The Brailsfords In Clwyd

Date: 30 May 2022 [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Brailsford Clwyd Brellisford

Beginnings

This project came out of an attempt to source information on my Brailsford/Brellisford ancestors and their close relatives and to discover if all of those documented in Clwyd were descendants of the same couple, John Brailsford and his wife, Mary Ralphs

The name seems to originate from the Derbyshire village of Brailsford but has undergone various mutations and research has shown that even in the beginnings of this branch of the family's presence in Clwyd, Brellisford already seems to be more widely used than Brailsford. Identifying members of the family in Clwyd however has been fraught with difficultues.

The Clwyd Parish Registers provide about 16 variations of the Brailsford/Brellisford name and my own early researches have been very much aided by Jill Rose's website Clwyd Surnames 2 in which she has produced a master index of names from the parish registers of Clwyd which have been transcribed by members of the Clwyd Family History Society. My sincere thanks to Jill and the CFHS for all their work.

Variations

Variations of the name identified in the Clwyd Registers:
BELLISFORD
BERESFORD
BRAILEFORD
BRAILSFORD
BRALLISFORD
BRELESFORD
BRELISFORD
BRELISSFORD
BRELIZFORD
BRELLESFORD
BRELLISFIELD
BRELLISFOR
BRELLISFORD
BRELSFORD
BRERIZFORD
BRILLESFORD
Source: Clwyd Surnames 2 - B

The First Brailsfords/Brellisfords in Clwyd?

John and Mary Ralphs Brailsford came to Llangollen from Shropshire in the 1750s. John was a teacher and came to the area to take up a teaching post. The couple already had at least four children and had a few more after they moved to Wales. Birth dates and parentage of some of their apparent offspring has still to be confirmed.

More research is needed to confirm the backgrounds of the couple themselves. So far, John was possibly born in Blore in Staffordshire in 1720 but more evidence is still needed to prove this. Many family researchers have identified Mary as the Mary Ralphes born in Hodnet, Shropshire in but she seems to be more likely to have been the same Mary Ralphes who married in Hodnet in 1749. Mary and John Brailsford's eldest two children were christened in Ellesmere and so it seems likely that their mother was one of the Mary Ralphs christened in Ellesmere in 1718 or 1719.

John was a school teacher working at a school in the Ellesmere/Great Ness area when he married Mary. His appointment to a school in Llangollen prompted the young family's move to Wales and the start of the Welsh born line of Brellisfords.

Clwyd - The area of Flintshire and Denbighshire brought together under a county reorganisation in 1974 lasting only until 1996. It covered an area which now includes Flintshire, Denbighshire, Wrexham and part of Conwy.

When John and Mary first moved to Llangollen it was in Denbighshire and is now in Wrexham, but many of their descendents spread throughout the area later known as Clwyd.

Sources

Mary Ralph: Hodnet birth 1725 - Baptism: "Shropshire, England, Extracted Church of England Parish Records" Electronic databases created from various publications of parish and probate records; Book: Baptisms. (Baptism) Ancestry uk Record 5931 #511535 (accessed 24 November 2022). Unknown baptism.

Mary Ralph: Hodnet marriage 1849 - "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", FamilySearch Database : 26 May 2022), Mary Ralphs in entry for John Mooton, 1749.

Anne Bellisford: birth 1745 - "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", FamilySearch Database: 19 September 2020), Anne Bellisford, 1745

Charles Richards Brellisford: birth 1747 -"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", FamilySearch Database: 19 September 2020), Charles Richards Brellisford, 1747.