Show ContentsSawbridge History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Sawbridge reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Sawbridge family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Sawbridge family lived in the village of Sawbridge, Warwickshire.

Early Origins of the Sawbridge family

The surname Sawbridge was first found in Warwickshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Sawbridge. At the time of the taking of the Domesday Book in 1086, a survey of England initiated by Duke William of Normandy after his conquest of England at Hastings in 1066 A.D., Sawbridge was a village held by Thorkell of the Horney Church. As it was the Norman custom to continue the name of Thorkell by the senior son, it was also customary for the second son to adopt the name of the village, Sawbridge.

Early History of the Sawbridge family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sawbridge research. Another 120 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1590, 1720, 1731, 1732, 1775, 1791 and 1795 are included under the topic Early Sawbridge History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sawbridge Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, Norman French and other languages became incorporated into English throughout the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Sawbridge include Sawbridge, Sorbridge, Sourbridge, Sowbridge, Sawebridge and many more.

Early Notables of the Sawbridge family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

  • Sawbridge of Warwickshire
  • Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge) (1731-1791), English Historian

Migration of the Sawbridge family

In England at this time, the uncertainty of the political and religious environment of the time caused many families to board ships for distant British colonies in the hopes of finding land and opportunity, and escaping persecution. The voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, though, and many arrived in North America sick, starved, and destitute. Those who did make it, however, were greeted with greater opportunities and freedoms that they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Early immigration records have shown some of the first Sawbridges to arrive on North American shores: Elizabeth Sorbridge who landed in North America in 1710.


Contemporary Notables of the name Sawbridge (post 1700) +

  • Major-General Ben Menadue Sawbridge (1890-1974), American Assistant Chief of Staff 6th Army Group (1944-1945) 1
  • John Sawbridge (1732-1795), English politician, Lord Mayor of London, son of John and Elizabeth Sawbridge, descended from an ancient and wealthy Kentish family, settled at Olantigh in Wye
  • Paul Sawbridge, English musician, staff member in the Department of Music at Bristol University
  • Henry Raywood Sawbridge CBE, Retired from H.M. Foreign Service, Kent

HMAS Sydney II


  1. Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2014, March 26) Ben Sawbridge. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Sawbridge/Ben_Menadue/USA.html
  2. HMAS Sydney II, Finding Sydney Foundation - Roll of Honour. (Retrieved 2014, April 24) . Retrieved from http://www.findingsydney.com/roll.asp


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