Birkenhead’s of Backford

I have been continuing my research of the Bunbury line. For the 18th century and earlier, Burke’s Peerage has proved incredibly useful. As Burke’s is serves mainly for showing how someone inherited their title or lands, it tends to be patrilineal (meaning descent is calculated through men). However, the wives are often well noted, including the wife’s father. Such is the link between the Bunbury’s and the Birkenhead’s.

v. Eleanor, b. in 1605, m. to Thomas, second son of Sir Henry Bunbury, of Stanney.

So this their marriage would fall about 60 years before the Bunbury family moved from England to Ireland. So I followed up Eleanor’s ancestors and family, and added 100+ Birkenhead’s to my family tree. The Birkenhead’s go back to four more generations to Adam Birkenhead, of Huxley, who lived during the reigns of King Henry VII and King Henry VIII (Henry VII reigned from 1485-1509. Henry VIII reigned from 1509-1547.) There is a note in Burke’s that Adam Birkenhead “deriv[ed] from John De Birkenhead, who flourished in the reign of Edward III.” Edward III reigned from 1327 - 1377, so this would push the line back another 150 years or so, but I’ll have to find the names in another place.

Interestingly enough, Eleanor’s grandmother was Elizabeth Bunbury, tying back in to the Bunbury line.