Thewlis Family History

from Middle English theules theweless northern Middle English Older Scots *thowless ‘lacking in moral fibre immoral’ (Old English þēawlēas *þēowlēas).

In modern Scots and northern English dialect thewless and thowless mean ‘lethargic spiritless feeble’. Compare Thew and Thow.

The WR Yorks surname Thewlis is locally pronounced ‘Towless’ (Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames) confirming the interchangeability of Thewles and Thowles in the 19th-century Morley examples below.