Leighfield - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

sandmist — 2009-05-12 22:03:01Z

Laura,I thought Wootton Bassett was pretty and Cricklade was too. I'm glad we had the right house and yes, the land is doesn't seem to have been built upon so it must be as it was. I would love to see your pics. I will send you ours when we get them developed. My e-mail is sandra.e.barker@btinternet.com. The grave yard is two streets away from the high street at Wootton and is not by a church. Someone outside the church told us about it when we were looking at the graves at the church. I can give you further instructions if you wish. I'm pleased you are going to look deeper into the history. A church warden in Cricklade gave us directions to were records are kept but alas on sundays they don't open. We will try and go again sometime though. I look forward to seeing those pics. Regards and bye for now. Sandie.

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

LauraHardin50 — 2009-05-11 11:09:35Z

Hi! How exciting that you found William and Catherine's grave, which cemetary was that in? You found the correct house! The farm is now owned by Thomas Crapper and Sons, and Richard Crapper, the descendent of Thomas the toilet inventor, is now in charge and has an office there. He gave me a tour of the house. If you send me your email address I can send you some pictures. I thought it was quite exciting that the land in the area was still relatively unchanged from when our Leighfield's farmed there. Something else interesting is that the 3 farms neighboring Park Grounds House were also owned by Leighfields. I met one still farming organically, and his family has farmed there for centuries. I want to go to Reading to visit the Farm History Museum and trace the ownership of Park Grounds Farm. I want to find out how many Leighfields owned the property before John and Hannah, and where they came from. I'm hoping to do that this summer. I also want to go out to the Wiltshire Family Records office to do some more research into the family further back. I'm so glad you had the opportunity to visit the area. It's very rare to be able to visit a house where one's ancestors lived, as so many have been lost to new developments. Do keep in touch, kind regards, Laura Hardin

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

sandmist — 2009-05-10 20:50:09Z

We finally managed to get to visit Wootton Bassett today. We have found a few Leighfields in the cemetry and found that one, William and his wife Catherine are the son and daughter in law of John and Hannah. We think we found the house...opposite the waste site with the name 'Park House' is this correct? We took a photo. No one was in when we knocked. No car there either but the gates were open. We also visited Cricklade and Purton. I did manage to get a copy of the will but you are right, I could hardly read any of it. lol

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

LauraHardin50 — 2008-08-20 08:45:56Z

Fantastic! The house is now owned by Thomas Crapper and Sons. Thomas invented the flushing loo in Elizabethan times. The business is now run by his son Richard, and the farm is now used as a waste recycling centre. You should probably ring ahead and get permission to visit the premises. Richard was very hospitable and showed me around, and he now knows that the farm was owned by the Leighfields. What is brilliant is that the house is there AND the land is relatively untouched, so it looks the way it must have done when our ancestors were farming there. There are two neighbouring farms that are also owned by Leighfields, but I haven't managed to trace the connection. I have found lots of info on the Leighfields of Park Ground Farm, and I'll try to attach it as a file in future. You can also see the will of John Leighfield via the National Archives. It is hard to read, but it lists the type of house and farm that he left to his wife and son. Keep me posted!

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

sandmist — 2008-08-19 19:18:32Z

hi Laura, Yes, John lived at Park Grounds Farm with his wife Hannah and his family. I'm pleased you told us the farm is still there. We are planning a visit to Wootton Bassett in the near future so hopefully we'll be able to see it.

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

LauraHardin50 — 2008-08-19 10:46:28Z

Was the John Leighfield you are speaking of from Park Grounds Farm, Wootten Bassett? There were several John Leighfields in WB at this time, annoyingly, which makes tracing the right ones more challenging! The Leighfield's I have information on were the farmers of Park Grounds Farm. Interestingly, the farmhouse is still there, on the same land the family owned 200 years ago!

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

sandmist — 2008-08-10 22:58:03Z

Hello Dan and Carley. I am reserching this family too on. I have traced back to John Livall/Leighfield 1676. I have a Thomas Livall born 1761 in Wootton Bassett born to John and Anne Livall. John may possibly be a brother to the William Livall you mention.

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

cleyfield — 2008-08-04 21:50:33Z

Hi, just read your posts and hope you still have some interest in this name even though it was a few years ago. We have traced our family back to a William Livall from Wotton Bassett who married Elizabeth Bendry in 1761. What is of real interest is the change of name from Lythal to Livall to Livol and then the real change to Leighfield and what we are now - Leyfield - do you have any information on this?
Kind regards
Dan and Carly

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

LauraHardin50 — 2006-01-22 15:17:04Z

Hi Leslie-Ann
I was so interested to read what you had to say about the Livall connection. I have made contact with a farmer who lives just outside of Wootton Bassett. He is a Leighfield. So is his brother who lives on the neighbouring farm. My family of Leighfield's owned a third farm next to theirs, so as you can see, there were lots of Leighfields in this area. I went to Wootton Bassett and did quite a bit of research. I've traced my branch back to 1776 and would love to share the info with you, so please come back to me if you are still interested. Kind regards, Laura

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

2004-04-06 17:04:26Z

Hi Leslie-Ann. I'm in London. I agree, I'm sure there is a connection. George is a common Leighfield name. There were several in my direct tree going back to John and Hannah Leighfield of Park Grounds Farm in WB in 1700's, but none being of the right date to be your George. However, when I was looking at census records, I found a George Leighfield living near my direct ancestors. I'm going to Trowbridge this summer to the public records office and I'll take your message with me and try to find out about George and Charlotte to see how they relate to my family. If you have any further info that would help me with the research, do let me know. I'm trying to pull together as much info as possible about the Leighfields. My gparents also moved from WB to Swindon. A lot of the WB farm labourers migrated to the area in the mid-1800's to help build the Great Western Railway. I think it is all really fascinating!
Kind regards, Laura

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

2004-04-05 22:14:20Z

HiLaura, Great to hear from you.

There can't really be any doubt that we are related. It just remains to establish how. My GGG grandmother Amelia was born there in the summer of 1837 to George Leighfield and his wife Charlotte WALLIS (another WB family). George's father was also George and his mother was Letitia. Would love to keep in touch and work on this. Charlotte married in Swindon in Nov. 1855 and migrated with husband and growing family to Victoria's goldfields. I know that there are also Leighfields in NZ and Canada. Whereabouts are you?

Wonderful to hear from you.

Regards, Leslie-Ann (O'Donnell)

Re: LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

LauraHardin50 — 2004-04-05 17:28:51Z

Hi, I've just read your message. I too am descended from the Leighfield's of Wootten Bassett. I'm at work now, and all my research is at home. I'm going to go to the records office at Trowbridge this summer and do more research on the family, and right now I'm not sure exactly how we are related, but I'd love to continue corresponding with you and sharing any relevant information, so please keep in touch!
Kind regards

Laura Hardin

LEIGHFIELD/LIVALL

_Ellay — 2003-07-02 13:16:32Z

I have traced my family back to George LEIGHFIELD and his wife Latitia. Their son George married Charlotte WALLIS 23 January 1834 at Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire. Their daughter Amelia was born (probably August) 1837, again at Wootton Basset.

In November 1855 at Swindon in Wiltshire Amelia married Joseph FEWSTER (born 1835, Bristol). In 1859 they emigrated to Australia aboard the vessel Annie Wilson with their first two sons and settled in the goldfield town of Ballarat. A further 10 children were born Joseph and Amelia.

The Leighfield name appears in the parish registers of Wootton Basset from 1765 and is clearly a variant on the earlier version of the name, LIVAL(L). It appears to be one extended family who were farmers and farm labourers.

I would love to hear from anyone else who believes that they may be connected to this family. I will post an outline of the extended LEIGHFIELD (Livall) family in Wootton Basset when it is in reasonable shape.