Greathed

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Greathead family

One name study

Me, one of the adult few pictures taken of me

	Last updated 29 July 2007
Greathed

The first time I find the name spelt Greathed is with John and Thomas son of John and Ann Greathead née Wilberforce They had three children Sarah, Edward and Mary. Sarah died a spinster. Mary married Edward Harris and they had to my knowledge four sons and one daughter. One son was called Edward Harris and was possibly the eldest. Edward married twice but had no children and he left his estates in Lincoln and Dorset to his nephew Edward Harris on the understanding he changed his surname to Greathed.
I found his will which is a fantastic 63 pages long at the National Archives (TNA) when I was searching for Greathead wills.
This is the military twig of the family, many attended Eton College and their surname varies between the conventional Greathead and the variant Greathed. One couple are reported to have attended the Waterloo ball.
The family seem to come from Edward Greathead born about 1585 and taking holy orders and ending up as Rector of South Willingham, he had amongst his children a son called Edward who also took holy orders, his grandson another Edward fathered the above named John
My theory is that they dropped the "a" maybe through snobbish reasons, but maybe I will have to eat my theory when I eventually find out.
Do YOU know anything about them?

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Webmaster: Jan Cooper

from 20 May 2007