Richard Craxford (m 1641, Gretton) is the earliest recorded bearer of the Craxford surname. Who were his parents? Was he born in Northamptonshire? Did our name develop from something else? We have a few clues which are described in the article Who is the Craxford Elder Stateman? but we are still looking for the definitive breakthrough.

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Parish records from Crowland, Lincolnshire show a clutch of 11 baptisms in the name of Craxford between 1743 and 1760. Apart from an isolated family in the 1841 census, the name never appears again. However from 1770 to the present day, the name Croxford has been quite common. Is this a coincidence or a branch of the family changing its name?

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Anyone studying the Claypole family tree will quickly discover that the most famous union was when Sir John Claypole married Elizabeth, the daughter of Oliver Cromwell, in 1646. However there appear to be three distinct Claypole lines in the East Midlands - complicated by spelling variants of the surname - in Cambridgeshire, Northborough, Northampton (the "high born") and Leicestershire (the "low born" - us!!). Our earliest Claypole was Robert (b abt 1640) who lived in Medbourne, Leics. Sir John, whose Claypole line has been traced back to the Plantagenet kings, did have a brother, Robert, who was born about 1627 - but he would have been about 12 when our Robert was conceived. Can we connect to the main Claypole line?

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Francis Cockerill Craxford was born in Huntingdon in 1814 where he was convicted on two counts of theft in 1836. He was transported to Tasmania where he served his time and moved to the Australian mainland where his trail went cold. The evidence is presented in The mystery of Francis Cockerill Craxford

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For nearly one hundred years members of one branch of the Craxford family were known in public by the name Crauford. Closely linked to the Lanes and Borrows who founded the famous Britannia Theatre, we know that the patriarch of the dynasty, Robert, died of cholera in 1854. We believe that his parents were John Craxford and Frances Gill (both b abt 1780) from the East End of London. About 1910 one part of the family reverted back to Craxford while the other continued with Crauford. We are still looking to link the family back to Gretton, Northamptonshire in the 18th century. Their stories are recounted in these articles in the PURPLE pages

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The census of 1841 shows an Elizabeth Craxford living with her son William and daughter Ann in the Beast Market of Uppingham. We have traced Ann, her marriage and offspring through Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire back to Uppingham in 1911. Elizabeth was born in Collyweston in 1787 and died in the Peterborough area in 1869. Who was her husband? and how does this branch connect to the main trunk?

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Found within Eva Unwin's collection of Victorian and Edwardian family photographs was this study of a young lady tantalisingly inscribed "Melinda". Eva was sure she was a (not too close) relation but could not remember who.

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