EARLY ENGLISH ROOTS

CAUTION: Please read the discussion "Who was the father of John Spofford, the early settler of Rowley, Mass.?" found elsewhere on this site before reading and/or downloading this version. The following pedigree should be considered primarily conjecture and speculation resulting from conflicting, and, most likely, a considerable amount of inaccurate data. While it closely reflects the long-standing traditional lineage of the English roots of John Spofford, the 1638 immigrant to Massachusetts, there is little known primary evidence to substantiate many of the relationships shown -- it remains on this site for information purposes only. Since it should be considered only in reference to the above mentioned discussion, the contents of this page should not be distributed as a separate entity.

Robert A. Spafford (February 1999)

In 1065 Gamelbar de Spofford, with other Northumbrians, broke in open revolt and attacked Tosti and his body guard. Tosti was declared an outlaw and Morcar (Morkere) was made Earl of Northumberland. On January 5, 1066, Edward the Confessor died and Earl Harold became the king of England. Later that year, Tosti together with Harald III Hardrada, the king of Norway, invaded Yorkshire, stormed York, and defeated Morcar, but were themselves defeated and slain (September 1066) by Harold at Stamford Bridge just east of the city of York. About three weeks later Harold himself was defeated and killed at Hastings by William the Conqueror. All of the estates of Gamelbar de Spofford were confiscated. The manor of Spofford (about 15 miles west of York) was in the large Parish of Spofford on a branch of the river Nidd, convenient to Gamelbar's mansion in the city of York and to his other estates. It must have had great advantages, for his successor, William de Percy, upon whom the Conqueror bestowed it, selected it, out of all his large estates as his home and made it the head of a barony. For several generations Spofforth Castle was the chief seat of the Percy family. Some of Gamelbar's family became tenants of Percy; some sought refuge in the cloisters. (See "General Introduction of Domesday Book", by Sir Henry Ellis Vol. l, pp 714, 17, 18, and 493. See also "Old Yorkshire", pp 35, 45, and 147.)

Even though the bulk of the fragmentary evidence, which makes the accompanying lineal chart possible, was collected, assessed, and arranged by Sir John Bernard Burke, the most eminent genealogist of his time, (Editor of "The Peerage" and "The Landed Gentry"), we must bear in mind, however, that this evidence, which strongly attracted Burke's special interest because of its comparative prominence, is still fragmentary. Sir Burke undoubtedly made some mistakes as to direct descent, but apparently he was fully aware of the uncertainties when he wrote: "It is mentioned in Domesday that Gamelbar de Spofford held the Lordship or Manor of Spofforth previous to that survey, after which the Percys had a grant.... The present family of Spofforth may be authentically traced to within a few miles of the place; and from the scarcity and singularity of this name, there is no doubt they are descendants of the former possessors." (See pp 41 and 42 in the back part of Vol. 1, Second Series, "A Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland" by John Bernard Burke, Esq., Hurst and Blackett, Publishers, London, 1854. Also see "Nidderdale, from Nun Monkton to Whernside" by Harry Speight, pp 179 - 212.)

During the reign of Henry VIII many priests married. Bryan Spofforth (20), a priest, was Rector of Barton in Ryedale. In 1530 he married Alice, daughter of Walter Fawkes of Leeds. A quarter of a century later during the reign of Queen Mary, he was deprived of his benefice for having married. (See "Yorkshire Archaeological Journal", Part 37, p 95.) A son, Robert Spofford (21) embraced the reformed religion, and was the first Protest-ant of the family. According to Burke, this Robert married Agnes, daughter of Gilbert Clare of Pontefract, in 1565, and their first son, John Spofford, the vicar, was born twenty-three years later, in 1588. We suspect that a whole generation is missing. Speight lists John, the vicar and John of Cawood, who had a daughter, Elizabeth, as brothers, sons of Robert. It seems unlikely that two sons by the same parents, each growing to man-hood, would be named John. Without definite evidence we assume John Spofford (22) of Cawood was the son of Robert Spofford (21) and the father of John Spofford (23) the vicar of Silkestone parish. Thus, prior to 1588 some uncertainties exist as to direct descent, but there is no doubt that families bearing the name "Spofford" are descendants of Gamelbar de Spofford.

Fred A. Spafford - 1970

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