Streatfeild family

Streatfeild
Minor nobility and landed gentry
Arms of the Streatfeild family: Per fess gules and sable, three bezants
Parent house	possibly the House of Stratford
Country	Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Great Britain, United Kingdom
Place of origin	Chiddingstone
Founded	Early 16th century
Founder	Robert Streatfeild
Historic seat	Chiddingstone Castle

One version of the Streatfeild crest

The Streatfeilds, Streatfields or Stretfields are an aristocratic English family of the landed gentry, from Chiddingstone, Kent. The family are traceable to the early 16th century and are a possible cadet branch of the Noble House of Stratford. They were significant landowners in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, and instrumental in shaping those counties throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. From the early 16th century until 1900 the family seat was Chiddingstone Castle. The family later sold the castle to Lord Astor in 1938.^[1][2]

Notable members[]

Robert Streatfeild (1514 – March 1599) is recognised as the common ancestor of most living Streatfeilds and Streatfields. There are still direct descendants of his living in Chiddingstone.

Robert Streatfeild's descendants include:

• Henry Streatfeild (1706–1762), substantial British landowner
• Alexander Streatfeild-Moore (1863–1940), English cricketer
• Edward Champion Streatfeild (1870–1932), English cricketer
• Philip Streatfeild (1879–1915), English painter and bohemian
• Richard Streatfeild (1559–1601), iron master who established the financial basis for the family
• Richard Streatfeild (cricketer) (1833–1877), English cricketer
• Sidney Streatfeild (1894–1966), Scottish Unionist Party politician
• Thomas Streatfeild (1777–1848), renowned antiquarian and churchman
• Rev. William Champion Streatfeild (1839–1912), clergyman
• Sir Henry Streafeild (1857–1938), British Army officer and courtier who served as the commanding officer of the Grenadier Guards, and was Equerry to Edward VII from 1908 until the King's death in 1910, he was then Private Secretary and Equerry to Queen Alexandra from 1910 until her death in 1925
• William Champion Streatfeild (1865–1929), Anglican Bishop of Lewes
• Noel Streatfeild (1895–1986), author, most famous for her children's books
• Ruth Gervis (1894–1988), artist, art teacher and illustrator of children's books, most famously Ballet Shoes, written by her sister, Noel Streatfeild. She was also a founding member of Sherborne Museum, Dorset.
• Geoffrey Streatfeild (1975-), actor in film, television, stage and radio.

All his known descendants to the end of World War 1 are listed on the website "The Streatfeilds of Kent".^[1]

Possible Stratford descent[]

• 

  Stratford
  Per fess gules and sable, three plates

• 

  Streatfield
  Per fess gules and sable, three bezants

The House of Stratford has a remarkably similar coat of arms attributed to them in the former half of the 14th century. This could be seen as evidence that the Streatfields, though their line cannot be traced beyond the 1500s, are in fact a cadet branch of the Stratford family, the name having been corrupted at some point prior to the 16th century.^[3][4][5][6]

Reunion[]

In July 2014 a significant number of direct descendants of Robert Streatfeild met for a memorial service in St Mary’s Church, Chiddingstone, followed by a gathering at Chiddingstone Castle, home of many generations of Streatfeilds (having been expanded by Henry Streatfeild (1639-1709) from a house in the High Street to the Restoration style that it is now).^[7]

References[]