Drew History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Etymology of Drew

What does the name Drew mean?

The name Drew came to England with the ancestors of the Drew family in the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Drew family lived in Wiltshire. The surname descends from Herman de Drewes, whose name translates literally as from Drewes.

Early Origins of the Drew family

The surname Drew was first found in Wiltshire where Amalric de Drewes held lands as listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. 1 However, there is an earlier listing of Wado de Dreux living in 1050 but at an unknown location. 2 The Anglo-Norman name claims descend from Dreux, which lies near the boundary between Normandy and the Île-de-France. The Counts of Dreux were a noble family of France, who took their title from the château of Dreux. Robert I of Dreux, the fifth son of Louis VI of France, nicknamed the Great (c.1123-1188) married Hawise of Salisbury (1118-1152), daughter of Walter Fitz Edward of Salisbury, Sheriff of Wiltshire.

Early History of the Drew family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Drew research. Another 163 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1203, 1316, 1519, 1542, 1557, 1598, 1610 and 1631 are included under the topic Early Drew History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Drew Spelling Variations

Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Drew, Drewe, Drywe and others.

Early Notables of the Drew family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Edward Drew (1542?-1598), recorder of London, eldest son of Thomas Drew (b. 1519), by his wife Eleanora, daughter of William Huckmore of the county of Devon, appears to have been born at the family se...
Thomas Drue (fl. 1631), was an English dramatist and the author of an interesting historical play, 'The Life of the Dvtches of Svffolke,' 1631. 3 Sir Thomas Drew held the Devon family seat in 161...

Drew World Ranking

In the United States, the name Drew is the 1,301^st most popular surname with an estimated 22,383 people with that name. 4 However, in Australia, the name Drew is ranked the 458^th most popular surname with an estimated 8,278 people with that name. 5 And in the United Kingdom, the name Drew is the 624^th popular surname with an estimated 10,559 people with that name. 6

Migration of the Drew family to Ireland

Some of the Drew family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Drew migration to the United States +

Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Drew or a variant listed above:

Drew Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Edward Drew, who landed in Virginia in 1623 7
Hen Drew, who landed in Virginia in 1635 7
William Drew, who landed in Virginia in 1636 7
Symon Drew, who arrived in Virginia in 1638 7
Jon Drew, who landed in Virginia in 1642 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drew Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Mary Drew, who landed in Virginia in 1702 7
John Drew, who arrived in Boston in 1716
Catherine Drew, who arrived in New England in 1723 7
Francis Drew, who arrived in New England in 1727 7
Martha Drew, who arrived in New England in 1728 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drew Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Robert Drew, who landed in New York in 1810 7
A Drew, aged 21, who landed in New York in 1812 7
Solomon Drew, who arrived in Washington, DC in 1825 7
N H Drew, aged 35, who landed in New York, NY in 1849 7
E Drew, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1850 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drew Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Mr. Norman Drew, (b. 1880), aged 22, Cornish miner travelling aboard the ship "Philadelphia" arriving at Ellis, Island New York on 25th May 1902 en route to Marquette, Michigan, USA 8
Mr. John Drew, (b. 1877), aged 26, Cornish miner travelling aboard the ship "Cedric" arriving at Ellis, Island New York on 21st March 1903 en route to Hancock, Michigan, USA 8
Mr. Richard Drew, (b. 1875), aged 28, Cornish miner travelling aboard the ship "St Louis" arriving at Ellis, Island New York on 20th June 1903 en route to Globe, Arizona, USA 8
Mr. Charles Drew, (b. 1882), aged 22, Cornish miner travelling aboard the ship "Baltic" arriving at Ellis, Island New York on 8th July 1904 en route to Butte, Montana, USA 8

Drew migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Drew Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Seth Drew, who settled in Nova Scotia in 1761
Mr. Peter Drost U.E. who settled in Saint John, New Brunswick c. 1784 9

Drew Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Patrick Drew, aged 26, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the ship "Edwin" from Dublin, Ireland
Mary Drew, aged 26, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the ship "Edwin" from Dublin, Ireland
John Drew, aged 6 months, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the ship "Edwin" from Dublin, Ireland
Judy Drew, aged 9, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Cupid" in 1834
Mr. John Drew, aged 60 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec departing from the port of Londonderry, Londonderry but died on Grosse Isle in September 1847 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drew migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Drew Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Drew, British convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Calcutta" in February 1803, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 11
Mr. Peter Drew, (b. 1803), aged 13, Cornish settler convicted in Cornwall, UK on 25th March 1816, sentenced for life for stealing money from a dwelling-house, transported aboard the ship "Fame" on 9th October 1816 to Sydney, Australia 12
Mr. Samuel Drew, Cornish convict who was convicted in Cornwall, England for life for stealing, transported aboard the "Fame" on 9th October 1816, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he was convicted again in 1831 in Sydney. 13
William Drew, English convict from Middlesex, who was transported aboard the "Adamant" on March 16, 1821, settling in New South Wales, Australia 14
Mr. John Drew, English convict who was convicted in Warwick, Warwickshire, England for life, transported aboard the "Clyde" on 20th August 1830, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 15
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drew migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Drew Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Charles Drew, Australian settler travelling from Sydney aboard the ship "Eagle" arriving in Wellington, New Zealand on 26th June 1842 16
John Drew, aged 25, who arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand aboard the ship "Accrington" in 1863 16
Jane Drew, aged 27, who arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand aboard the ship "Accrington" in 1863 16
Mrs. Jane Drew, (b. 1836), aged 27, Cornish settler departing on 18th June 1863 aboard the ship "Accrington" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 5th September 1863 17
Mr. John Drew, (b. 1838), aged 25, Cornish farm labourer departing on 18th June 1863 aboard the ship "Accrington" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 5th September 1863 17
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drew migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 18

Drew Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mr. Thomas Drew, aged 26, British settler travelling from Gravesend, UK aboard the ship "Hopewell" arriving in Barbados on 17th February 1634 7
Abraham Drew, who settled in Barbados in 1664
Mary Drew, who arrived in Barbados in 1664
Joane Drew, who settled in Barbados in 1670
Dennis Drew, who settled in Barbados in 1679

Contemporary Notables of the name Drew (post 1700) +

John Edward Drew (1954-2022), American professional NBA basketball player from Vredenburgh, Alabama, who played eleven seasons in the NBA, a two-time NBA All-Star
Dr. Charles Richard Drew (1904-1950), American physician and medical researcher
DJ Babey Drew (b. 1980), stage name of Andrew Bisnaught, American DJ, record producer, actor, radio and television personality
Gerald Augustin Drew (1903-1970), American Foreign Service Officer, United States Envoy to Jordan (1950-1952), United States Ambassador to Bolivia (1954-1957)
Georgiana Emma Drew (1856-1893), also known as Georgie Drew Barrymore, an American stage actress
Brigadier General Frank Morehead Drew (b. 1930), American former vice commander, U.S. Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center
Cameron Drew (b. 1964), American Major League Baseball player for the Houston Astros in 1988
Homer Drew (b. 1944), former American college basketball coach
Bryce Homer Drew (b. 1974), American head coach of the Valparaiso University Crusaders men's basketball team, son of Homer Drew
Dennis Drew (b. 1957), American musician, keyboardist for the band 10,000 Maniacs
... (Another 14 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Drew family +

HMS Cornwall

George William Edwin Drew (d. 1942), British Chief Petty Officer Cook aboard the HMS Cornwall when she was struck by air bombers and sunk; he died in the sinking 19
Edwin Arthur Drew, British Sub Lieutenant Engineer aboard the HMS Cornwall (1942) when she was struck by air bombers and sunk; he was wounded during the sinking 19

HMS Prince of Wales

Mr. Roy Drew, British Boy, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and survived the sinking 20

HMS Royal Oak

Thomas R. Drew, British Marine with the Royal Marine aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he survived the sinking 21

RMS Titanic

Mr. James Vivian Drew (d. 1912), aged 42, American Second Class passenger from Greenport, New York who sailed aboard the RMS Titanic and died in the sinking 22
Mrs. Lulu Thorne Drew, (née Christian), aged 34, American Second Class passenger from Greenport, New York who sailed aboard the RMS Titanic and survived the sinking escaping on life boat 10 22
Master Marshall Brines Drew, aged 8, American Second Class passenger from Greenport, New York who sailed aboard the RMS Titanic and survived the sinking escaping on life boat 10 22

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_ellis_island_1892_on.pdf
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 26)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/calcutta
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 30th May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_convicts.pdf
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 27th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Adamant voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1821 with 144 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/adamant/1821
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 19th February 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/clyde
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 30). Emigrants to Lyttelton 1858-84 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/new_zealand_assisted.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Force Z Survivors Crew List HMS Cornwall (Retrieved 2018, February 13th) - Retrieved from https://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listcornwallcrew.html#A
HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html
Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html
Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html