Snead History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Early Origins of the Snead family
The surname Snead was first found in Staffordshire where one of the first on record was Henry de Sneyd who married Margaret, the daughter and heiress of Nicholas de Tunstall, of the Tunstalls of Lancashire and Yorkshire, in 1310. "The noble race of Sneyds, of great worship and account, appear to be denominated from Snead, a hamlet in the parish of Tunstall, in this county, where they were seated as early as the reign of Henry III.
By marriage with the heiress of Tunstall they had other lands in that parish, and for two descents were called Sneyd alias Tunstall." 1 "The arms of this family are a 'curiosity of heraldry,' being partly of the allusive kind, and consisting of a scythe and a fleur-de-lis. The pun is in the handle of the scythe, provincially called a snead. The fleur-de-lis said to have been added by Richard de Tunstall; alias Sneyd, after the battle of Poictiers; but I should rather consider it to have been part of the original device." 2
The parish of Keele in the union of Newcastle-under-Lyme, the hundred of Pirehill in Staffordshire was a stronghold of the family since the mid 15th century through the 1940s. "The church, a neat embattled stone edifice with a tower, on an elevated site at the east end of the village, was built in 1790, principally at the expense of Colonel Sneyd; it contains about 350 sittings. " 3
Early History of the Snead family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Snead research. Another 59 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1581, 1614, 1660, 1663 and 1695 are included under the topic Early Snead History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Snead Spelling Variations
Spelling variations of this family name include: Sneyd, Sneed, Snead, Sneade, Sneeds and others.
Early Notables of the Snead family
Another 50 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Snead Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Snead Ranking
In the United States, the name Snead is the 3,343rd most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 4
Migration of the Snead family to Ireland
Some of the Snead family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Snead migration to the United States +
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Snead Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Samuell Snead, who landed in Virginia in 1635 5
- Rich Snead, who arrived in Virginia in 1658 5
- Sarah Snead, who arrived in Maryland in 1673 5
- Richard Snead, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1682 5
Snead Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- Anne, Elizabeth, James, John, Mary, Richard, Robert, and Thomas Snead, who all, who arrived in Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina in 1767
- Henry Snead, who settled in Maryland in 1774
Snead Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Thomas and Elizabeth Snead, who settled in Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina
Contemporary Notables of the name Snead (post 1700) +
- Norman Bailey "Norm" Snead (1939-2024), American former NFL football quarterback who played from 1961 to 1976
- Oceana Wardlaw Martin Snead (1885-1909), American who was drugged and drowned in East Orange, New Jersey by her own family to collect 32,000 in insurance
- William E. Snead, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Alabama, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936 (alternate); U.S. Collector of Internal Revenue for Alabama, 1932 6
- W. P. Snead, American politician, Candidate for Presidential Elector for Virginia, 1928 6
- Nathaniel C. Snead, American Republican politician, Postmaster at Gaffney, South Carolina, 1880-89 6
- J. Alejandro Snead, American Libertarian politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Texas 18th District, 1988 6
- Hubert Snead, American Democratic Party politician, Member, Rules Committee, Democratic National Convention, 2008 6
- Herman Snead Sr., American Republican politician, Candidate for Michigan State House of Representatives from Wayne County 11th District, 1962; Member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee, 1965 6
- Henry C. Snead, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from New York, 2008 6
- Claiborne Snead, American politician, Member of Georgia State Senate 29th District, 1902-03 6
- ... (Another 9 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
The Snead Motto +
The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.
Motto: Nec opprimere nec opprimi
Motto Translation: Neither to oppress nor to be oppressed.
Suggested Readings for the name Snead +
- Snead Notebook by Elizabeth Cowan Snead Shue.
- Your Herita.
- : Bush Sneed by Estelle Clark Herdeg.
- Snead, Sneed, Sneyde Genealogical Workbook.
Citations +
- Shirley, Evelyn Philip, The Noble and Gentle Men of England; The Arms and Descents. Westminster: John Bower Nichols and Sons, 1866, Print.
- Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
- "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
- 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)
- The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 25) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html