Coat of Arms & Family Crest Details
Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Az. a chev. engr. or, betw. two plates”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Oades family of England.
Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Az. a chev. engr. or, betw. two plates”

The Oades arms were recorded in Cornwall, c. 1620.
Cornwall was a county apart, with its own language and its own tight-knit gentry. Tin and the sea made money there, and families who made it bought land, which is what brought arms with it.
This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.
English heraldry allowed arms to be shared by all legitimate descendants of the original owner. These symbols were treated as personal property that moved through the generations to all children. While the eldest son kept the original design, other family members could use the same shield without needing to change it or register their own unique versions.
The family name Oades is a patronymic surname, which means it likely originated as a way to identify someone as the son of a man named Ode or Odo. The name Odo itself has deep roots in Germanic and Old English traditions, often associated with the meaning of wealth or prosperity. By the early 17th century, the Oades family had established a notable presence in the rugged coastal landscape of Cornwall. Living in this region during the 1620s meant that early family members were likely involved in the local industries of the time, such as tin mining, fishing, or small-scale coastal farming. Because Cornwall was somewhat isolated from the rest of England due to its geography, families in this area often maintained strong local ties and traditions. The survival of the name in parish records from this period suggests that the Oades family were established members of their community who contributed to the social and economic life of the Cornish countryside.
A Germanic name element meaning wealth, fortune, or prosperity.