As projects for genealogy enthusiasts go, you won’t get much better than the Budds. The family arising from the marriage of William Budd and Ann Hayward in 1774 has been the object of my research the fruits of which is set out on these pages. Here’s a family that can be traced back to the mid 1600s. And the wonderful thing about the Budds, the further back you go, the higher status they become. For a researcher this is gold - because rather than time erasing the records, with the Budds, the story gets stronger and stronger.
I have had the privilege to page-turn original documents relating to the Budds dating back to the late 1700s. Some of the Georgian Budds (set out in outline below) have dozens of original documents relating to them stored in National Archives here in England. They are a treasure-trove. And in researching them, they provide a pretty sound education about life in England in the late 18th and early 19th century.
Among them can be found one of the most famous cricketers of his time, 2 swashbuckling Naval officers, regularly doing battle with the French from the Nile to South America, a renowned London Solicitor, and a Major in the Madras Native Infantry - to pick out just a few.
Here they all* are:
William Hayward Born in Southwark, died an infant at 5 months
Ann (eldest daughter) Married Benedict John Angell, joining a wealthy family of landowners
Elizabeth Hayward Married Charles Barrington who went on to establish a place named after him in Nova Scotia, Canada
Thomas Hayward Married Marie Ann Reinagle, daughter of a Royal Academician and became a wealthy solicitor in London
Hopewell Hayward Joined Royal Navy and became a protege of Sir Sidney Smith (a peer of Nelson), retired a Commander
Henry Hayward Ditto
George Hayward Joined the Madras Native Infantry, sponsored by George Thelusson, a Director of The East India Company, died in India of Colera
Edward Hayward Sponsored into the War Office by William Wyndham, Secretary of War, went on to become one of the best known cricketers of his generation
Charles Hayward Became a Land Agent in London
Richard Hayward Became a Vet and emigrated to America
Samuel Hayward Gained a commission in Dillon’s Regiment
William Hayward Perhaps most like his father, Postman, then Waggoner, also declared bankrupt
As a family, the Budds made a pretty good account of themselves in terms of status and achievement. Quite how they managed this is perhaps a matter of conjecture. The matriarch, Ann Hayward, came from a family of some status in Gloucestershire. William's origins remain a mystery. What seems evident is that William and Ann worked patronage as hard as they could to put their children onto the right rung of the social ladder (see above, patrons came from the top echelons of government, commerce and the Military). William’s own life seems less fortunate. Originally setting up as an Innkeeper on the London to Oxford road, he appears to have overstretched himself financially and was declared bankrupt in 1799 and never appears to recover (details elsewhere on this site). We can only hope that he lived out his final years in Wiltshire surrounded by a large group of grateful and loving children.
* EH Budd makes reference to 16 children from the marriage of William and Ann, but only these twelve have been found to date.
