Coakes History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Coakes was brought to England by the Normans when they conquered the island in 1066. It is a name for a purveyor of cooked meats. The derives from the word cok, which means to cook, and was brought to England shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. 1

Early Origins of the Coakes family

The surname Coakes was first found in Derbyshire at Barrow, a parish, in the union of Shardlow, partly in the hundred of Appletree. "An estate here, which had been parcel of the manor of Melbourne, was annexed to the see of Carlisle before 1273, and was held on lease, under the bishops, by the family of Coke. This estate was enfranchised by act of parliament in 1704." 2

Another ancient branch of the family was found at Billingford in Norfolk. "At Beck Hall, in the parish, the birthplace of Chancellor Bacon, and the ancient seat of the Coke family, an hospital, with a chapel dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket, was founded in the beginning of the reign of Henry III." 2

Further to the south in Cornwall, another branch of the family was found. "In the reign of Charles I. the college estate [in the parish of Probus] belonged to the Cokes of Trerice; after which it became successively the property of Lewis, Goldingham, and Luttrell; and it is now in the possession of Mr. Johns." 3

Early History of the Coakes family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Coakes research. Another 196 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1206, 1340, 1552, 1563, 1576, 1582, 1591, 1592, 1600, 1607, 1613, 1624, 1634, 1640, 1642, 1644, 1650, 1653, 1656, 1661, 1674, 1685, 1692, 1727 and 1750 are included under the topic Early Coakes History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coakes Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Coke, Cokes, Coik, Coike, Coak, Coake, Coeke and others.

Early Notables of the Coakes family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), Solicitor General of England, considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. He was "commonly called Lord Coke (or Cooke as the name was pronounced and frequently written in his own day), ' the name of pre-eminence which he hath obtained in Westminster Hall ' " 4 Sir John Coke (1563-1644), was Secretary of State and the second son of Richard Coke of Trusley, near Derby. "Being one of a family of eleven children, and his father dying in 1582, John Coke began life with nothing...
Another 150 words (11 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Coakes Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coakes migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Coakes name or one of its variants:

Coakes Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Thomas Coakes, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 5

The Coakes 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: Prudens qui patiens
Motto Translation: He who is patient is prudent.

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. 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)