Welcome to the Catterall web-site.  This web site is targetted primarily at the early history of the Catterall family, including all variations in the spelling of the name - Cateral, Catteral, Caterall, Katerale, Cotterell, Cotrell, Cotrel, Kotrel, Cotterill, Cattrall, Catherton, Caterton, Catherall, Cotrim, Catraeth, Cattrail, Catrail, Catrehala, Catrehal, Katerhale, Caturhale, Caterhale, Caterale, Cotterhill, Cotterel, Catarello, Catterlan, Catheral, Catheralen, Catterasll, Cattera, Catterman, Cattermole, Cattermoul, Catterwell, Catterral, Catterton etc. etc.  It appears that the original name was Catterall, taken from the Lancashire manor of that name.

The Catteralls have been around a long time, we can trace the origins of the family back to just before the Norman Conquest (1066), and there are more speculative links back to earlier Celtic Britain and France.  The first documentary evidence is the grant of the manors of Holcath and Catterall around 1200 from Wiliam of Lancaster to descendants of the old lords of Goosnargh;  Robert (who took the name of Catterall), his wife Beatrice (or Avice) and Michael de Athelson (her husband.)  As the family grew it acquired more manorial property, and several cadet branches emerged.  The primary line acquired the manor of Little Mitton near Whalley in Lancashire in 1310, and gradually moved the family headquarters to that location, building the magnificent Hall at Little Mitton in 1497. The main hall remains almost unchanged to this day, with massive oak pillars, and is well worth a visit.  It is currently run as a hotel and country club. The Catteralls inter-married on a regular basis with most of the major local families, and this history traces the interactions between these familes over the centuries.  With the dissolution of the monasteries and the break with Rome in the time of Henry VIII, the Catterall properties either passed to others who adopted the new 'protestant' religion, or reverted to the crown.

This page also includes links to several other sites pertaining to the Catterall family, and links to other areas of interest.