It's really hard doing this research without feeling pretty frustrated at times. This is my page to blow off steam. And to have some fun.
Voted Most Frustrating
Ruth Bundock of Springfield
•no record of any birth for a Ruth Bundock between 1745-1800.
•but, John Bundock marries Ruth Mixer in 1780, so there's one Ruth Bundock.
•Ruth Bundock dies 05 NOV 1781. after only one year of marriage. very sad.
•then, Ruth Bundock dies 20 SEP 1783. OK. Maybe this is the wife, and there was an undocumented daughter, named after the mother, who was the one who died in 1781. very, very sad.
•then, Ruth Bundock dies 27 MAR 1788. I'm feeling hopeless to solve this puzzle.
•then, Ruth Bundock dies 06 MAY 1793. I give up.
•but wait; there's more! A Samuel Oliver and, yes, you guessed it, Ruth Bundock record their marriage banns in 1816: 04 AUG, 11 AUG and 18 AUG.
Voted Most Prolific
Thank goodness the Bundock family was pretty prolific, or I wouldn't be here. Here are two families who single-handedly assured the survival of the Bundock name.
Thomas and Ann (Franklin Dennis) Bundock of Leigh-on-sea:
1. Thomas 09 SEP 1816
2. Mary Ann 23 FEB 1817
3. Sarah 19 APR 1818
4. Emma 11 MAR 1820
5. Anna 17 APR 1821
6. John 24 NOV 1822
7. Charlotte 03 OCT 1824
8. Hannah 26 FEB 1826
9. Phillis 27 JAN 1828
10. Eliza 26 SEP 1830
11. Saul 08 JAN 1832 (died as an infant)
12. Saul 20 JAN 1833
13. Jonathan 04 JUN 1837
14. Samuel 25 MAY 1839
15. Mary Hannah 29 MAY 1842
John and Sarah Bundock of Woodham Walter:
(sadly, many of these children died young)
1. Phebe 20 MAR 1763
2. Susannah 02 SEP 1764
3. Jane 19 MAR 1767
4. Hannah 19 MAR 1767
5. James 16 APR 1769
6. Esther 17 APR 1769
7. Elizabeth 26 MAY 1769 (remember--these are baptism, not birth, dates)
8. John 26 MAY 1770
9. Sally 29 MAR 1771
10. Samuel 08 AUG 1773
then they moved to Woodham Mortimer:
11. Martha 22 MAR 1775
12. Joseph 28 SEP 1777
13. William 04 JUL 1779
The Bantock/Bundock Dilemma
It's a fact that most folks back 300 years ago could not read or write. So, they didn't know how to spell their names when the parish clerks asked them. Clerks had to spell names phonetically. Some clerks were quite consistent, but most freely changed the spellings of surnames.
The name "Bundock" is spelled a myriad of ways in parish records: Bundock, Bundocke, Bundoc, Boondocke, Bundick, Bundich, Bundoch, Bendick, Bunduck, Bunducke, Bondock, Bondoc, Bondocke... there are even others. But, when the "d" became a "t" sound, I decided to list that family separately. I am convinced it is all the same family. Nowhere is it as evident than in the parish records of Great Stambridge, when James and Ann Bundoch give birth to William Bantock.
Voted Most Confusing (a.k.a. The First Name Blues)
Trying to connect all of the Bundocks together is nearly impossible for a few reasons, but mostly because of the lack of creativity when it came to choosing first names. Here's a tally (as of 01 DEC 2004):
•98 John/Jonathan Bundocks
•110 Mary Bundocks
•81 Elizabeth/Eliza Bundocks
•69 Thomas Bundocks
•45 Anne Bundocks
•53 Sarah Bundocks
•46 Robert Bundocks
•46 Richard Bundocks
•31 James Bundocks
Saddest Stories
1. A note within the parish records of 1678 lists the tale of this Bundock family in Buttsbury:
John Bundock, his wife and two children buryed all within a week. August 27, a child; August the 30th the second; September the 2nd his wife; September 3rd the father.
2. Elizabeth Bantock, a single woman, delivers a baby girl, Mary, in Dedham on 21 May 1848. Her parents do not live there; perhaps she has moved there to live with her brother William, who married Betsey Polley there in 1847.
The daughter, Mary, dies at the age of 6 weeks old, on 10 JUL 1848. The mother, Elizabeth, then dies one month later, at the age of 19, on 13 AUG 1848.