Kefford One-Name Study

Kefford
One-Name Study

Topics

About the Kefford One-Name Study
Variants
Origin of the surname
Historical occurrences
Frequency of the name
Data
Links
Contact Details

About the Kefford One-Name Study

The Kefford One-Name study started in 1993 and has meandered on in stops and starts ever since as it gets interrupted by life. As is fairly normal, it started by my children asking questions and my realising that I knew nothing of my ancestors before my Grandparents and very little about them. As I delved back into my family I kept turning up other Keffords and kept the information even tho' they did not appear to be directly related. Eventually I had enough data to start 'reconstructing' families of other Keffords. I made contact with other Kefford researchers through mail shots and sharing of information led to an increasing appreciation of what a rich area of history could be exposed by following one name through the ages. This has led me on to following the spread of the Kefford name across the world - especially to Australia from its apparent origins in the 'Kefford triangle'.

Variants

There are several variants of the Kefford name - Keyford, Kifford and Keiford with a few others that appear to be simple, one-off, transcription errors. Keyford is interesting in that the Keyfords of Somerset, Frome area - seem to have no connection with the main Kefford/Kifford name.

Origin of the surname

There are several theories as to the origin of the name eg 'Keeper of the Ford' across the river Cam for example but the further back in time the name is traced, the more the area shrinks to a triangle between Cambridge, Bedford and Royston. This is what I have come to call the Kefford triangle and, before about 1800, there are very few occurrences of the name outside this triangle - apart from the Keyfords from the Frome area.

Historical occurrences

I haven't come across a Kefford who has been King of England - yet - but several Keffords have made their mark in other ways.

In the 19th century many Keffords were Agricultural Labourers - 'Ag Labs' by census but many were artisans - especially wheelrights and blacksmiths.

There are the ecclesiastical Keffords who were vicars and lawyers and were so proud of their connection with Charles Kingsley that they added Kingsley to their name.

There are the entrepreneurs who started a transport company in Australia - it is still going.

Also in Australia there is a famed Kefford cancer specialist.

A Colonel Kefford led the Ghurkas and an expedition to Everest.

I could go on and probably will later......

Frequency of the name

Kefford is not a common name and not a particularly rare one either. The GRO from 1838 to 1983 shows 1420 Kefford/Kifford births - an average of about 10 births a year.

Data

The Kefford/Kifford entries in the GRO for England and Wales have been indexed and recorded from 1838 to 1983. Information from other researchers has been gratefully added to a data base of interconnected Kefford families which is held in a program called 'Family Tree Maker'.

I am especially grateful to many people in Australia who have happily shared their family information with me.

Links

Peter Kefford has done a great deal of work on the history of the Keffords, far more than me. He has always been more than willing to share the fruits of his work and his excellent web site can be found at:-

www.thekeffs.freeserve.co.uk

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mr Richard E Kefford
E-mail:

This page last updated 25 February 2008.