Foekes History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Wales

The old Welsh surname Foekes comes from the popular personal name Fulk. This forename of Norman origin originally came from one of a number of Germanic personal names with the first portion "folk-," which means "people."

Early Origins of the Foekes family

The surname Foekes was first found in Denbighshire (Welsh: Sir Ddinbych), a historic county in Northeast Wales, created by the Laws in Wales Act 1536, where they held a family seat at "Yr Eifiad" from very ancient times, some say before the 9th century.

Another source notes "the pedigree is deduced from Marchudd ap Cynan, lord of Brynffenigi, who flourished in the ninth century. The name appears to have been borrowed from Ffoulk ap Thomas, who lived early in the sixteenth century, and whose descendants have ever since borne it." 1 And that "an early form of a capital F was ff." 2

Sir Martin Browne ffolkes, 1st Baronet, FRS (1749-1821) was an English Baronet and Member of Parliament. Son of William Folkes, he chose to revert his name back to the ffolkes spelling to better note his heritage. The Baronetcy continues to today using the same spelling with Sir Robert Francis Alexander ffolkes, 7th Baronet (born 1943.)

Early History of the Foekes family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Foekes research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1290, 1660, 1661, 1676, 1678, 1679, 1691 and 1747 are included under the topic Early Foekes History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Foekes 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 Foekes have included Foulke, Foulks, Foulkes and others.

Early Notables of the Foekes family

Prominent amongst the family during the late Middle Ages was William Foulkes (died 1691), a Welsh cleric and writer, Rector of Cwm in Denbighshire in 1660, of Llanfyllin and of Llanbrynmair in 1661, positions he held until his death. Peter Foulkes (1676-1747), was a scholar and divine, was the third son of Robert Foulkes of Llechryd, Denbighshire, deputy Baron of the court of exchequer of Chester. 3 On the infamous side...
Another 68 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Foekes Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Foekes family

North America in the 1800s and 1900s saw the arrival of many Welsh people hoping to share in the wealth of land, work, and freedom that they felt North America held. Those who made the journey often attained those expectations, but only through an enormous amount of hard work, perseverance, and often a bout of good luck. These immigrants helped contribute to the growth of industry, commerce, and culture of both Canada and the United States. Discovered in the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Foekes: V. Foulk who settled in Baltimore Maryland in 1823; Thomas Foulke settled in Virginia in 1623; followed by William in 1624; Thomas Foulke settled in New Castle Del. in 1677.

The Foekes 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: Jure, non dono
Motto Translation: By right, not by gift.

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print