Reed Duffell, b.c1735

[geoffpowers]

For some time my wife has been researching the Duffell family in the Kingston upon Thames area of Surrey, and has hit a brick wall in the case of Reed Duffell, who was probably born around 1735.

The Duffell family were associated with the parish of Long Ditton and Tolworth. Reed married a Jane c1758, but we do not know her surname. All of Reed and Jane's children were baptised in the above parish.

When he made his will in 1796 Reed was living in Kingston Upon Thames. He is described as a labourer. The beneficiaries of the will were Reed's sons, John and William, and his son-in-law, John Westbrooke. John Westbrooke was also the executor of Reed's will. The witnesses to the will were William Bartlett and Richard Carter. In two places in the will Reed's surname is given as DEFFELL, but this is probably a copyist's error and not significant.

We would be grateful for any information on Reed's birth and wider family connections in the Kingston area in the second half of the 18th Century.

[Coromandel]

The date would be a bit out, and it's not in Surrey . . . but FamilySearch has a Read Deffell, son of John & Jane, bapt. 21 Feb 1728 (so could be either 1727/8 or 1728/9) at Reading St Mary. He might be worth investigating further.

[Waitabit]

Surrey Long Ditton by Banns 15 oct.. 1755 Read Deffel & Jane Giles. both of this Parish..
Parish Register Transcripts

[Waitabit]

Surrey Long Ditton by Banns 15 oct.. 1755 Read Deffel & Jane Giles. both of this Parish..
Parish Register Transcripts

There are 16 Burials in the 1800s for varying aged DUffells. at Kingston.
If you want I can send them on.

[geoffpowers]

Very many thanks to all of you for these interesting snippets of information, and especially your kind offer of the burial data, waitabit. We now have something to 'chew' on! 1728 is certainly not too far adrift of the tentative date we had estimated for Reed's birth, though we had not considered Berkshire as a potential birth county. Will pursue these leads and report back!

[geoffpowers]

We're proceeding on the basis that this is 'our' man. The linkage of this given name and surname must be pretty unique. He will probably have made a trip down-river in his move to Kingston from Reading. It's not much more than 20 miles.

For the record, there are lots of Deffells in Reading who seem to go back at least to the Commonwealth period. We're in the process of making the connections - not helped by the 'mess' which is now IGI + Hugh Wallis!