Maudsley
Family
of Yorkshire & Lancashire, England
& Queensland, Australia
by Pam Cooper ©
This page may be freely linked to but not
duplicated in any way without my written consent.
People with the
name of Maudsley, and variations such as MAUDSLAY, MAWDSLEY, MAUDESLEY,
MAWDESLEY, DE MAUDESLEY, will generally trace their ancestry back to one of two
areas:
- the Leyland district of Lancashire, where the village of Mawdesley and
Mawdesley Hall are to be found; or
- the North Craven district of Yorkshire.
It is generally found that
Mawdsleys (with a "w") have their oldest links in Lancashire, while the
Maudsleys (with a "u") go back to Yorkshire. While the two groups probably
have a common background, any link between them seems to have stemmed from a
time prior to the keeping of parish registers.
This page is devoted to
the Maudsleys, whose earliest Yorkshire links can be found in the North Craven
parishes of Clapham, Giggleswick and Long Preston. A notable descendant of
this family was Henry MAUDSLAY (1771-1831) an inventor and pioneer of
precision engineering, whose surname was changed slightly through a spelling
error. In 1857, Henry's family engaged a researcher to compile their family
tree.
The resulting Maudsley Pedigree begins in the 16th century with a
Richard Maudsley who was buried at Long Preston in 1554. While there are
queries on one or two of the links, the document generally appears to be
correct, and forms a useful blueprint through which North Craven Maudsleys can
be linked.
 |
Long Preston church and grounds
thanks to Elizabeth Maudsley
for this photo |
Common
christian names amongst the Maudsley men were Richard, Thomas, Henry,
Laurence, Christopher and John. Female names seem to have been more varied.
Most family members were yeoman/farmers.
An early property associated
with the Maudsleys was Todpot, also recorded as Toadpott and
Todepott. Situated in Clapham parish, it is now known as Israel
Farm. At Todpot, Henry (d.1719) and Grace (Carr) Maudsley raised a
family which included four sons. It is through these sons that most Maudsleys
with North Craven origins will trace their lineage.
 |
Todpot, now Israel Farm, from the east
thanks
to Elizabeth Maudsley for this
photo |
After Henry &
Grace, my particular Maudsley line next descends through two generations of
youngest sons. This was probably the reason for my Maudsley ancestors
gradually moving away from their Yorkshire origins and across the border into
Lancashire. In all probability, they needed to make their own way in the
world, leaving their older brothers to continue farming the family's various
North Craven holdings. While Maudsleys still live in the North Craven area
today, my own family's links with that area had ceased by the 1800s.
So
it was that my ancestor - Thomas Maudsley (1801-1879) - was farming in the
parish of Bolton-le-Sands, Lancashire by 1823. The Maudsley family's links
with that area were destined to be transient, however. Thomas Maudsley and his
wife, Sarah (nee Garth) had only one surviving son - Richard Maudsley
(1827-1920). After a short stint as a coal merchant at Holme, just across the
Westmorland border, Richard immigrated, with his wife (Agnes nee Booker) and
their family of four sons and three daughters, to Queensland, Australia in
1866. They appear to have been the first Maudsleys to settle in mainland
Australia.
On arrival in Queensland, Richard and Agnes Maudsley first
lived at Pimpama, where Richard was engaged in growing sugar and cotton. By
1868, the family had relocated to a farm at Rocky Water Holes, now the
Brisbane suburb of Rocklea. Family folklore also suggests they spent some of
the early years in the Chelmer/Graceville area, where Richard combined farming
and timber felling. By 1872, Richard had acquired 640 acres in an area now
comprising the western Brisbane suburbs of Wacol, Carole Park and Richlands.
By 1877, and with the older sons now adults, the Maudsleys again looked
further afield, selecting farming blocks at what was then Teviotville (now
Coulson) near Boonah, south-west of Brisbane.
My line of descent
continues through Richard and Agnes Maudsley's eldest son, Thomas (1852-1924).
After establishing himself at Teviotville, Thomas married Elizabeth Jane Brassey at
St Paul's Church of England, Ipswich, on 30 September
1880.
Thomas and Elizabeth lived at Teviotville until 1893/94, during
which period seven of their nine children were born. With a growing family of
sons, and centuries of yeoman farming stock in his blood, it is not surprising
that Thomas wished to obtain larger areas of land. By 1892, he began taking
steps to follow his younger brothers, Richard and Roger, to the South Burnett
district, where parts of the Boonara run had been resumed for farming
purposes.
It was at this time that Thomas acquire Portion 12v in the
Parish of Nangur, County of Mackenzie, comprising 1280 acres. The property,
located at Boonara near Goomeri in the shire of Kilkivan, was named
Trinity and adjoined Undaban owned by Thomas' brother, Richard,
and was in close proximity to Margoo, owned by the youngest Maudsley
brother, Roger. The trio worked together, progressively building homes on
their respective properties. In each case, the main building comprised a
sitting room and bedrooms with a detached or semi-detached kitchen and dining
room structure at rear. Various outbuildings, including store rooms, meat
houses, dairies, bath houses, wash houses, along with the traditional "thunder
box", were dotted around the main buildings, forming complexes within which
each family lived.
 |
Trinity around
1900
Over the next half
century, the three Maudsley brothers and their offspring took up numerous
farming blocks in the neighbouring shires of Kilkivan and Murgon, making the
Maudsleys one of the better known farming families in that area. While there
are still many descendants farming in the South Burnett district today, only
Margoo remains in the hands of a direct descendant of Roger Maudsley.
Trinity was sold outside the family in the early 1920s, with
Undaban following suit in 1936.
Of the three properties, the
only Maudsley homestead to remain is that of Trinity. After standing in
its original location for almost a century, the old home had taken on a
precarious lean. In 1989, family members set out to preserve their heritage.
With the assistance of the Murgon Lions Club and Skillshare
students and staff, the home was relocated to the Murgon Dairy Museum
complex, where the main struture has since been restored. It currently awaits
the restoration of interior walls and suitable furniture and
furnishings.
In recent years, Trinity has been the venue for
several Maudsley family gatherings, where descendants enjoy meeting together
on the verandahs just as their ancestors and relatives did so many years
ago.
If you would like to know more about the Maudsleys, Ordinary
People Extraordinary Lives tells the story of the family, tracing
their English origins for three centuries, before following the fate of
Richard and Agnes Maudsley and their descendants in Queensland. It also
provides a link between some Maudsleys of note including:
- Henry Maudslay (1771-1831) the engineer mentioned above;
- Dr Henry Maudsley (1835-1918), who was one of the first doctors to
consider mental illness curable in some cases, and after whom London's
Maudsley Hospital was named;
- Sir Henry Carr Maudsley (1859-1944), also a doctor, who was consulting
physician to the Australian troops in France during World War I.
- Sir Reginald Maudslay (1871-1934), founder of the Standard Motor
Company - later incorporated into British Leyland, then
Triumph and, more recently, Rover;
- John Joseph Maudsley, a cabinet maker, who lived at Bentham, West
Yorkshire, in the early 1800s.
Though separated by distance and many generations of
their family history, various Maudsley descendants from England and Australia
are in regular contact today, sharing their common interest in a unique
surname.
The villages of Over and Nether Kellet were
significant to the Maudsley, Garth & Booker
families.
Take a look at the Over Kellet Web Site to learn more of
the area.
Locate the
English places mentioned on this page?
Like to see photos
of Yorkshire churches?
Like to know about
Yorkshire recipes and remedies?
Like to see some
traditional Yorkshire knitting patterns?
Try this link if you're interested in
the Yorkshire town of Settle.
This page first
produced on 15 August 1998.
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