The Entwistle name is dotted about through history, sometimes because of a personal surname, sometimes because of the village name of Entwistle in Lancashire. We aim to bring as many Entwistle-related articles to the website as we can – so please let us know if you have an Entwistle story to tell.
Place names and surnames can sometimes tell us a lot about the past so we have a short piece looking into the origins of the Entwistle name. More information would be welcome so please let us know of anything we’ve missed or misunderstood!
Sir Bertine Entwistle
The earliest significant figure we can find is Sir Bertine Entwistle who lived in the old Entwistle Hall in the 14th and 15th centuries. He held his land from the king and in return he had to fight for the king when required. By tradition, this was for 40 days in any year but in practice it had become whenever the king needed knights to defend his lands or crown; at other times, Sir Bertine would probably have expected some payment for risking life and limb! However, our Sir Bertine appeared to enjoy fighting – he was involved in at least two wars, the Hundred Years War against France and the early days of the Wars of the Roses. He profited from the former but not from the latter! He fought at Agincourt in 1415 and at St Albans forty years later.
More about his life here and of the Heraldry associated with him and later Entwistles.