HISTORY OF THE LAFLIN FAMILY

Welcome to Susan Laflin's Web Page.
30th July 2009.

My father's family come from Suffolk and have lived there since the mid-sixteenth century and possibly longer. The name has an interesting history (click here for details) and leads to the conclusion that while the name may be of Irish or Scottish origin, the people to whom it applies are most likely Scandinavian in origin.

Throughout his life, my father Thomas Laflin (1914-1972) was a keen bryologist and a large collection of his papers came into my possession when my mother died in 1999. Some of these are being scanned and made available on this site (click here for details) and others will be added as time permits.

My written history of the LAFLIN Family was completed in 2007, but all copies have now been sold. It contains my research so far, but it is "work in progress" and more information will become available over the next few years. In each section, a copy of the sources used is included, making it easy for readers to see the reasoning behind the written account. In due course a new version including the 1911 census will be produced and advertised here when it is ready.

This web-page also includes a summary of the history. Our story starts with Symon Laughlin who lived in Boxford (on the Suffolk/Essex border) from about 1560 to 1597. He had several sons and most of the later LAFLIN families seem to have been descended from them. Later a Jonathan Laflin (one of Symons's descendants) married Mary Bennet in 1712 and settled in Ringshall near Stowmarket. His son, another Jonathan, married Elizabeth Hicks and they also had a large family, as did several of his sons. Because the quantity of information is so large, it has been divided into folders or "families". The early history is in "F01" and later divisions apply to five sons of Jonathan and Elizabeth. "F02" (click here for details) contains the story of William Laflin (1749-1826) and Susan Creswelle (1755-1801) and their descendants. "F03" (click here for details) relates to Abraham Laflin (1750-1795) and Dinah Harvey (1759-1837) and their descendants. "F04" (click here for details) contains the story of John Laflin (1751-1836) and Mary Neville (1777-1863) and their descendants. James Laflin (1767-1848) was married twice, firstly to Bathsheba Newstead (1771-1796) and secondly to Ann Ramsey (1776-1847) "F05" (click here for details) refers to him and his descendants. "F06" (click here for details) relates to Philip Laflin (1770-1854), his wife Hannah (1773-1865) and their descendants. "F07" gives the history of Benjamin Laughley (c1773-1840) of Wetheringsett and his descendants (who usually spelt their surname "Laughlin") while "F08" contains a few extra families who cannot at present be fitted in with the rest of the history.

I am also interested in some other Suffolk names, namely the WELHAM Family (my grandmother was born Charlotte Mary Welham); the COOPER Family (her mother was born Emma Cooper); the ESLING Family (her grandmother was born Sophia Esling) and the MULLET Family my grandfather's mother was born Charlotte Ellen Mullet.

Page maintained by Susan Laflin.