EELES FAMILY
THE
Ancient History
of the Distinguished Surname
**** EELES ****
The Saxon Chronigle, compiled by the monks in the 10th century, now reposes in the British Museum. It is a history of Saxon settlement in England.
History researchers have examined reproductions of such ancient manuscripts as the Domesday Book (1086), the Ragman Rolls(1291-1296), the Curia Regis Rolls, The Pipe Rolls, the hearth rolls, parish registers, baptismals, tax records. They found the first record of the name Eeles in Somersetshire where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conqyest and the arival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.
Throughout the centuries your name, Eeles, occurred in many records, manuscripts and documents but not always with your exact spelling. From time to time the surname was spelt Eyles, Eeles, Eels, Eylers, and these variations in spelling frequency occurred, enen between father and son. Scribes and church officials, frequently spelt the name phonetically. As a result the same person would be recorded differently on birth, baptismal, married amd death certificates.
The Saxon race gave birth to many English surnames not least of which was the surname Eeles. The Saxons, invited into England by the ancient Britons of the 4th century, were a fair skinned people their home was the Rhine vally. They were led by two brothers, General/Commanders Hengist and Horsa. The Saxons settled in the county of Kent, in southern England. During the next four hundred years they forced the Ancient Britons back into Wales and Cornwall in the west, and Cumberland to the north. The Angles occupied the eastern coast, the south folk in Suffolk, north folk in Norfolk. Under Saxon rule England prospered under a series of High Kings, the last of which was Harold.
In 1066, the Norman invasion from France occurred and their victory at Battle of Hastings. In 1070, Duke William took an army of 40,000 north and wasted the northern counties, forcing many rebelllious Norman nobles and saxons to flee over the border into Scotland. The Saxons who remained in the south were not treated well under hostile Norman rule, and many also moved northwards.
Nevertheless, this notable English family name, Eeles, emerged as an influential name in the county of Somerset where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated with manor and estates in that shire. The name Eyles or Eels is derived from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Ael or Aethel. Early records place the name in the southern county of Somerset. John Eyels held land in that county in 1320. The family seat was established at South-Broom Hall in Wiltshire soon after members of the family branched off into this nearby county. During the Hundred Year War between Britain and France which started in 1338, the Eyles family again branched off. Members of the Wiltshire Eyles settled in London and began a famous line of Eyles that culminated in Alderman Francis Eyles, a director of the East India Company and Sir John Eyles Knight, Lord Mayor of London in 1688. By then another group of Eyles had moved to new lands in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The eastate in Buckinghamshire was called Coleshill House and was to remain in the family name for several generations. In 1716 Elizabeth Eyles, daughter of Sir John Eyles of SoouthBroom Hall of Wiltshire county married James Montague, Esquire, of Lackham in the same county. They made their home on the Montague estares. Several of their children distinguished themselves in the church and their son John, brcame an Admiral in the Royal Navy. Notable amonst the family at this time was Sir John Eyles, Lord Mayor of London.
During the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries England was ravaged by plagues, famine, and religious conflict. Protestantism, the newly found political fervour of Cromwellianism and democratic government, and remnants of the Roman Church rejected all non believers. The changing rule caysed burnings, hangings and babishments of all aects and creeds. Many families were freely "encouraged" to migrate to Ireland, or to the "colonies". Some were rewarded with grants of land, others were banished.
The families who migrated to Ireland became known at the Adventurers for land in Ireland. Prodestant settlers "undertook" to keep their faith, being granted lands previously owned by the Catholic Irish. There is no evidence that the family name migrated to Ireland, but this does not preclude the possibility of their scattered migration to that country.
The New World offered better opportunities and some migrated voluntarily. Some left Ireland disillusioned with promises unfulfilled, but many left directly from their home territories. Some also moved to the European continent.
Members of the family name Eeles sailed abroad the huge armada of three masted sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. These overcrowded ships such as the Hector. the Dove and the Rambler, were pestilence ridden, sometimes 30% to 40% of the passenger list never reaching their destination.
Amongst the first settlers in North America, which could be considered a kinsman of the surname Eeles, on a variable spelling of that family name was John Eels who purchased land in New England in 1620. William Eels landed in Virginia in 1739. George Eyles made his home in Philadelphia Pa. in 1754. Other Eyles family members settled in Pennsylvania in later years.
From the point of entry many settlers made their way west, joining the wagon trains to the prairies or to the west coast. During the American war of Independence, many loyalists made their way north to Canada about 1790, and became known as the United Empire Loyalists.
Contemporary notables of this surname, Eeles, include many distinguished contributors, and the family name continued to make an important contribution to the political and cultural life of the societies on both sides of the Atlantic.
During the course of our research we also determined the many Coat of Arms granted to different branches of the family name
The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms found was:
Silver with a black horizontal stripe and at top, three fleur de lys
The Crest was:
A lion's paw holding a fleur de lys
ktbx@ktbx.demon.co.uk