Campton Family

The Campton Family history website aims to explore and preserve the heritage of past generations of the Campton family. The lives of ancestors are pieced together using photographs, letters and other documents, and social history research helps to make sense of it all.

As more of the family tree is discovered, other related families are discovered and explored, such as Elderfield and Riley. Other families include Howell, Harrison, Preston, James and Fenn.

Hopefully this site will become a hub for the family history, sharing treasured memories, documents and photographs that connect the past to interest future generations.

Researching the family history and maintaining this website takes time, often more than is available. As a result, updates to the site are infrequent and mistakes may be made.

Meet the Family

John
Campton

1854-1920

Biography

Elizabeth Mary Preston

1870-1906

Biography

John
James

1892-1916

Biography

William Henry Campton

1892-1957

Biography

Leonard Francis Riley

1911-1993

Biography

John Frederick Riley

1914-2005

Biography

28th September 2025

Using AI to Transcribe Old Wills

Using AI tools can help genealogists with their research and make the most painstaking and meticulous of tasks more efficient. Consider, for example, transcribing an eighteenth century last will and testament containing archaic spelling and phrasing, and the legal terminology of the time.

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4th August 2024

Wills and Probate Explained

Wills are legal documents that outline a person’s wishes for the distribution of their assets following their death. Their contents can provide information that help to piece together a family tree and reveal more about the life of an individual.

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2nd August 2024

Understanding the Dates of Documents

Measuring time is not necessarily a straight forward process. The historical use of different calendars and the use of various ways of recording dates leads to a complexity of systems.

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Person Index

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Last updated on: 28^th December 2025

This website has a database of people traced so far. It includes the relevant dates and places of life events pieced together from various sources and family knowledge. Please use the index below to find the details of any individual you are looking for. Statistics can be found on this page.

Person Index

A bespoke GEDCOM file can be shared in accordance with the privacy policy.

Please if this is of interest.

Current Lines of Enquiry

The Elderfield Family

This branch of the family tree currently involves two mysteries. The first surrounds a possible family feud, whilst the second concerns the identity of the earliest known ancestor.

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On this day

3^rd February

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Julia Hannah Rogers
Born 1856 (170 years ago)

Richard Elderfield & Ann Lideard
Married 1723/24 (303 years ago)

camptonfamily.uk

About this site

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Learn more about this website and how it is constructed, as well as some family tree discoveries.

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Acknowledgements

Grateful thanks are extended to Phil Stevens and Kath Moffatt for sharing their research on the Campton family, and to Robin and Ann Clanfield for sharing their knowledge and photos of the Elderfield family.