Hi All! In case you haven't been paying attention, I have been varying the spelling of the surname in the subject line of each newsletter. The reason is that I have discovered, over the course of my research, 25 different spellings of the name, and that doesn't include misspellings. When you do research, in my opinion, you should be aware that there are variations in the spelling and check each variation to make sure you haven't missed something. For those who may be interested, I'll list the variations I've seen. If you have some that aren't listed, send them to me and I'll add them to my list. Keep in mind, though, that most of these spellings won't be seen very often. 'Nuf said. Here goes: Bedingfield, Beddingfield, Bedinfield, Bedfield, Benefield, Benfield, Benefeld, Benefell, Benefiel, Beningfield, Benningfield, Bedenfield, Bedingfeel, Bedingfeld, Benfeld, Bednfield, Bendfield, Battenfield, Bodingfeld, Bodingfield, Benefeidl, Benefeil, Benefil, Benifield, Bennefield.

This next bit comes from Ron, who has sent the information to me during the time of decision about whether the newsletter was needed. Thanks, Ron. I enclose it in quotation marks because I don't know what his source was. "The origin of this name dates back to 1066 and a man called Ogerus,son of Unimar, also known as Roger de Puis in Normandy.

One theory is that in 1687 William Bedingfield left Suffolk to Brunswick county, Va. He was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Yelverton and gdt. of Thomas Peyton. He had one son named Charles Yelverton Bedingfield. Charles m 1704 Mary Isabel dtr of DR.Lewis Marshall, and they had two sons, Henry b 1706 and John b 1708. Henry m in 1726 and had three sons: Henry,Nathan,and Charles. Henry jr. b1728 emigrated to nc and Nathan and Charles went to Burke county Ga. and left many descendants.Henry jr. had a son Thomas who had a son Henry Beddingfield of Wake county NC. This contradicts my line because I am a descendant of William Bedingfield of Wake county NC b 1740-1800.

Now for theory number 2.There is a record of a William Bedingfield b 1638 at Wighton, Norfork who married Elizabeth Wood and had a 2nd wife Ann Peyton dtr of Thomas Peyton youngest son of Sir Edward Peyton and his 1st wife Elizabeth Yelverton. William's parents were Humphrey Beddingfield and Abigail Hicks. I think the Norfolk Bedingfields were mostly catholic so I have my doubts about no. 2.

Theory 3. In the library one day I read about a wealthy Bedingfield that sent his nephew to Va. to oversee a tobacco plantation. This makes a lot of sense to me because of the business of the times. People were getting rich on tobacco. Why not?"

Continuing the series from The Benefiel Families of Indiana and Their Descendants by Evelyn Benefield Stout, we come to:

JOHN BEDINGFIELD 1804-??--son of Needham & Polly (Rogers) Bedingfield m ?? w Frances Welborn 1812-??
JOHN *1804 @ga; CENSUS AT Heard CO., GA, in 1840 & 1850; 46 in 1850 @Heard co., GA,41st Dist. FRANCES *1811/1812; 38 in 1850; also w/them in 1850 was Elizabeth Welborn 60,*GA [prob. her mother]; all the children were born in GA.
ch 1. Henry Bedingfield *1828/29 @GA; 21 in 1850
2. Mary Bedingfield *1834/35 @GA; 15 in 1850
3. John Bedingfield *1838/39 @GA; 11 in 1850
4. James Bedingfield *1840/41 @GA; 9 in 1850
5. Joseph Bedingfield *1842/43 @GA; 7 in 1850
6. George Bedingfield *1844/45 @GA; 5 in 1850
7. Robert Bedingfield *1845/46 @GA; 4 in 1850
8. Hardy Bedingfield *1847/48 @GA; 2 in 1850
* * * * * * *

CALEB C. BEDINGFIELD 1805-??--son of Needham & Polly(Rogers)Bedingfield
m 13 Oct 1831 w Lucinda Stone 1810-?? m+Walton co. GA; bk C p 2 CALEB *1804/05 @Columbia, GA; d 21 Oct __ @AL;45 in 1850Randolph co,AL
LUCINDA *1809/1810 @GA; 40 in 1850
ch 1. Elizabeth Bedingfield *1834/35 @GA
2. Caleb Bedingfield *18366/37 @GA
3. Nancy Bedingfield *1838/39 @GA
4. Louisa Jane Bedingfield 1841-
5. Sarah Bedingfield *1842/43 @AL
6. Needham Solomon Bedingfield *1844/45 @AL
7. Henry Bedingfield *18466/47 @AL
8. Martha Bedingfield *1848/49 @AL
9. William Bedingfield *after 1850??
* * * * * * *

HARDY BEDINGFIELD 1807 --son of Needham & Polly (Rogers) Bedingfield
m w Florence Lorena Camp 1813-
HARDY *1807/08 @GA;died ca 1870 @Gwinnett co,GA;42 in 1850 @Gwinnett co, GA
LORENA (or Lovena??) *1812/13; 37 in 1850
ch 1. Lovina Bedingfield *1831/32
2. Hobert Bedingfield *1832/33
3. Nancy Bedingfield *1833/34
4. Needham Bedingfield *1835/36
5. Hardy Bedingfield *1839/40
6. William Bedingfield *1841/42
7. James Bedingfield *1844/45
8. John Bedingfield *1847/48
TO BE CONTINUED

I hope this is a little something for everyone. If you have something you'd like to contribute for publication, please do. After all, how will you make a connection if nobody knows what you are looking for? Happy rooting! Thressa.