Early Mudford's
The Mudford story, at least as far as it can be traced, begins in the villages of southern Somerset. The early Mudford history as far back as Thomas Mudford (b. ~1570) has been traced by Bill Burgar on his genealogical website. The next six generations have left patchy traces with several missing members, whose presence is indirectly inferred, but these gaps have been well documented by Bill Burgar.
The story of the descendants of John Mudford (b. ~1688), takes place intially in West Chinnock and surrounding villages in southern Somerset. This area of Somerset had a long history of sail and rope making, especially for the Royal Navy. As the industrial revolution gathered steam there was a drift of workers from rural areas to towns and cities where factories had grown up and there was a need for workers. A number of the Mudford’s from the West Chinnock area moved to London to work as labourers or ply their trade as sailmakers. Another descendant of John Mudford (b. ~1688) is Cath Mudford who has traced her ancestry back to Joseph Mudford (b. ~1760).
Interestingly, the two distinct Mudford families in Aotearoa are both descended from John Mudford (b. ~1710). One of those Mudford families is descended from my direct ancestor John Mudford (b. 1791), who emigrated to Port Nicholson in 1841, and the other is descended from James Mudford (b. 1829) who emigrated to Nelson in 1855. In addition, there are number of descendants of John Mudford (b. ~1710) who emigrated to Australia in the middle of the 19'th century, namely: John Mudford (b. 1821) who emigrated to Mitchell's Island, NSW before 1859, Samuel Mudford (b. 1824) who emigrated to Stroud, NSW in the 1850's, George Mudford (b. 1812) who emigrated to NSW before 1849, Ann (Mudford) Salisbury (b. 1816) who emigrated to Queensland in 1850, William Mudford (b. 1825) who emigrated to Mittagong, NSW before 1869. We can also add at least two other descendants of John Mudford (b. ~1710) who emmigrated to Canada in the same time frame: Martha (Mudford) Bunston (b. 1829) and Martha (Mudford) Long (b. 1807).
John Mudford, b. ~1710 4 Generation Family Tree
My focus in these web pages will be on the family and descendants of John Mudford (b. 1791 in West Chinnock) who emigrated to Port Nicholson with his family on the Clifton, arriving on the 17'th February, 1842. John arrived with his wife Johanna (b. ~1788 in Suffolk); his eldest son John (b. 1817 in Stepney, east London), wife Susan (b. 1819 in England) and baby daughter Johanna born just 7 weeks before departing for Aotearoa; and three younger children George (b. 1819 in Stepney, east London), Nancy Ann (b. 1821 in Stepney, east London) and William (b. 1833 in Stepney, east London). The pedigree chart below shows the four generations of my direct ancestors from the arrivals in 1842 of John and his family through to my grandfather Dick (b. 1893 in Auckland).
