The family who arrived in South Molton in the late
1840s were part of the spread across Mid Devon of those who used the STEDIFORD form of
the name . There are infuriating gaps in the parish
registers of this area which may mean we will never be able to create
cast-iron links between these nomads or trace them all, conclusively,
back to the area around Sampford Courtenay. We know the names of the
very first Stedifords to arrive in Atherington and, from the parish
register there, we know fairly accurately when they arrived. The
majority stayed on in Atherington for more than a century but a few
moved away, edging across tiny parishes, many of which are not recorded
in the IGI, to reach the North Devon ports which took them to South
Wales and, via the new railway route from Barnstaple, to Bristol and
London.
We know that the Registration District of St.
Thomas and its relationship with the parish of St. Thomas have, over the
years, foxed many family historians who do not live in this part of
Devon. In our third article this month, we write about a Stentiford
family who lived in this registration district, and whose events were
recorded there. Another big "thank you" to Roy Hewitt who has
contributed the potted history of the early years of the Devonshire Regiment to set
the scene.
