Description: A detailed family history of Earle & Welford families inhabiting the West and North Ridings of Yorkshire between the years 1268 and 1911 including family trees
archive (1120) bond (591) earl (41) boroughbridge (18) earle (16) yeoman (11) herle (2) erill (1) spofforth (1) uckerby (1)
This Earle & Welford Family History is the result of many hours of painstaking and meticulous research into my own paternal and maternal family lines which meander their way back in time through many of the Yorkshire towns, villages and farmsteads mentioned in the pages on this website. Having broadened my research to include as many instances of Earles and Welfords found living in Yorkshire from the thirteenth century through to the start of the twentieth, my wish is for this study to be the most comprehen
For the Earle family, I have adopted the most commonly found spelling of the surname in above title, though there have been many variant spellings of the family surname in Yorkshire over the centuries ranging from Earle, Earl, Erl, Erle, Erll, Erell, Erril, Herle, etc. It would appear this has more to do with the literacy of the manor scribe or incumbent parish clergy, or indeed the education (or lack of it) of individual family members, rather than any deliberate attempt to differentiate between families.
The Welford surname too has its varient forms in historical documents ranging from Welford, Wellford, Welfoot, Welfit and Wellfoote to name but a few, though by far the most common spelling is the one used in the above title.