Hi! I`ve researching the Stafford family for my wife`s family tree ,we are stuck with a John Stafford that came to Ireland in Ulster, Cavan area , any help would do
Thanks
Dan

Hello there,

I have a line for John Stafford which goes back to a De Toeni who came to England with William I (the Conqueror) and settled in what is modern Staffordshire He took the name Stafford.

The staffords were a very prominent family at one time. The Irish lot seem to be descended through a series of younger sons and a daughter whose husband took the Stafford name. One of the sons from this younger line named William married his distant cousin Dorothy Stafford, who was Mistress of the robes to her Cousin Elizabeth 1. Through her the family can be traced back to William !, and Harold II the last Saxon King. What I am trying to do is validate the link between John Stafford and William and Dorothy Stafford. The tentative line includes vikings with Norwegian ancestry.

John Stafford appears to have been a farmer with expertise as a gunsmith.

Jo

HI! Jo
Here is an inert from the Stafford book " West Ulster Stafford " that you may find intersesting.
quote (The Stafford men in County in Fermangah ,were farmers and skilled as well in several trades , such as smithing , weaving and carpentry. Down to incluging my paternal grandfather,Thomas Stafford, there were gumsmiths in the family and,in the upper storey of the ancestral home there was a storage romm containing some oldstyle military equipment,Doubtless the family was primarily induced to come to Ulster in order to help keep in repair the muskets of the volunteer militia which was raised to the Scotch and the English who were brought into Ireland during the "plantation of Ulster") Dan

Hi Dan,

Thankyou for that.

Jo

Hello,
I am Dean Stafford and have been doing a lot of investigation concerning my Stafford line. I am a direct decendant of the John Stafford mentioned above. I was wondering if you knew why the Staffords left England and went to Ireland. Rumor has it that they fled for their lives during the night, but that is just a rumor. Do you have any information on this.
As far as my line goes, my line left Ireland, landed in Philadelphia, PA, then set up residence in Giles County, Virginia. In 1832, my line (Thomas Stafford) left Virginia and moved to Attica, Indiana. I have all the geneology on this if needed.]
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Hey Dean,

I don't really know a lot about the Staffords yet. I understand that my family descended from the one Stafford who didn't emigrate to America, from Ireland. Most of them did.

The idea that the first Staffords that went to Ireland were fleeing from something in England is interesting but I hadn't heard about it. However earlier Staffords were implicated in unwise political activity which resulted in at least one being executed for treason, so it's not beyond credibility. The official story seems to be that John Stafford was given land in return for his skills as a gunsmith at the time of the Scottish plantation. This could have led to them being somewhat unpopular with the Irish.

I am heading to England in August to do some research. Most of my ancestors, including the Staffords, originated in roughly the same area of England so I'm very hopeful that I will be able to find out some more details.

I'll let you know what I find out.

Cheers
Jo Thorne

Hi Jo and Dean,

My 5th great grandfather was John Stafford who was married to Margaret Brunt. My 4th great grandfather(Joseph Stafford) was one of the sons who came to Virginia. I am also a decendant of the group that went to Ohio.

This part of the family has been kind of forgotten and it makes me wonder why.

I too would like to know they were in Ireland and why the family split when they came to America.

Kathie S

Hi Folks,

I Live in N.Ireland, and am trying to progress my family tree using some initial research provided to me by my father, I wonder if anyone can help.

My Great Granfather was Robert Albert Hume Stafford, born 2 Feb 1880, in Derry possibly a baker/confectioner

His Father was James Orr Stafford, b1844 d1918 married to Agnes Barton Lindsay b1848 d1927 also form Derry.

His father was Joseph Stafford b? d? married to Elizabeth Unknown b 1822 d1908 He was a Church Warden and Elizabeth was from Buncrana Co. Donegal.

Thought at first that it was a link to John Stafford & Margaret Brunt, but it doesn't look like it.

Cheers
Karl

Hello all
I am Glenn Stafford in New Zealand. I have it on good authority that my ancestor arrived from Ireland and that his brothers went to America. Just why this John Stafford seperated from his brothers and went elsewhere remains a mystery. I have the NZ family chart if anyone wants it.

Cheers Glenn Stafford

Hi Glenn
I am Kathie Stafford and this is the first that I have heard that any of John's sons went somewhere other than America. I do know that one did stay in Ireland and I think his name was Ralph. Maybe you are part of that family. Hmmm interesting.

Kathie

Hi
I am descended from John Stafford and Margaret Brunt thru their son Ralph who immigrated first to PA and reportedly fought at Yorktown in the American Revolution. Then moved with his wife Jane Kane to Giles Co VA. His son James moved to Johnson Co. Kentucky with wife Abigail Davis. Their son John married Calista Nott. My line descends thru their daughter Lucina Stafford Woods. Would love to hear more about why they left England for Ireland and then came to America.

Hey Glenn,

I whakapapa back to John Stafford and Margaret Blunt through Thomas and Barbara (nee Irwin) and their son John who was married to Helen Welch. (These two were Great Great Grandmother Helen Spratt's parents)Helen was a widow when she emigrated here with several children. She presumably was following her son, my great grandfather, who had emigrated earlier. They all ended up in Northland.

I would be interested to know if there were links between the different immigrants because in researching another branch of my family I discovered that often migrants came out because they were following the footsteps of family who had migrated earlier.

Incidentally Kathie, Thomas appears to be the son who stayed in Ireland.

Hey Karl,

One of the things I have turned up is that the Staffords had huge families. My line appears to have derived from a whole lot of younger or youngest sons.

My wife's lineage has the Stafford line in it. Hers goes through de Toeni then Robert de Toeni changed to de Stafford after the Norman Conquest. His great-great-granddaughter married Hervey Bagot and their children retained the Stafford name.

The line then became the Baron Stafford, Earl of Stafford then Duke of Buckingham.

At this point Margaret Stafford (b. 1435) married Robert Dunham and my wife's lineage eventually moved to Massachusetts with JOHN DUNHAM and then on through Cleveland to Norton. Jeremiah Crowell Norton moved to NZ in 1861.

It may be very hard to link Elizabeth I's cousin, Dorothy with the John Stafford of Ulster as most of the information about the Staffords concern historical or political figures.

My Staffords emigrated to Durham, England in the 1860's. My 4 x Great grandfather was Joseph Stafford(Snr) bc1827 who married Mary Jane McGennis in 16 Jan 1849, Marriage Place: Taughboyne, Donegal,Ireland. They had 3 children in and around Taughboyne prior to emigration: My 3 x Gt grandfather Joseph(jnr)1851, Isabella Jane 1853, Mary Jane 1856. Joseph(Snr) father is also stated as Joseph on the marriage entry.

Posible family members could be: Mary Jane Stafford who married John Eaton 2 April 1855 in Raphoe, Donegal. Also Margaret Stafford who married John Rodgers on 17 August 1843 in St. Johnston, Donegal. Both Mary Jane and Margaret state their father as Joseph Stafford.

Any information or links anyone can make would be truely appreciated

My Staffords came to New Brunswick Canada in 1830. I do not have the name of the ship nor the place of departure. Robert and Elizabeth. They bought land at Lepreau in Charlotte County and had several children. Recently I found a reference to a Samuel and Ann Stafford, born in Ireland, on an immigrant list that says they also ended up in Lepreau. It is not that big a place, nor a major port. Is anyone missing a Robert or Samuel?

My grandmother was a Stafford. Her family came to America via Canada by boat. They settled in Ohio. I've always been told it was an Irish name but always seems a bit English. I don't know much else, but it may be a clue for some that I've seen post in this thread.

Hi my name is andrew stafford and I was just wondering if there is any connection between us . We originate from Derrin Co Cavan my great great grandfather was Francis stafford and my great grandfather was John James . It’s probably a long shot but here goes