Snedds History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Early Origins of the Snedds family

The surname Snedds 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 Snedds family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Snedds research. Another 59 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1581, 1614, 1660, 1663 and 1695 are included under the topic Early Snedds History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Snedds Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Sneyd, Sneed, Snead, Sneade, Sneeds and others.

Early Notables of the Snedds family

Another 50 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Snedds Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Snedds family to Ireland

Some of the Snedds 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.

Migration of the Snedds family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: John and Robert Sneade, who settled in Virginia in 1652; Nathanial Sneyd, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1858; Thomas and Elizabeth Snead, who settled in Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina.

The Snedds 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.

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.