EASTMEAD HISTORY

Eastmead is one of those surnames that appears to have been derived from a geographical area, where east is obvious and mead deriving from 'mede' 'maed' or 'mead': an area of grassland / pasture / meadow. 

Presumably it was first used to describe someone who lived on an area of grassland to the east of a settlement.  The earliest records appear to date back to the 16th Centaury and appear to have originated in the south of England perhaps Wiltshire, Gloucestershire or Berkshire. The earliest record I have found so far is: Helene Eastmead who was married on 23rd November 1560 at Nettleton in Wiltshire.

When looking at the records available on the internet there appears to be three main Eastmead 'hot spots' prior to the introduction of the railways.  

In the south west Wiltshire gradually gave way to the Gloucestershire villages of: Acton Turville, Wooten under Edge, Alderley, Hawkesbury, Uley, Tormarton and others predominated until the 20th Centaury. Then came London and Kent. 

There has always been odd Eastmead families elsewhere, again mainly in the south, in Cornwall, Somerset, Hampshire etc., but the increased mobility in the era of the steam train enabled families to easily relocate. This is very likely to have been the case of my  ancestors who appeared to have relocated from Gloucestershire first to London and then to Lincoln. At the same time Eastmeads appeared in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Birmingham and East Anglia. 

Eastmeads have also crossed the pond to America, but with such a descriptive name, it could have come into use in a similar fashion to how it first appeared in England. There still appears to be a higher density of Eastmeads living in the eastern states of the USA. 

Most Eastmeads appear to have been artisans, so it is not surprising that many were agricultural works, servants or traders.