Family History Research and Genealogy of HEDGES Families Worldwide
Welcome to The Hedges Study
Registered with The Guild of One-Name Studies
My name is Sue Hedges, I have been researching my own HEDGES family history for several years. Then progress came to a halt. This led me to record all references to the Hedges name, regardless of any likely connection with my own family, in the hope that, one day, I would find that missing link. During the course of my researches I realised the difficulties this name poses so I decided to embark upon the Hedges One Name Study.
The Hedges surname is one that is 'locative' derived from location of abode. Such names were frequently prefaced by 'At' or 'Att' meaning 'at or by the' in our case At or Atte Hedges.
Before the Norman Conquest people were known by their personal name and perhaps a 'by-name' which was not hereditary. Many 'by-names' used in the 13th and 14th centuries in England did not become hereditary names. By the 15th century most English people had acquired fixed, hereditary surnames.
Spelling very gradually became standardized during the 17th and 18th centuries so there was plenty of scope for surname variations to appear. For example, there are, six baptisms within one family in the Parish Register for Sonning-on-Thames, Oxfordshire between the years 1715 and 1726 with the various spellings Hedges, Hegges, Heggs, Heges, Headges. This is not unusual, and Heggys, Heagis and Hedgis have also been recorded.
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