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Origins

In his, The Origin of English Surnames, PH Reaney claims Redgrave, Suffolk as the home of the family name. Other works supporting this claim are: British Family Names by Henry Barber, and A History of the Surnames of the British Isles by Ewen. Further research suggests that 'Redgrave' does not mean 'red' 'grave' as might be expected, but comes instead from the Old English words: 'hreod'='reed', and 'graef'='ditch' (see: A Dictionary of English Surnames by A L Rybakin, The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames by Basil Cottle, A Dictionary of Surnames by P Hanks and F Hodges, and Suffolk, by Miles Jebb). Note that the Hanks and Hodges dictionary is tentative on the 'reed ditch' claim and offers as well a 'read'='red' 'grafa'='grove' hypothesis. 

It is believed that Redgrave parish was originally 'Redgrafesthorpe.' Around the year 1005 the parish was mentioned in charters under the name 'Redfaresthorpe' (a copyist's mistake) as part of a grant of land made by Ulfketel to Bury St Edmunds (see: The Early Charters of Eastern England by CR Hart). This is interesting in that 'thorpe' is a Danish word and suggests that 'Redgrave' may have originated as a Danish settlement. (Or it may have been renamed after coming under the Danelaw.) Redgrave parish is also mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086). The entry reads: Redgrave, Redgrava: Abbot of St Edmunds before & after 1066. 1 church, 12 beasts, 30 pigs, 30 goats, 1 large building. According to Pocket Histories of Suffolk Parishes, the Domesday population of Redgrave was roughly 60 inhabitants. In 1327, there were 38 taxpayers in the village. Tim Holt-Wilson has created an excellent site for learning more about the history of Redgrave Parish and surrounding area.

Dr. R.M. Smith has conducted an intensive study of the social relations of Redgrave Parish based on Manorial Court Records for the period 1260-1293 (see: The Journal of Family History, Fall, 1979). According to this study, no one bearing the surname Redgrave was living in the village at that time.

The well-known statesman, Sir Nicholas Bacon, built Redgrave Hall at Redgrave c1545-1554. By letters patent, Bacon was granted a license to run a grammar school from the Hall c1560. Bacon's tomb can be found in the Redgrave parish church of St. Mary The Virgin (c1086). Redgrave Hall was torn down c1958. 

Early bearers of the surname Redgrave were: Ebrardus and Warinus de Redegraue 1179,80 (Pipe Rolls 25, 26 Henry II p8, p19); Geoffrey Redgrave 1250 (IGI); and Robert de Radgrave, murdered in 1256 by Hugo de Theford (Close Rolls 1254-56). 

As the surname derives from the place name (technically, a Locative surname), and as Redgrave Parish has always been a very small place (until the 19th century, never more than 500 inhabitants), there is some reason to believe that all Redgraves come from a single ancestor. (See, for example, RA McKinley's, A History of British Surnames, 1990) On learning this, I decided to begin this project.

Surname Variations

According to Reaney and Wilson's, A Dictionary of English Surnames, Redgrave, Redgraves, and Redgrove have a common derivation: Redgrave. In my own research, I have discovered that there are only three Redgrove families (i.e. branches) in the world (one coming from Buckinghamshire, one from London, and my own from Hampshire); two of these were Redgraves 200 years ago. Why the name changed is still a mystery but it likely has something to do with unstable spelling, illiteracy and dialect. In the sixteenth century (c1553) there was a Redgrove parish near Cheltenham in the county of Gloucestershire. It is now listed as "lost." Other variations on the Redgrave name include: Redgrift, Redgreft, Redgriff, Redgreaves, Radgrave, and, in early records, Redgrough, Redgruff, and Redgrof. Thanks to Olivia and Malcolm Redgrave for pointing this out.   Unless otherwise noted, I will use 'Redgrave' to refer to all of the above variations. Researchers should probably note that the surname Redgrave has been transcribed in indexed sources (online databases) with every imaginable corruption of letters. The 'R' has been written as a 'B' and a 'P' for instance as Bedgrove and Pedgrift (though the latter may be a distinct surname) and the 'e' has been written as an 'o' as 'Rodgrave'.

The Redgrave Project is listed with The Surname Web