Hello,
I've been working with the Bundy line and want to open up the discussion about William Bundy. Presently the dates for William Bundy on this site say he was born c. 1630 and died 27 Mar 1692.
Rootsweb.ancestry.com just published an update tracing William back to England. (V. Mayo had not been able to do that.) This research shows that William was born 1640, and traces back another six generations to Robert Bundy b. 1500.
Here is the link: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sharprm/bundy.htm
And the text:
"ID: I22874Name: Robert Bundy 1Sex: MBirth: 1500 in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England 2Death: in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England Note:
Robert M. Sharp is the 17th lineal descendant of Robert Bundy of Amesbury, England. This lineage is through his Sharp, Kinsey, and Thorn lines.
We trace our Bundy ancestry with certainty to our American immigrant ancestor, William Bundy. William was baptized in the parish church in Downton, Wiltshire, England 25 Oct 1640 and immigrated to America sometime before 1663 where he first appears in Rhode Island land records.
V. Mayo Bundy's book "The Descendants of William and Elizabeth Bundy of Rhode Island and North Carolina" is the ultimate source for our Bundy family history. V. Mayo Bundy's book delineates the descendants of our immigrant American ancestor, William Bundy. However, V. Mayo could not find our William in England and did not know William's father's name. V. Mayo died without finding him.
John Bundy of Noblesville, IN, a 10th lineal descendant of William Bundy was able to find the baptismal record for William. The records also include the name of his parents, Nicolas and Tomson Bundy.
John Bundy, with the help of the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, found Nicholas' will and also the will of Nicholas' father, William 1561-1619. The will of Nicholas' mother, Elinor, is too damaged to copy but does exist.
With additional help from the Wiltshire Family History Society, John Bundy corresponded with another direct descendant of Nicholas and Tomson Bundy who lives in Wales. Maureen Roderick, John Bundy's cousin, is descended from Martha, daughter of Nicholas 1632-1680. Maureen Roderick provided three more generations. These include the parents of William Bundy 1561-1619, who were William Bundy 1540 and Elizabeth Segram 1550. This William's parents were Christopher Bundy c1520 and Phillipa Penrudduck. Christopher was born in Gloucester and his father was Robert c1500 born in Amesbury.
These discoveries push our Bundy family history back to the time of the Tudor Kings of England. King Henry VII was the royal ruler at the time of Robert Bundy's birth. His son, King Henry VIII, one of the most famous of all English monarchs reigned from 1509-1547. He is most known for his six wives and separating the Church of England from the Catholic Church.
Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, which is in south central England. It is most famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is in its parish. It can only be speculated whether our Bundy ancestors date back to that period, or if they are more recent immigrants to the region, perhaps during the Norman Conquest.
In chapter one of his book, V. Mayo Bundy he lays out several comprehensive theories on the origin of the name Bundy. The source for most of this information is James J. Ripley. The complete description is not provided here. "The name Bundy, Bondie, Bunde is believed by some historians to have derived from the ancient Anglo-Saxon personal or baptismal name of Bundig. There is evidence to indicate that the family was in France in the 11th century and probably takes its name from the Forest of Bondy (Bondie) and that some of its members came to England in 1066, with the Normans under William the Conqueror, as the name Bondie appears on the battle rolls of the chiefs. Other Bundys may have come to Wales about the middle of the 17th century when the Huguenots were driven out of France by Catholic persecutors. Others went to Pembroke, Wales, and then to America. It is probable that due to carelessness or difference of pronunciation, the spelling was changed to Bundy." In short, the name evolved from Old English into Middle English (about 1150-1450) as 'bonde' with other spelling variations, meaning a husbandman or farmer with a house,
The Norman Conquest introduced a similar word to England, 'bonde', meaning "to bind", or to be bound to the land where one lived. Family surnames, in many cases, developed from an occupation or other trait of an individual. Since the origin of 'bonde' has several meanings, but was widespread in describing large groups of people, it is not without reason that several unrelated families might end up with the same name. Of course, no one will ever know for certain."
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