Index to Gatfords investigated in the course
of my researches.
Notes
The poll for Knights of the Shire to represent
the County of Sussex - 1774
Freeholder: John Gatford
Place of abode: Slaugham
Where freehold lies and of what consists:
Slaugham, b. & l.
Occupier: Ed. Hills
The Danny archives By East Sussex Record
Office, Judith A. Wooldridge(1966)
Manor of Tilgate [including]..messuage and lands
called Little Forest and Black fold in occ. of
John Gatford
Calendar of wills and administrations in the
Archdeaconry Court of Lewes
Gatford, William, Slaugham, yeoman
10th Jan. 1624, 12th July 1625
Messuages, farm and lands (72a. 3r. 1p.) in
Shipley, sometime in occ. of Richard Hurst,
dec'd., and now in occupation of Walter Gatford
… all properties as in an indnture 3 Oct. 1647 …
Receipt from William Kelsey and William
Kelsey, jun. to 'brother' John Gatford for £100
for the land at 'Truckers Hatch' Add Mss
17055 6 January 1796
Conveyance (Lease and Release) for £100, with
covenant to levy a fine Add Mss 17056, 17057
10, 11 August 1796
Contents:
From (a) William Kelsey of Gatwick in Charlwood
(co. Surr.), yeo. and William Kelsey, jun.
(eldest son and heir of William Kelsey by his
late wife Sall Kelsey decd., heretofore Sall
Gatford, spinster, dau. of John Gatford of
Slaugham, yeo., decd.), to (b) John Gatford of
Slaugham, yeo., (son of said John Gatford)
Messuage, barn, hovel, orchard and close of land
or meadow ground (4 a.) called Kelsey or
Peacocks Meadow, near Truggers Hatch in Slaugham,
now in occ. of Edward Hills, which properties
were purchased by Richard Ware of Slaugham,
collier, decd., and by him devised in his will
to said William Kelsey and w. Sall, and the
heirs of her body
Final Concord Add Mss 17058 Easter
Term 1797
Contents:
John Gatford, pl. v. William Kelsey, sen.,
William Kelsey, jun., Charles Jackman and w.
Ann, and William Mills and w. Elizabeth
Two messuages, one barn, one stable, two
curtilages, two gardens, two orchards and land
(5 a.) in Slaugham and Billingshurst
General Gatford notes
Frank (born C1877)and Elsie
Gatford and their children (Frank, Raymond, Arthur, Jessica and
Olive) emmigrated to
America, possibly C1930's. Frank's father was Benjamin
Gatford and his mother Jane
Worsfold. Looking for information to complete this section of my
family's genealogical history as contact has been lost.
There was a Benjamin
Gatford aged 10 living at Tyler's Green, Cuckfield,
Sussex,
England according to the 1851 census.
Sorry I don't have the full details, but he had 2 siblings, Elizabrth
(7) and Arthur (3). All ages are approximate, as I came across the
census entry at the end of a search session (inevitably), and had to
scribble details down as the Family
Records Centre in
London was closing, Father's name was James
Gatford (agricultural labourer), mother Mary.
James was baptised 15 November 1792 in Cuckfield, parents John
(agricultural labourer) and Ann. James's siblings, all baptised in
Cuckfield, were Ann (20 May 1792), Mary (1 May 1795), Sarah (17 December
1798), William (my wife's ancestor - 29 December 1799), Elizabeth and
Susannah (1 May 1803).
All these baptism dates are from a brief transcription of the parish
register in the library of the Society of Genealogists.
The baptisms of James and Ann are rather close together.
The LDS International Genealogical Index gives the following baptisms
for children of William
Gatford and Ann
Wells in the parish of Slaugham, right next to Cuckfield: John (27
August 1786), Ann (21 June 1789), Elizabeth (10 March 1793)
I haven't been able to check whether this is a separate family, or the
same one, possibly with some children being baptised in both parishes.
It may have been easier to have them "done" twice rather than bother to
explain to the vicar when they moved from one parish to another, and
baptism in both places might enable the child to claim parish relief in
both places (this would be a scam, but they might try it on!).
Benjamin
Gatford was my Gt Grandfather. I have him listed a being one of 9
children of James & Mary - I have the names and approx. birth dates if
you are interested.
I was not aware who James parents were, or of any siblings that he had.
Therefore the details you gave take me back another generation, if not
two.
I would love to get to
Sussex to research further, but with 2 very young children, this
will not be possible for sometime! I guess I can hope that the parish
records for the appropriate parishes will be published at some point & I
can get the information that way.
I would be interested in any other pieces of information that you might
have.
Hi. Again. At last.
Sorry for the long delay - I was concentrating on my own family, and
since my mother was born a
Smith in a large city it can get time-consuming.
I'm still stuck at the same point on John
Gatford and Ann - can't prove that the Cuckfield pair are the same
as John
Gatford and Ann
Wells in Slaugham.. I'm 90 percent sure, but I'll have to get to
Chichester to see the parish registers.
One other problem. I found a second James
Gatford born in Cuckfield in 1794 to alter
Gatford and Betty Picknell. He might be Benjamin's father, though
judging by the census details for 1841 and 1851 James, son of John is
still the best candidate. Again the parish records may help, though I
know some of the Gatfords were Baptists and may be registered in the
Baptist Church in Horsham.
IF John
Gatford and Ann
Wells are our ancestors, you are right about the LDS website entry
for John, son of John
Gatford and Sarah
Ware. There is a lot ore about the Slaugham Gatfords there, but it
may not be the complete picture. The problem is that Cuckfield parish is
not very well covered, I have actually read the Slaugham parish register
from about 1700 to 1820 and confirmed the LDS entries (give or take a
spelling), as well as seeing the burial records. It is clear from this
that people from Cuckfield and Slaugham used either church from time to
time. You couldn't do that if you were dirt-poor, but John Gatford's
father was a householder, Land Tax payer and had the vote. I also have
some memorial inscriptions from Slaugham churchyard.
There are still Gatfords living in
Sussex, though the only ones I know are some of my wife's cousins
who have moved back there. They are interested in their ancestry, but
they rely on me to do the research! I'm visiting some in the next week
or so, so I suggest that after I've picked up as much as I can from them
about the later bits of this branch, I'll email you direct with all the
stuff I can assemble. Some details go back to about 1600 but I can't yet
fit them all together, although they often shed an interesting light on
the past.
Hope to get back soon, meantime I'll try to assemble all the data.
Larry
Liz,
I hoped to get back earlier on this, but at last I've been able to make
a quick visit to the
Sussex County
Records Office in
Chichester and I think I have the answer to the parents of your
ancestor James
Gatford and my wife's ancestor William.
There were two John Gatfords married to wives named Ann; the one you
have seen on the LDS International Genealogical Index lived in Slaugham
and was from a family of farmers on their way up into the gentry, he was
NOT "our" John. Although it is not in the IGI, there was a marriage in
Cuckfield on 15 December 1788 between John
Gatford, bachelor and Ann Lee, spinster, both of Cuckfield; this
fits neatly with the first Cuckfield christening.
John was a butcher, but I haven't been able to find details of his
birth. There are many more Gatfords burid in Cuckfield than were married
or christened there; this may be simply due to their moving about a bit,
or they may have been nonconformists, in which case the children may not
have any christening record and they probably married away from their
home parish. The only clue I have is that Walter
Gatford (not alter, as in my previous reply) married Betty Picknell
only ten days after John married Ann - they are in the IGI.
I have other dates, including (I think) some christenings in your line,
but I haven't sorted them out properly yet, when I do, would you like me
to send them to you?
Larry
Hello,
My farther is arthur gatford. his father is frank. my family comes from
England. father was born in surry, in 1910. I would like to contact
family over in england to try and set up a family tree. If I can be of
any help please let me know.
Yours truly
Malcolm F. Gatford
Malcolm, from the information given, it looks as if there is a good
chance that we are related. I will check the date of birth of your
father Arthur to see if it ties in with what I have, but certainly I
have a Frank
Gatford born c 1877 with a son called Arthur. Was your grandmother's
name Elsie? I have a reasonably detailed tree, but there are many gaps.
Liz