Ives family in England – prior to 1600

The name Ives (Welsh) and Iver (Gallic) means chief or leader. The name Ives (Danish) means zeal or fervor. The family name Ives, in various spellings, is mentioned at different times in England but there is no certain link to the William Ives from Norfolk who sailed on the Truelove for Boston in 1635. Much of this information prior to 1600 came from Ives (1928) and Cook (1889).

The Saint Ives for whom the town in west Cornwall is named was a churchman who became as Bishop and was also a lawyer. He was born in Brittany and became the patron saint for lawyers. In eastern Cornwall there is the village of Saint Ive which contains a church named for Saint Ivo (1040 – 1116) the Bishop of Chartres. There is also an English borough named St. Ives in Huntingdonshire. Here in 970 Abbot Ednoth built a church on the burial site of Ivo, a Persian bishop who traveled through England preaching. One of William the Conqueror followers from Normandy was Ivo de Taillebois (Ives the Woodcutter). Rogerus de Iveri was cup bearer to William the Conqueror. His son, Ivo, fell out of favor with the king, Henry I, and died on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In 1252 Henry III granted to Thomas Ives permission to enclose a portion of the highway adjoining his mansion at Kenteffetonne. The family of Ive were listed as of great antiquity in the Parish of Pancras, London.

In addition to William Ives, Miles Ives was one of the early Ives in New England/ He came to Watertown in 1639, moved to Boston in 1641, settled in Cambridge in 1660 and died in Boston in 1684. He married Martha and had three daughters, Sarah, Mary, and Hannah. There was also a Thomas Ives in Salem, MA who arrived by 1668. He was born in England in 1648 and his descendents are described in Cook (1889). There is no confirmation of how Miles and Thomas might be related to William Ives. A son of Thomas, also called Thomas Ives, was born in Salem in 1674 and settled in Marblehead, MA by 1710. There are several descendents of Thomas still living in the Salem and Marblehead area.

Captain William Ives from Norfolk was listed in the Original Lists of Persons of Quality 1600 – 1700 as taking the oath of allegiance and being accepted as a passenger on the Truelove that sailed for Boston in 1635. There are two candidates for William Ives’ father – John Ives and William Ives – but no current conclusive evidence exists for either.

The Ives coat of arms listed in the Burdis Armory of England Scotland and Wales refers to Ives of Bradwell County, Norfolk England. The Matthews American Armory and Blue Book states:

“The arms were used by the descendents of William Ives who came from London on the ship “Truelove” in 1635, one of the proprietors of New Haven, Conn.; also of the descendents of Major Simon Willard, one of the founders of Concord, Mass.”

There is no known family connection between William Ives and Simon Willard. The description was written by the John Frick jewelry Company of New York (undated).

The English origins of William Ives are consistent on both sides of each following generations as the families of the both sets of paternal and maternal grandparents of the first eight American generations prior to Sumner Albert Ives all came from England to New England in the early 1600s, including: Southwark, Surrey and Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire (Dickerman), Chester (Yale), England TBD (Turner), Lenham, Kent (Atwater), Knoston, Colchester (Peck), London (Cooper), Lowescroft, Suffolk (Smith), England TBD (Bassett), Bridgewater, Somerset (Street), London (Day), England TBD (Humiston), Kingston, Surrey (Bishop), and Dunbar, Scotland (Dunbar). The ancestors of these immigrants all lived in England with the exception of the Yale and Day families from Wales and the Dunbar family from Scotland.

Comments

[CGDH]

I found your blog when I was looking for some information about Martha Ives' gravestone in Watertown, MA.

I've posted a picture of the gravestone on my blog if you're interested:
http://vastpublicindifference.blogspot.com/2008/08/101-ways-part-13-submiting-her-self-to.html

[Bill Ives]

Thanks for your comment and the picture. It is always interesting to find out new information through this blog. It is unclear if I am related to Martha and Miles. It would have to be a connection established back in England. Bill

[Ursula Martin]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting. I would like to say that you spelt 'our' Bridgwater wrong. Ursula (from Bridgwater, Somerset, England)

[bill Ives]

Ursula - Thanks for your correction. I have been out of the country so I was slow to respond. Bill

[Andrew Ives]

There are a few spelling mistakes (archaic names?) with the towns mentioned above. "Lowescroft, Suffolk (Smith)" should be Lowestoft and "Kenteffetonne" sounds a lot like "Kentish town". Hope that helps someone out there. The Ives (1928) link to Google is also now broken :-/

[bill Ives]

Andrew- Thanks for the corrections. Much appreciated. Bill

[JRE]

Have you found anything else on Miles? My son is a direct descendant, and I'm trying to find out all about his family. Please comment back if you have- even if it's just who he isn't! Thanks!
-J

[Bill Ives]

J - Thanks for your question but everything I know is on the blog. Good luck.

[Angela Ives-Dos Reis]

Thanks for posting this, in a long line I am related to William Ives neat to find out more