uley, named with Old English sceadu + wella.