{{ad}} |
|
|
The name Sandsfarte was brought to England by the Normans when they conquered the country in 1066. The ancestors of the Sandsfarte family lived in Sandford in Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, and in Shropshire. These place names come from the Old English words "sand," and "ford." However, the name also seems to have arrived with the Normans, among whom were Ralph and Richard de Sanfort, Normandy. 1
The surname Sandsfarte was first found in Shropshire at Sandford, where Thomas de Saundford, one of the "companions in arms" of William I was given lands, for his assistance. He is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. "Richard de Sanford was certainly seated at Sandford soon after the Conquest, and which has ever since remained their principal seat." 2 3
Sandford Hall, near Whitchurch survives today. This county house is thought to have been built between 1700 and 1750 and at the time of writing is up for sale. Thorpe-Salvin in the West Riding of Yorkshire was home to a branch of the family. "It was anciently the property of the Salvin family, and subsequently of the Sandfords, by whom the now ruined Hall was erected about the middle of the 16th century." 4
Another early record of the family was Fulk de Sandford (d. 1271), also called Fulk de Basset, Archbishop of Dublin, nephew of Sir Philip Basset. "There was a Richard de Sandford, a prebendary of St. Paul's in 1241, and John de Sandford, (died 1294) Archbishop of Dublin, was Fulk Sandford's brother, and is known to be illegitimate." 5
The variant Sande or Sende could have originated in Send, a parish, in the union of Guildford, Second division of the hundred of Woking in Surrey. 6 "A priory of Black canons, in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Thomas à Becket, was founded in the time of Richard I., at Newark, in the parish, by Ruald de Calva and Beatrix his wife." 4
Indeed, we found two early listings of the family with very early spellings: William de Sandes in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1205 and Walter de la Sonde in the Feet of Fines of 1248. Both were found in Surrey at the time. 7
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sandsfarte research. Another 167 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1298, 1301, 1332, 1533, 1547, 1555, 1605, 1630, 1639, 1641, 1653, 1680, 1683, 1694 and 1701 are included under the topic Early Sandsfarte History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Sandsfarte are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Sandsfarte include Sandford, Sandiford, Samford, Sanford and others.
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was John Sandford, English owner of a woolen mill in Stonehouse, county Gloucester, and Mayor of Gloucester in 1533; Thomas Sandford, High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1547 and 1555; Thomas SandfordJohn Sanford (c. 1605-1653), English immigrant to Boston, Massachusetts from Essex, 2nd Governor of Newport and Portsmouth in 1653; and his son, Peleg Sanford (1639-1701), American 10th Governor of...
Another 66 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Sandsfarte Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Sandsfarte, or a variant listed above: Thomas Sandford, who arrived in Virginia in 1619; Thomas Sandford of Bristol, who arrived in Barbados around 1629, where he became a most prominent and wealthy plantation owner.