The Meadows Family Tree

This website records the family history of the descendants of William Meadows c.1753-1847, a British actor and performer in the late 18th century.

William's son, James Meadows Senior was a successful 19th century British marine artist. His five sons - William, James Edward, Alfred, Edwin, and Arthur - all became artists in their own rights. James also had two daughters, Anne and Frances. Amongst the descendants of James Meadows, Gordon Meadows, the son of Arthur Meadows, became a succesful artist; Walter Meadows, the son of James Edwin Meadows, also became an artist; and Edwin Meadows' daughter Grace trained as an artist.

William's daughter, Ann, married the artist and illustrator John Massey Wright, and one of their sons also became an artist. William's daughter, Mary, married Richard Johnson, and they were the parents of the artist and illustrator Edward Killingworth Johnson, and the grandparents of the prolific 19th century artist illustrator Mary Ellen Edwards, known by her initials as 'MEE'. Mary Ellen's sisters were also accomplished artists.

The performing tradition of the family was carried on by William Meadow's daughters, and his grandson, Alfred Meadows, and by Alfred's grandson, Jack Meadows, who revived the family tradition from the 1920s to the 1950s; and by Edwin Meadows great-grandson, the musical director, Grant Hossack; and by Mary Meadows great-grandson, the American actor Reginald Mason. Several other members of the Meadows family were also talented amateur musicians and performers.

This website was created in February 2008, with the help of research from the different branches of the family. The information on the site is drawn from research on the Census records; Births, Marriages & Deaths records; from more detailed personal research in official archives; and from information received from family members.

Use of information and images, and contact

If you are related to the Meadows family, and you wish to contribute information, please do contact the webmaster. Apologies are offered in advance for any errors which may occur as a result of discrepancies in the material researched or the interpretation of the material. All errors will be corrected, and new information will be added as and when it is received. The aim of the website is to share the story amongst all the family members, so please do feel free to contribute by contacting the webmaster.

The information on this site, and many of the images, are the result of research and contributions by members of the Meadows family.

No images or information may be reproduced without prior consent of the webmaster, or the owners of the images concerned.

Essential reading

Roger and Jeff Meadows, who are descended from Edwin Lewis Meadows, have also created a splendid family history website. This is based on the notebook of Edwin Lewis Meadows himself, and includes a great deal of earlier history, and a number of original illustrations. You can find Roger & Jeff's website at the link below.

The Meadows Story website


Other pages:


This is the text-only version of this page. Click here to see this page with graphics.
Edit this page | Manage website
Make Your Own Website: 2-Minute-Website.com