The ancestors of the Meade family in the north-west corner of Essex were Thomas Mede of Somerset and his brother William. They are said to have come from Somerset during the reign of Henry VI, probably during or soon after the second part of his reign in 1470-71.The first mention of Thomas Mede is in 1472, when he bought land in 1472 Conveyance of land at Henham, Essex, from Thomas Long and John Aylward to Thomas Mede, John Coke rector of Chickney, Dioness Leventhorp and John Wright.
Mede of Elsenham, 1565
In the name of God Amen, the xvi day of July in the year of our lord God a thousand five hundred fifty and three, I John Mede of Elsenham in the county of Essex and diocese of London, being in good health and memory, laud be unto almighty God, ordain and make this my present testament and last will in manner and form following. First I commend my soul to be in the hand of almighty God my maker and redeemer and my body in his holy will. Item I give to Agnes my wife my meadow called Appleton Mead lying in Eastamstead (?) with (unclear) and a pasture called Dames by estimation ten acres and my land in Braye (?) field containing by estimation sixteen acres and my pasture called Wikeridge (?) by estimation xiiii acres lying in Elsenham aforesaid, one acre and a half of meadow in Takeley, one acre of land in the field called Rowley lying next (unclear), two acres of land in long field lying nearest long field gate, one acre of land in Bedelfield against Short Croft, three acres of land in the field called Barley lying on the right hand of the gate coming into the same field, and my tenement called John Williams with the out yard thereunto belonging with all other appurtenances in Elsenham aforesaid to have and to hold to the said Agnes for the term of her natural life and after her decease I will all the said meadow called Appleton Mead and all other the premises with the appurtenances to Edward Meade my son to his heirs and assigns forever. Item I give and bequeath to Agnes my said wife my tenement and orchard in Elsenham aforesaid called Monses, two acres and a half of land in short croft, one acre of land in Bedell field lying between the land of Thomas Godfrey on both sides, one half acre of land in long field lying on the other side of Thomas Godfrey’s land, one acre of land with a perch (?) of meadow at the end of the same perch lying in the field called Rowley, three roods of land lying in the field called Barley abutting upon Yard land, and my two crofts called Gallows croft containing every of them four acres, one croft thereof lying on this side of the high way and the other lying on the other side of the same way that leadeth towards Hatfield, one acre of pasture at Green Street (?) and one rood of meadow lying in the common meadow and my several meadows called Bedwell Mede with the appurtenances in Elsenham aforesaid, to have and to hold to the said Agnes for term of her natural life of her natural life and after her decease to Samuel Mede my son and to his heirs and assigns forever. Item I give and bequeath to Agnes my wife all my and, tenement and hereditaments with the appurtenances lying and being in Berden in the county of Essex to have and to hold to the said Agnes for term of seventeen years next after my decease, the remainder thereof to Nicholas Mede my son to his heirs and assigns forever. Item I give and bequeath to Agnes my wife my messuage that I now dwell in Elsenham aforesaid with the appurtenances and all the residue of my lands, tenements and hereditaments not before given and bequeathed to have and to hold to the said Agnes my wife during the term of her natural life and after her decease to Thomas Meade my son and to his heirs forever. Item I give and bequeath to Agnes my wife my lease of Elsenham so that she live during all the years of the same lease or else after her decease I will Thomas my son shall have it. Item I give to Richard Mede my son forty pounds of lawful money of to be paid to him at his age of xxi years and if it so fortune the said Richard to decease before his age of xxi years that then I will the said xl£ to be given to the residue of my said sons then being alive, every of them like portions of the same at their several ages of xxi years. Item I give and bequeath to Ellen my daughter ten pounds of lawful money of to be paid to her at her age of xxi years and if she marries before the said age of xxi years that then it to be paid to her at the time of her marriage. Item to Blanche my daughter ten pounds of lawful money of to be paid to her at her age of xxi years and if she marries before the age of xxi that then to be paid to her at the time of her marriage. Item I will to Agnes my daughter x £ of lawful money of to be paid to her at her age of xxi years and if she marries before her age of xxi that then to be paid her at the time of her marriage. The residue of all my goods unbequeathed, my debts paid and my legacies fulfilled, I give and bequeath to Agnes my wife, to the said Agnes my wife whom I ordain and make my sole executrix. In witness whereof I have caused this testament and last will to be written and also the said day and year to be read and declared in the presence of Thomas Barnard of Clavering, Thomas Wrenson of Henham, William Wright of Hatfield, Richard Meade the elder of Berden and Edward Meade of the same town, and also in their presence have set my seal, by me John Meade with mine own hand.
Son of Thomas Meade of Berden
Thomas MEADE birth 1545 Henham, Essex; death 1614 Henham, Essex
Father: John MEADE
Mother: Elenor COLIN
Family 1 : Elizabeth SPILLMAN, marriage 1565, Henham, Essex
Newman MEADE birth abt 1635, Great Easton , Essex DEATH: 1689, Great Dunmow, Essex ( Father: Newman MEADE)
Family 1 : Susanna GUYVER, marriage 1666, Henham, Essex
MEAD Essex wills
1614 Thomas Meade, yeoman, Henham, son of John 1570
1631 Elizabeth Mead, Henham, unknown relationship
1641 Thomas Mead, yeoman, Henham
1661 Anne Mead, widow, Henham
1696 Nicholas Mead, yeoman, Henham
History and Genealogy of the Mead Family of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Eastern new York, Western Vermont, and Western Pennsylvania from AD 1180 to 1900 by Spencer Percival Mead 1901
https://books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=5877097172
The Manor of Great Easton was conveyed to John Meade, of Henham (family first mentioned in 1422), by William Fitch, and in his family it continued until the failure of heirs male, on the decease of John Meade of London, merchant, who died in 1689, and of his daughters Anne, in 1758, aged 87, and Elizabeth in 1761, aged 85. Of the three sons of John Meade, of Henham, John, Robert, and George, the last had Nortofts, in Finchingfield, who kept his first court there in April, 1593. John succeeded his father on his decease in 1602, having married Ellen, daughter of Nicholas Colin, of Broxted, by whom he had Thomas of Henham, who son John was of Matching, John, to whom he gave Dutton Hill, also Robert and William; he died in 1614.
In 1635 there arrived in Massachusetts many ships with passengers from England, and amongst those arrivals is found the name of Goodman Mead (called Gabriel Mead), who was born in 1587, and died March 12th , 1666, aged 79 years. He was probably married twice, his second wife being Johanna, the daughter of James Bates. The latter was born in 1582, and died in 1655. He sailed from Lydd, County Kent, England, in the ship ‘Elizabeth’ under Captain Stagg, in April 1635, and it is supposed his son-in-law, Goodman Mead, was in the same vessel.