Creede History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The illustrious surname Creede finds its origin in the rocky, sea swept coastal area of southwestern England known as Cornwall. Although surnames were fairly widespread in medieval England, people were originally known only by a single name. The process by which hereditary surnames were adopted is extremely interesting. As populations grew, people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Under the Feudal System of government, surnames evolved and they often reflected life on the manor and in the field. Lords and their tenants often became known by the name of the feudal territory they owned or lived on. Unlike most Celtic peoples, who favored patronymic names, the Cornish predominantly used local surnames. This was due to the heavy political and cultural influence of the English upon the Cornish People at the time that surnames first came into use. Local surnames were derived from where a person lived, held land, or was born. While many Cornish surnames of this sort appear to be topographic surnames, which were given to people who resided near physical features such as hills, streams, churches, or types of trees, many are actually habitation surnames derived from lost or unrecorded place names. The name Creede is a local type of surname and the Creede family lived in the parish of Creed in the county of Cornwall. "Crede is manifestly a personal name in the Hundred Rolls in districts far removed from Cornwall. It occurs in every case without a prefix, in itself an argument in favour of a fontal origin. No doubt it means creed, i.e. belief, answering to faith, so familiar as a girl's name later on." 1

Early Origins of the Creede family

The surname Creede was first found in Cornwall at Creed, a parish, in the union of St. Austell, W. division of the hundred of Powder. There is another Creed in the East division of Sussex, but the former is where this family hails. 2 Originally known as Sancta Crida, the Cornish parish means "Church of St. Cride," from the patron saint of the church. 3

The Hundred (Hundredorum) Rolls of 1273 listed: Alan Crede, Suffolk; Mabilia Crede, Cambridgeshire; and Roger Crede, Huntingdonshire. 1 Henry Crede, vicar of Homing, Norfolk in 1381 4 and John Creyde was listed in Somerset, 1 Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III's reign.) 5

Early History of the Creede family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Creede research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1388, 1564, 1578, 1582, 1614, 1616, 1644, 1659, 1660, 1663, 1668, 1682, 1695, 1701, 1728, 1743, 1754, 1761, 1762, 1866, 1878 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Creede History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Creede Spelling Variations

Cornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Creed, Creede, Crede, Cread, Creade, Creeds, Creedes, Credes, Creads and many more.

Early Notables of the Creede family

Notable amongst the family at this time was

Thomas Creed or Creede (d. 1616?), was an English stationer, made free of the Stationers' Company 7 Oct. 1578 by Thomas East

Migration of the Creede family to Ireland

Some of the Creede family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 261 words (19 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Creede migration to the United States +

An investigation of the immigration and passenger lists has revealed a number of people bearing the name Creede:

Creede Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Ann Creede, aged 22, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Globe" 6

Creede Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

My Creede, aged 19, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Canton" in 1849 7
Jno Creede, aged 35, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Bergen Adams" in 1852 7
Eliza Creede, aged 30, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Edward Hanly" in 1853 7
Danl Creede, aged 20, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "City of Paris" in 1889 7

Creede Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Michael Creede, aged 2, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Oceanic" in 1900 7
Mary Creede, aged 32, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Oceanic" in 1900 7
Mary Josephine Creede, aged 22, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Baltic" in 1910 7
Margaret Creede, aged 16, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Baltic" in 1928 7

Creede 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. 8

Creede Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John Creede, his wife Mary, son John, and servants arrived in Barbados in 1680

Citations +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Rye, Walter, A History of Norfolk. London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, 1885. Print
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. 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)
Ellis Island Search retrieved 9th February 2023. Retrieved from https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-result
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies