Who is the oldest known Edwards family ancestor?

Question: Who is the oldest known Edwards family ancestor!?

I am of welsh ancestryWww@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

what you are asking is among the common myths in genealogy!.!. and one that will block you!.
One (as explained) there is not one single "ancestor" for a name (and all persons with the name are his descendents!. Everyone named Edwards will not be related (some very uncommon names will be an exception!.!.but overall, don't expect that)!.
Once you understand the trick to finding ancestry, it falls into place!. The trick is you start from the PRESENT (YOU) AND WORK BACK!. Each step, you use reliable records!. Oral history can help but is often in error, so get used to documentation from the get go!.
The idea is that you "prove" your parentage (and mom is only Edwards by marriage)!. Next, prove the grandparents, each of them will have different surnames!. You are equally descended from all of them, but only one grandparent is an Edwards by birth!.
The process is critical!.!. unless you want to pick some well documented person from 2 hundred years back, spend thousands of hours to "connect" you to him!.!. and later find out, he was not your family at all!. I would not assume that all Edwards originated in Wales (another misconception we see a lot)!.
www!.rootsweb!.com has a good tutorial from its front page!.
www!.cyndislist!.com collects as many resources as she can find!.
www!.familysearch!.org is the LDS church based site, but open to all, and has a free program to download!.
How FAR back you go!.!. is up to your determination, and surviving records (and knowing that they are not all online)!.
It is challenging, but more personal than any other hobby I can think of!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Edwards means son of Edward!. When surnames were taken or assigned during the last millenium, there were probably several men named Edward that had sons that took the name Edwards!. The root person of your surname will not always be the root person of someone else with your surname!.

When surnames were taken or assigned they were based on a)being the son of someone b)where they lived c)their occupation d)some characteristic about them!. It wasn't impossible for legitimate sons of the same man to have a different surname and still each could have shared their surname with others not in their family!.

If you want to know your family history, there are lots of good people on this board that can give you some great tips and advice!. Just ask!. They can also help out if you run into a brick wall!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

There are thousands of Edwards in family trees and in the census!.
Which Edwards family are you looking for!?Www@QuestionHome@Com