Edwardes History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Wales
Ireland

The Welsh surname Edwardes was derived from the personal name Edward. This name is in turn derived from the Old English forename "Eadweard," which literally means "prosperity-guard." 1

Early Origins of the Edwardes family

The surname Edwardes was first found in Denbighshire (Welsh: Sir Ddinbych), a historic county in Northeast Wales, where they held a family seat from very ancient times. They claim descent from Einion Efell, Lord of Cynlleth, living in 1182, son of Madoc, Prince of Powys, who built Oswestry Castle in 1148.

His father was Madog ap Maredudd who died in 1160 and was the last Prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, Wales.

"Edwards of Nanhoron descends from one of the royal tribes of Wales through Sir Griffith Lloyd and Sir Howell y Fwyallt; Edwards of Ness Strange descends from Einion Effel, lord of Cynllaeth, co. Montgomery, 1182; Edwards of Old-Court, co. Wicklow, claims from Roderick the Great, king of all Wales in 843, through his younger son, Tudwall Gloff or "the lame," whose descendants settled in Ireland in the XVII. century." 2

Early History of the Edwardes family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Edwardes research. Another 202 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1283, 1396, 1597, 1605, 1615, 1620, 1629, 1636, 1648, 1652, 1656, 1664, 1679, 1681, 1686, 1712, 1721, 1751, 1776, 1784, 1808, 1815, 1832 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Edwardes History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Edwardes Spelling Variations

The Welsh have an extremely large amount of spelling variations of their native surnames to their credit. It was up to the priest or the scribe taking the official records to determine how the spoken name was to be made literal. As time progressed, the old Brythonic names of Wales were recorded in English, which was especially problematic since the English language had extreme difficulty recording the highly inflected sounds of Cymraeg. Spelling variations were, however, also carried out according to an individual's design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by spelling variations of one's name. The spelling variations of the name Edwardes have included Edwards, Edward, Edwardes and others.

Early Notables of the Edwardes family

Prominent amongst the family during the late Middle Ages was John Edwards (c.1605-1656), a Welsh Anglican priest and translator; Jonathan Edwards (1629-1712), Welsh theologian and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1686 to...
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Edwardes Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Edwardes family to Ireland

Some of the Edwardes family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 235 words (17 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Edwardes migration to the United States +

Many Welsh families joined their Scottish and Irish neighbors during the late 1800s and early 1900s in seeking refuge in North America. Like the Irish and Scottish, many Welsh anxiously awaited the work, freedom, and opportunities that they believed lay in North America. Those who did journey over to the United States and what became known as Canada often realized those dreams, but only through much toil and perseverance. Whenever and however these Welsh immigrants arrived in North America, they were instrumental in the creation of the industry, commerce, and cultural heritage within those two developing nations. In the immigration and passenger lists a number of early immigrants bearing the name Edwardes were found:

Edwardes Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Robert Edwardes, who settled in New England in 1635
Robert Edwardes, aged 22, who arrived in America in 1635 3
David Edwardes, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1698 3

Edwardes migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 4

Edwardes Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Evan Edwardes, who settled in Barbados in 1660

Contemporary Notables of the name Edwardes (post 1700) +

Sir Michael Owens Edwardes (b. 1930), South African/British business executive
Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes (1819-1868), English soldier
George Edwardes (1852-1915), English theatrical manager

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies