BURGESS was the family surname of my mother.
I have traced her family back to JOHN BURGESS (----/1772) who was married to MARY DOWNEY on 1 November 1727 at Witheridge, Devon. Although the Witheridge parish registers start in 1585, the earliest Burgess entry is not until 1689 and there were in fact only four such stray entries before 1727. I have not yet succeeded in establishing where JOHN came from.
JOHN and MARY had seven children baptised at Witheridge and the line continued there through their son JOHN (1730/1798) and then divided into two lines through his sons WILLIAM (1756/1809) and JOHN (1759/1823).
During the 1800s, the younger members of the BURGESS families left Witheridge so that by the time of the 1881 census, there was only one BURGESS left in the parish. Some went to other Devon districts such as Exeter, Tiverton and Chulmleigh. Many went to London. Widow HONOUR BURGESS aged 43 and her six children emigrated in 1840 and 1841 to Australia and settled in the Melbourne area. Associated names by marriage in Australia are BORN, CASTLES, GOODE, RUSSELL, OSBORNE and USHER.
I have very extensive records of all the BURGESS families originating from Witheridge and have written a detailed family history, copies of which have been given to The Society of Genealogists and to The Devon Family History Society.
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