Shropshire's Punning Heraldry -Hawkins

 

Hakins, alias Hawkins, alias Edge. (Why so many aliases? Find out below)

Arms: Argent, a hawk Proper beaked and legged Or standing on the trunk of a tree Vert couped and raguled (Visitations).

The arms of Hakins, alias Hawkins, alias Edge. 

Less commonly, the name Hawkins traces back to Hawk, used either as a nickname for someone with hawklike features or as an occupational name for a falconer who bred and trained hawks for hunting. In some families, particularly in Kent in South-East England, it originated as a habitational name for someone from Hawkinge (derived from the Old English heafoc, meaning "hawk").

The pun works through a visual and linguistic breakdown of the name Hawkins. "Hawk" (The First Syllable); the most direct element of the pun is the hawk itself. The word "Hawk" perfectly mirrors the first half of "Hawkins". The "Inns" or "In" (The Second Syllable). The pun is completed by what the hawk is doing: it is standing (or "perched") on a tree stump. In old heraldic humour, a bird perched or holding onto an object was often used to represent the suffix "-ins" or "-in", mimicking the phrase "Hawk-in" (a hawk resting 'in' or 'on' its place). Additionally, in some variations of this specific family line (historically linked to Shropshire and the alias Edge), the "tree trunk couped and raguled" is explicitly blazoned as a staff or a log, which evokes a rustic post—humorously gesturing toward an Inn (a place of rest or lodging) to complete the phonetics of Hawk-ins.

The Hawkins family of Shropshire used the compound surname "Edge alias Hawkins" (and vice versa) primarily due to property inheritance and geographical associations tied to the township of Edge in Pontesbury. In early modern England, particularly between the 15th and 17th centuries, families frequently adopted a double name for very practical reasons rather than a desire for secrecy. The family held substantial property in the neighbourhood and township of Edge, located within the parish of Pontesbury, Shropshire. In this era, when a family moved to or acquired a significant estate like Edge, they often appended the location to their existing biological surname (Hawkins) to solidify their local status and clarify their legal title to the land. The use of "alias" was a standard legal instrument used to protect inheritance lines. If a Hawkins ancestor married a wealthy heiress from the Edge family, or if they inherited the Edge estate through a maternal line, keeping both names ensured there was no ambiguity in manorial court rolls, wills, or land deeds. Records from the 16th century show prominent family members listed interchangeably under both names, such as Roger Edge alias Hawkins and Richard Edge alias Hawkins of Wellington, Shropshire.