|
y
|
We introduced this unusual form of the name
"Stentiford" in Issue 21 with a short piece about John
Stettaford who worked as a rope spinner in Dock in the 1720s. Possibly John had a son - Thomas Stettaford - who married a Mary
Counter in Stoke Damerel close by on 24 Sep 1736.
|
 |
|
Belstone
|
|
We know, from the many documents available to us, that in
the early part of the 17th century, the Stentiford clan, which up to
that time was centred around Dartmoor and the little port of Calstock close by, began to break up. For economic reasons connected with the
wool trade, some families went south towards Ugborough and Plymouth
while others moved to the northern part of the Moor, settling at first
around Belstone and Sampford Courtenay.
In the 17th century, the STETTAFORD form of the name is not found to
the south of Dartmoor but it does appear in the Belstone/Sampford
Courtenay area between 1655 and the early 1740s, largely disappearing in
that area with the
death of an Ann Stettaford who left a number of base born children in
the care of the parish. At that time, it was variously written with "tt" and
"dd", a reflection on the heavy Devon accent in that area.
|
|
Ann's brother Thomas married Mary Burd in South Tawton in 1738 and
with the baptism of their son William later that year, and the baptism
of Martha, Ann's final illegitimate child, there is no further mention of
a Stettaford or Steddaford family in the registers of that part of
Devon. |
 |
|
Sampford Courtenay
|
|
Everyone who has researched the Stentiford or Stuttiford
families will have come across this spelling in connection with one of
their ancestors in a parish register or a census return but further
research will show that this was clearly an error - a one-off
substitution for the correct version of the name.
With this group of families though, it is quite clear that we are following the progress of
a line which has stuck to this ancient form of their name through to the
present day. The GRO Index, holding records dating from 1837, introduces
us to a variety of spellings - STETTIFORD, STETTEFORD, STETTFORD as well
as the spelling most commonly found in Devon - STETTAFORD.
The same Index, used in conjunction with census returns, allows us to
see the development of this single family group which is still in existence
today although much diminished in size. Its members are hard to trace because, over the centuries,
they have not remained in one area but have always been willing to move
around in their search for work. Even harder is the tracing of the female members who,
of course, changed names as they followed their husbands around this
country and overseas. |
Click here to continue
|
