Bashford History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The present generation of the Bashford family is only the most recent to bear a name that dates back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. Their name comes from having lived in Nottinghamshire having derived from the Old English word basaforde, which means the dweller by the birch-ford. Another reference suggests that the names was derived from the ford near the home of Bassa (Bassa's ford) or from the French expression le bas ford, meaning the lower ford. Today there are also towns named Basford in Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire and the surname may indicate a person's residence in one of these places.
Early Origins of the Bashford family
The surname Bashford was first found in Nottinghamshire, near Nottingham where one of the first records of the name was found as Chaplain de Basford who was listed there in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273.
Early History of the Bashford family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bashford research. Another 41 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bashford History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Bashford Spelling Variations
Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Bashford include Bassford, Basford, Bassforde, Basforde, Bashford, Bashforde, Bashfield, Bashfeild and many more.
Early Notables of the Bashford family
More information is included under the topic Early Bashford Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Bashford migration to the United States +
Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Bashford were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records:
Bashford Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- Richard Bashford, who arrived in Virginia in 1719 1
- James Bashford, who landed in New York in 1770 1
- Andrew Bashford, who arrived in New York in 1789 1
- Thomas Gunning Bashford, who settled in Salem, Massachusetts in 1799
- Thomas Gunning Bashford, aged 24, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1799 1
Bashford Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Thomas G Bashford, who landed in Charleston, South Carolina in 1803 1
- Alfred Bashford, aged 25, who landed in America from London, in 1897
Bashford Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
- Cuthbert A. Bashford, aged 29, who immigrated to the United States from Manchester, in 1903
- L. Bashford, who landed in America, in 1904
- Jane Bashford, aged 39, who landed in America, in 1908
- James Whitford Bashford, aged 61, who immigrated to the United States, in 1910
- Martha Bashford, aged 23, who immigrated to the United States from Redhill, England, in 1910
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Bashford migration to Australia +
Emigration to
Australia followed the
First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:
Bashford Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
- William Bashford, English convict from Staffordshire, who was transported aboard the "Adelaide" on August 08, 1849, settling in Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip, Australia 2
Bashford migration to West Indies +
The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association.
3Bashford Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
- John Bashford, who settled in Barbados in 1679
Contemporary Notables of the name Bashford (post 1700) +
- Wilkes Bashford (1934-2016), American clothier who founded Wilkes Bashford, an upscale clothing store for women and men in 1966
- Robert McKee Bashford (1845-1911), American politician and jurist from Wisconsin
- James Whitford Bashford (1849-1919), American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the first bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in China
- Coles Bashford, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Wisconsin
- William Benjamin Bashford (1875-1955), English-born merchant from London, who settled in Saskatchewan becoming a farmer and politician
- Sir Henry Howarth Bashford (1880-1961), English physician, and writer, doctor to King George VI
- Gordon Dennis Bashford (1916-1991), British car design engineer, best known for his work on most of the post-war Rover cars, including the Land Rover and the Range Rover
- Rollin Bashford Dart (1925-2016), American banker, chairman of Dart National Bank (1962 to 2005)
- Bashford Dean (1867-1928), American zoologist and armor expert
Historic Events for the Bashford family +
- Mr. Harry Bashford (1883-1917), Canadian resident from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who died in the Halifax Explosion (1917) 4
Citations +
- Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
- State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2014, November 17) Adelaide voyage to Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip, Australia in 1849 with 303 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/adelaide/1849
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
- Halifax Explosion Book of Remembrance | Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. (Retrieved 2014, June 23) . Retrieved from https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosion/halifax-explosion-book-remembrance