Individual Details

Birth

From "Cudworth Genealogy" (Edited by Arthur G. Cudworth, Sr.; revised 1874): The Cudwort h Family of England The Cudworths of England were an ancient family, the earliest meantio n of which, locates them in Yorkshire, in and around Eastfield. The name reveals a Saxon or igin, "coit" in that language, meaning wood, and "worthe" a place; Cudworthe meant a place b y the wood. The propensity of the English to shorten words soon reduced the name to Cudworth . They were evidently landholders of note before the Conquest in 1066, as the name Cudworde a ppears in the Doomsday Book, of 1086, which was a list of taxable estates, and individuals.T he Oxford Dictionary of Place Names notes the Cudworthe family as living in the West Riding o f York. In the early York Charters of about 1185, when Richard the First was King, the name i s Cudeuurdia, and in the Court Assizes Rolls of 1283, in the Reign of Edward First it is spel led Cudwurth. In the Wakefield Manor Rolls there is a record of one Peter Stanefelde, Gent. d rawing blood against the peace, from Henry Cudworth, a gentlrmen's quarrel. There is little d oubt that before the Conquest, the Cudworthes were Lords of the Manor, living the lives of co untry gentlemen, tilling the land, raising sheep, shipping wool and defending their country , when called upon by their Kings. After the Conquest, the lands of the conquered, were lar gely forfeited, and given to the victors, but by the time of Magna Carta, in 1225, the Saxo n names began to be in evidence again, through marriage, or purchase. Matthew Ouldham is kn own to have lived in the reign of King John, and was Lord of the Manor of Ouldham, in Lancast er. About one hundred and fifty years later, Richard Ouldham his descendant was co-heir wit h his daughter Margery, of the Ouldham estates. She married John Cudworthe, Lord of the Mano r of Werneth, a neighboring estate, and he became Lord of the Manors of Werneth and Ouldham , and so began the Cudworth pedigree. It was custom in the early days for the Bishops, or t heir representatives, to make periodical visits to their Clergy, and their parishes, for th e purpose of acquainting themselves with the conditions of the leading families, and their te nantry. These were called Visitations and there were three such, which contained pedigrees o f the Cudworthe family of Werneth (worn hill) the first in 1567, the second in 1613, and th e third in 1664-5. Each of these began with John and Margery, and in the second was signed b y John Cudworth [son of Ralph Cudworth and Jane Ashton] as head of the family. Joshua [grands on of previous John Cudworth] signed the third, and each was brought up to the then date. M any of the marriages, deaths, wills and land transactions are to be found in some of the earl y records of the Harlein MSS, from which some of this data has been extracted. From these rec ords comes the knowledge that such families as Cobb, Pratt, Ferrar, Venables, Ashton, Hopwood , Middleton, Davenport, and several others were neighbors and relatives of the Cudworths of W erneth, and representatives of many of them were early arrivals in America. [...] John Cu dworthe, Lord of the manors of Werneth... lived in the reign of Edward the Third, and approxi mately in the later half of the fourteenth century. In the vicinity were other Saxon families , interrelated, and leading the life of the country gentleman of those days. One of such wa s Richard of Ouldham, co-heir with his daughter, Margery, of the estate, and descendants of M atthew Ouldham, who lived in the reign of King John. margery married John Cudworthe, and on t he death of Richard, John became Lord of the Manors of both Werneth and Ouldham