Kefford & Kifford Clergy
One of the first Keffords I met outside of my own family line was the Rev. Peter Charles Kefford, Curate of All Hallows by the Tower in London, back in 1978. Peter subsequently moved to Worth near Crawley in Sussex, then to Henfield. He is now a Canon at Chichester Cathedral.
Peter was not however, the first Kefford or Kifford to enter Holy Orders and this page is dedicated to the three known clergymen who preceded him in entering the Church of England. Interestingly, all three studied at Cambridge and all three had connections with Suffolk, not a county usually associated with Keffords & Kiffords prior to C20th. Also included on the page is the Rev Edward Kefford Lutt, who although not a Kefford by surname, is an example of Kefford being used as a Christian name.
Henry Kifford appears in Alumni Cantabrigiensis with the following entry:
KIFFORD, HENRY Adm. Sizar (age 17) at CHRIST'S, Feb. 2, 1697-8. S. of Thomas. B at Cambridge. School, King's College (Mr Rosewell). Matric.1698, as "Ketford"; Scholar 1700-01; B.A. 1701-2; M.A. 1705. Ord. deacon (Norwich) Sept. 1703; priest, Sept. 1704. R. of Sweffling, Suffolk, 1717. R of Sotherton and Uggeshall, 1736. R. of Dennington, 1741-1751. Buried at Halesworth, July 13, 1752. (Peile, II 140-1.)
Based on the above entry, Henry was born c1681 in Cambridge, the son of Thomas Kifford. No baptisms have been found in Cambridge or Cambridgeshire at this time, but one possibility is that he could have been a son of Thomas Kefford and Mary Fordham who married at Duxford St John, Cambridgeshire on 15 December 1679.
Their four known children were baptised at Royston between 1682 and 1698, including Thomas Kefford - Clockmaker of Royston in 1686 and his younger brother John in 1698, who was apprenticed to a clockmaker in 1716. It is therefore quite possible that Henry could have been born to Thomas and Mary c1681. If, as seems possible, Thomas Kefford snr was also a clockmaker, such a skilled occupation in the family may well have given a background of literacy and financial security sufficient for Henry to study at Cambridge.
Henry's studies were clearly successful and he was ordained Deacon in September 1703 at Norwich, followed by his ordination as a Priest a year later, presumably also at Norwich.
Sometime before 1714 Henry married a lady called Prudence (the date and her surname are unknown, the marriage record not having been found). Their daughter, Ann Kifford, was baptised at Halesworth on 14 October 1714 and their son, Henry Kifford, was baptised there on 29 September 1719, even though by this time he was Rector of Sweffling.
Sadly, neither Henry jnr nor his mother survived childbirth and Henry jnr was buried on 2 October and Prudence on 5 October 1719 at Halesworth. A monumental inscription has partly survived there, including a reference to Henry snr who was subsequently buried there on 13 July 1752 (see below).
After the death of Prudence, Henry remarried, this time to a lady called Hannah (again the date and her surname are unknown for the same reason as for that of Prudence). No children have been found from this marriage.
The Metfield parish register records the marriage of a Thomas Butcher of Rumborrow (Rumburgh) and a Sarah Curtis of Little Linstead (Linstead Parva) on 1 September 1730. The marriage was by certificate from Mr Henry Kifford, Curate of Rumborrow.
The Sotherton parish register has the following record:
December 30th 1736: Hen: Kifford was instituted into this Rectory.
Henry moved to Dennington in 1741 where he ended his days in 1752. He left a will, now held at Norfolk Record Office in Norwich, of which his daughter Ann and widow Hannah were the main beneficiaries. He specifically stated that he was to be "buried in Halesworth vestry near my wife and son".
Hannah Kifford made her will in 1762 whilst living at Yoxford where she died. She was buried there in on 18 June1768. Her will made her step-daughter Ann Kifford the main beneficiary. The will is held at Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich.
Ann Kifford never married and died a spinster at Yoxford in 1778 where she was buried on 20 February of that year. Her will, made in 1774, was proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury and is held by the Public Record Office in London.
Rev. Edward John Kefford 1871 - 1920
Edward John Kefford appears in Alumni Cantabrigiensis with the following entry:
Adm. pens. at ST JOHN'S, Oct. 2, 1890. [Younger] s. of William, assistant to H.M. Inspector of Schools, of Bury St Edmunds [and Maria Freeman]. B. June 13, 1871, at Rickinghall Inferior, Suffolk. School, King Edward's, Bury St Edmunds. Matric. Michs. 1890; B.A. 1893; M.A. 1897. Ord. deacon (Liverpool) 1895; priest, 1896; C. of Roby, Lancs., 1895-9. C. of Alverstoke, Hants., 1899-1901. C. of St Bartholomew's, Southsea, 1901-8. V. of Catherington, Hants., 1908-20. Died Mar. 3, 1920.
He was baptised at Rickinghall Inferior on 5 October 1871 and entered St John's College, Cambridge in the Michaelmas term 1890 gaining his BA in 1893 and his MA in 1897. He was ordained deacon in 1895 and priest in 1896. His parishes included:
Roby 1895-99; Alverstoke 1899-1901; St Bartholomew, Southsea 1901-1908 & Catherington 1908-1920
He married Ethel Archer at Prescot in 1899. It is not known for sure whether they had any children, although Phyllis Ethel S Kefford born at Portsmouth in 1904 may have been their daughter.
Edward John Kefford died in 1920 at Catherington aged 48.
Kefford Close in nearby Horndean, Hampshire is named after him, apparently partly in honour of his efforts in creating lynch-gate war memorial in his churchyard soon after WW1.
Source: Crockford's Clerical Directory 1914 & GRO Indexes.
Rev. William Kingsley Kefford 1869 - 1953
William Kingsley Kefford appears in Alumni Cantabrigiensis with the following entry:
Adm. pens. at ST JOHN'S, Oct. 2, 1894. [Elder] s. of William, Sub-Inspector of Schools, of S. Tottenham, London [and Maria Freeman]. B. Mar. 29, 1869, at Rickinghall, Suffolk. School, Bury St Edmunds. Matric. Michs. 1894; B.A. 1897; M.A. 1901. Ord. deacon (Canterbury) 1897; priest, 1898; C. of Ospringe, Kent, 1897-1900. C. of Shaw, Berks., 1900-3. V. of Dullingham, Cambs., 1903-9. R. of Shaw with Donnington, Berks., 1909-48
He was baptised at St Matthew, Ipswich on 17 May 1869 and entered St John's College, Cambridge in the Michaelmas term 1894, gaining his BA in 1897 and his MA in 1901. He was ordained deacon in 1897 and priest in 1898. His parishes included:
Ospringe 1897-1900; Shaw, Newbury 1900-03; Dullingham 1903-09; Shaw with Donnington (Newbury)1909-53.
He married Henrietta Mabel Trigg at Bury St Edmunds in 1899. They had at least 4 children:
Henrietta Mable Kefford died in 1925 at Newbury aged 55. William Kingsley Kefford died in 1953 at Newbury aged 84.
Source: Crockford's Clerical Directory 1949-50 & GRO Indexes.
Note on the "Kingsley" Keffords
As will have no doubt become clear by now, Edward John and William Kingsley Kefford were brothers, sons of William Kefford and Maria Freeman, who married in the December quarter 1863 in the STOW registration district, Suffolk. The family appear in Suffolk under the name Rufford on the 1881 Census CD set, probably a transcription error.
In 1891 they appear at Bury St Edmunds but are indexed under the surname William. It seems the enumerator recorded the head of the household surname first hence: Kefford William, but then recorded his wife and children forename first with the net result that they all appear with William as the surname. The Census Index is an accurate transcription of an inaccurate entry.
William was born in the September quarter 1839, in the HERTFORD registration district and baptised in Port Vale Chapel, Bengeo on 11 August of that year. He was the son of John Kefford and Lucinda Kingsley, who married at Sandon, Hertfordshire, on 16 January 1826.
John Kefford was born in 1799 in Royston, Hertfordshire and Lucinda was born at Reed, not far from Sandon.
Lucinda Kingsley is thought to have been a relative of the Rev. Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), Rector of Eversley, Hampshire 1842-1875 and author of several books including his 1850 social novel Alton Locke, his historical work, Westward Ho! in 1855 and children's novel The Water Babies in 1863.
Whether this presumed connection influenced Edward John and William Kingsley Kefford to enter the Church is not known, especially as both would have been very young at the time of Kingsley's death in 1875. Whatever the connection, the use of "Kingsley" as a forename continued.
Rev. Edward Kefford Lutt 1869 - 1953
Edward Kefford Lutt appears in Alumni Cantabrigiensis with the following entry:
Adm. pens. at SIDNEY, Apr. 19, 1839. S. of Edward, of Cambridge. B. there, Mar. 7, 1819. Schools, Cambridge (Mr Bailey) and Lincoln (Mr Adcock). Matric. Michs. 1839; B.A. 1844; M.A. 1847. Adm. ad eundem at Oxford 1853. Ord. deacon (Lincoln) 1844; priest, 1845; C. of Woolstone, Bucks., 1845-6. C. of Beeston, Notts., 1847-8. C. of Frome Selwood, Somerset, 1849-56. C. of Easton, Hants., 1856-9. C. of Bowerchalke, Wilts., 1859-61. P.C. of Alvediston, 1861-2. V. of Harmston, Lincs., 1862-86. R. of Bucknall, 1886-98. Buried there, May 30, 1898.
No baptism has been found for him c1819 but it seems likely that he was the son of Edward Lutt and Edith Bradfield who married on 29 November 1818 at Duxford St. John, Cambridgeshire. Edward Kefford Lutt married in the June quarter 1847 at Lincoln to Augusta Turner and died aged 79 at Horncastle in the June quarter 1898.
Edward Lutt senior appears to have been baptised on 23 Jan 1789 at Graveley, Cambridgeshire the son of another Edward Lutt and Hannah Kefford "Kitford" who married on 9 July 1781 Diddington, Huntingdonshire. They also had a son called Kefford Lutt who was baptised on 19 June 1786 also at Graveley. Kefford Lutt married Susannah Bidwell on 14 March 1806 at Bluntisham cum Earith, Huntingdonshire.
The family were clearly anxious that the Hannah Kefford's surname should not be lost. It seems likely that she was the daughter of Robert and Mary Kefford and was born in the early 1760s at Diddington, although her baptism has not been found.