historical overview

The BANDY Family - an historical overview

It seems clear that there are a number of separate families who are now using BANDY (and spelling variations) as their family name.  Whilst many of these appear to have originated in England we have clear evidence, especially in the US, of immigrants from Switzerland, France, Hungary and other countries who use that name.  It is almost certain that these groups are not related in any way.  We are interested in all these families and concerned to draw the links where we can, and understand the different origins where we cannot.  I hope we will be excused for sometimes using the term "Family" inaccurately and loosely to mean "all who share our rare and strange name, however they came by it".  Our genealogies make these separate family groups quite clear.

As yet we have no details of the early origins of any BANDY families outside of England, Australia, Canada and the US.  We know that there is a substantial Bandy presence in France, but regrettably this researcher can't work in the French language.  Hopefully someone will be kind enough to send us information for some other countries one day.

ENGLISH BANDYs

The BANDY family in England appears to have its documented and traceable origin on the borders of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, around MILTON KEYNES in 1550.  There are a number of earlier individual references before that: 

Before 1066 an English notable?
The Domesday Book of 1086  has a number of references to Bondi the Constable (royal officer - tax collector?), clearly a man who served King Edward ("the Confessor" 1042-66), in the returns for Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire and references to one or more people named Bondi  (no mention of Constable) in Northamptonshire. There is no proof that this man is, or these men are , an ancestor - but the coincidence of names with possible name origins and locations is too strong to ignore (see the Bandy names section).  Hopefully one day we will know more.  The Domesday Book was originally written in 11th Century Latin. The information below is an extract of  the translation given in the Phillimore edition of 1978, the dots in the text (....) indicate that some details have been omitted. One of the footnotes says: "BONDI. One of the few English [i.e. not Norman] notables who retained land and office for some time after 1066.  He was probably Sheriff of Bedfordshire before Ralph Tallboys"

In most of the entries Bondi is referred to as the person who held the land before 1066 but two entries for Northamptonshire show him as the landholder in 1086.  These two places are two miles apart at the most, and within 8 miles of Milton Keynes. 
Note:  a hide is an area of land usually reckoned to be about 120 acres, but it can vary, a virgate is a quarter of a hide.

The Domesday Book for Northamptonshire 
Bondi as land holder:
LAND OF WINEMAR.... In CLEYLEY Hundred Dodin holds 1 hide ... from Winemar in ASHTON .... Bondiholds 4 parts of ½ hide from Winemar in the same Village, Land for 1 plough. 1 smallholder. value 4s. Haldane also held it freely before 1066.

LAND OF GUNFRED OF CHOCQUES.... In CLEYLEY Hundred.... Bondi holds 3 virgates of land and the fourth part of 1 virgate from Gunfred in EASTON NESTON.  Land for 2 ploughs. In lordship 1.... Bondi also held it freely

The Domesday Book for Northamptonshire also has:
"LAND OF HENRY OF FERRERS .... In NAVISFORD Hundred In TITCHMARSH Saswalo holds from Henry .... Bondi held it freely.
In HAMFORDSHOE Hundred Ralph holds 4 hides from Henry in ECTON .... Bondi held it."

"LAND OF WILLIAM SON OF ANSCULF.... In UPTON Wapentake [This had certainly been part of the Danelaw] Odbert holds 3 hides from William in BARNACK.... Bondi held it freely."

"LAND OF COUNTESS JUDITH.... In HAMFORDSHOE Hundred the Countess holds 4 hides herself in EARLS BARTON.... Bondi held it with full jurisdiction.
.... herself in GREAT DODDINGTON.... Bondi held it.
.... herself in WILBY.... Bondi held it.
.... herself in MEARS ASHBY.... Bondi held it.
In CORBY Hundred.... Lancelin holds .... land in NEWTON.... Lancelin also holds .... land in OAKLEY....Bondi held these lands freely before 1066." 

The Domesday Book for Bedfordshire has: 
a complex reference as follows:
In a special section headed "LAND OF THE KING'S REEVES, [BEADLES] AND ALMSMEN...
In FLITT Hundred in Streatley the reeve of the Hundred holds 2 parts of 1 virgate  for the King's work.  They now lie in (the lands of) the King's manor of Luton, but they did not lie there before 1066.  Bondi the Constable put them there and Ralph Tallboys found them put there...

The Domesday Book for Buckinghamshire has: 
three indirect references to the Constables Bondi and  Boding, who might be the same person.

"LAND OF THE COUNT OF MORTAIN .... In LAMUA Hundred .... in MARSH (Gibbon) .... 
A man of Bondi the Constable's had ½ hide there; he could sell."

"LAND OF WILLIAM SON OF ANSCULF .... In MURSLEY Hundred .... in HOGGESTON .... 
Aelmer, Bondi [Bundi in the 1783 Latin edition] the Constable's man, held 7 hides of this manor as one manor; .... all of them could sell."

"LAND OF HENRY OF FERRERS .... In ASHENDON Hundred .... In SHIPTON (Lee) .... 
Boding the Constable held this manor before 1066."

The Domesday Book for Berkshire has:
"LAND OF HENRY OF FERRERS .... In COMPTON Hundred .... Henry also holds 'ASHDEN' .... 
Bondi [Bundi in the 1783 Latin edition] held it from King Edward
.... In BEYNHURST Hundred BISHAM. Bondi held it from King Edward. Then and now for 8 hides.
.... In READING Hundred in BURGHFIELD 1½ hides.  Two freeholders held it before 1066 .... One served the Queen and the other [served] Bondi [Bundino in the 1783 Latin edition] "

1200-1500 Thomas le Bandy - Lord of a Manor?
Thomas le Bandy sued the Abbot of Coggeshale (now Coggeshall?) in Essex, for the Manor of Tillingham (Essex). Thomas le Bandy was the son of John, who was the son of William and Joan and had a brother called William. 
Pleadings AD 1200-1500  Obtained by Frank Bandy

NOTES BY Ken Bandy:   The Manor of Tillingham was held by St Pauls. In his will in 1679 Dr William Clark, Dean of Winchester and Vicar of Stepney (note Bandys of Stepney at the time) left the income from the tithes to augment the livings of 10 parishes by £30 a year. He nominated BUCKINGHAM, St Albans, Maldon (Essex), and STONY STRATFORD (Northants).- more Bandy haunts! 
As far as Coggeshal Abbey is concerned, it was founded in 1140 by King Stephen. It was to belong to the SAVIGNAC order from Savigny in the County of MORTAIN- more Domesday familiar names,- but the Order was banned by the Pope in 1147 and the Abbey was transferred to the Cisterians from CITEAUX before it even opened in 1167. Because there was an argument over its ownership, it being a Royal Foundation, but in the Bishop of London's Diocese, and a daughter house of Citeaux, in 1223 JOHN de FONTIBUS - Bishop of Ely was called to adjudicate. He gave the Rectory and the greater tithes to the Abbey, from which they had to pay 10 marks a year to the monks of RUMILLY, and the right to appoint to the Bishop of London. By 1250 the Abbot of Coggeshal had become the Lord of the Manor, but there is no mention of him being Lord of the Manor of Tillingham as well.

1373 Thomas a vicar in Worcestershire
Thomas BANDY was Vicar of MATHON in the county of Worcestershire from 1373 to 1378. 
Fawcett's index of the clergy referring to Miller "Parishes of Worcestershire" (SOG Library)  Obtained by Derek Bandy

1382 Perhaps some of the English Bandys came from Lombardy
from "Calendar of Letter-Books of the City of London" 1375-1399
17 December 1382 London folio clvb "Abrocarius Grossar"
also on the 17th December 6 Richard II, Peter Bandy "Lumbard",
servant of Gerard Beck was admitted and sworn broker for the "Grossers" but note that there were other Bandys in the country at the time

1385 John a friar in Cambridge
John BANDY Friar O.C. (Carmelite) Cambridge Convent 1385-6. Ordained deacon 25-Apr-1385, Priest 7-Apr-1386. 
From the Biographical Register of the University of Oxford 
Register Arundel fos 132,133v.  Obtained by Frank Bandy

1559 the will of a RICHARD BANDY of Potsgrove Beds
In this will of February 1559 RICHARD BANDY mentions his wife ALICE, who is pregnant, a daughter ISOBELL and three brothers EDWARD Jnr,  EDWARD Snr and JOHN.  There are also other children unnamed and probably underage as well as unnamed sisters.  Perhaps one of the EDWARDS is the author of the 1582 will below, Potsgrove is no more than 10 miles from Milton Keynes.  

1563 the will of JOAN BANDY of Hardmead Bucks
Hardmead is no more than 10 miles from Milton Keynes.
County Record Office- Aylesbury. Not yet studied

1582 the will of EDWARD BANDY (b. bef 1545) of Milton Keynes Bucks
In this Will dated 18th June, 1582 EDWARD mentions his wife MARY BANDY, his sons RICHARD, THOMAS and JOHN, and his daughters JOAN and MARGARET. Thomas was at the time under 21 years old and John under 15. Joan and Margaret were both under 21. The will was witnessed by Laurence Smyth and Hugh Makant. Mr Bayly was appointed to "oversee" it and the executors were his wife Mary and son Richard.
County Record Office- Aylesbury. Obtained by Derek Bandy, translated by Brooke Westcott 

The parish register of Milton Keynes has the following relevant entries:

This is the first family we can identify in full at the moment, and it seems that all BANDYs that can track back this far, end up here.

There are more wills available in the archive data section

After 1582
There are a host of records of the Bandys of various spellings from the late 16th century onward in the counties of Bucks and Beds, and fewer in the surrounding counties.  Most of the records indicate that the English Bandys were very ordinary, mostly illiterate, agricultural workers living in relative poverty, although a few families seem to have managed to enter the trades and commerce by the middle to end of the 19th century.  A review of the records in the mid nineteenth century indicates a very strong presence in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire at that time, and little elsewhere in England.  

The earliest spelling is Be ~de but there are a number of different spellings of the name including Bundy and Boundy further east in Bedfordshire. Our current conclusion, therefore, is that all Bandys of English origin, including those outside England, should be able to trace themselves back to this group in Milton Keynes.  Clearly there are other groups who do not descend from English families.  The earliest continuous genealogy on this website (at the moment) of any English branch starts in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire with the father of Richard Bandy, it includes the Bandys in Wing, Buckinghamshire and continues up to the present day.  It is believed that the oldest American branch descends from this line as does the the younger Australian line.

Although there is a little evidence for the Bundy and Boundy spellings being used for Bandys in Bucks and Beds we have not yet demonstrated the link to the main Bundy lines which appear to be much further west.  We still suspect that there is a link - at least to Bundys in Bedfordshire and we will continue to support research on this possibility.

There are Bandy families all over the world now and you will find many genealogies and other references in the appropriate sections of this website.  

AMERICAN BANDYs

c 1750 RICHARD BANDY in the US
The oldest non-English branch appears to be in North America where one or more ancestors founded lines in the 18 century. At least one of those lines was founded by a Richard Bandy who may have been transported to (what was then British -) North America for a minor crime. Most Bandys in the USA trace themselves back to this Richard - but the early years in the US remain clouded by lack of documentation.  The fullest genealogy of the American branch is provided by the Eubanks but there are others in the genealogies section. The most likely candidate for this Richard was baptised 8 Jul 1722 in Cardington, Bedford, England and many genealogies show this connection. BUT y-dna studies have shown that there is no relationship between the main American and English Bandy families existing today.  This does not mean that the American families did not descend from England, just that they probably did not descend from that particular man.   

CANADIAN BANDYs

c 1850 RICHARD BANDY in Canada
A Richard Bandy born in 1828 in Padbury Bucks England is thought to have been the founding father of the oldest Canadian line.  A genealogy of this branch was provided by Joan Kondratowicz.

AUSTRALIAN BANDYs

1849/50 two lines founded in Australia
Two separate lines were founded in Australia.  The elder on 29 December 1849 by 34 year old William Bandy from Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire with Ann his wife and children.   The other line was founded by Thomas Bandy on 25 Oct 1850.  Born in 1808 in the parish of Turweston, Buckinghamshire, Thomas Bandy re-enlisted in the British army to sail with his wife Sarah and 5 children  from Deptford on 10th July 1850 as a "pensioner guard" on the prison ship "HMS Hashemy" .  His reward was a grant of 10 acres of land in the new colony.  The pair had two more children after their arrival.  Genealogies of both these branches were provided by Peter Bandy and have been consolidated into the "Founding Fathers".

Later emigrations
There have been a number of other younger Bandy lines established by other emigrants from England as well as from the new world.  We even know of one in Central America.  If you belong to, or know about, one of these lines please get in touch so that we can draw the larger picture.

Bandys not descended from England

We can see in the US census returns that some families named Bandy did not descend from England at all.  In most cases they were from European families with very similar names.  Perhaps these families have a similar name origin (rather than descent) to the English Bandys.  Perhaps we might be related too far back (dark ages migrations?) for records to show.  It is equally likely that we are not related at all.  Perhaps one of our number has the resources available to undertake the DNA analysis of members of the differing branches to find out?

Hopefully, this website will stimulate you to share the information you have assembled so that we can refine and widen the story of the family for everybody's benefit.

• will of Richard 1539 Potsgrove
• will of Edward 1582 Milton Keynes
• Other Wills

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