What the records, family stories and DNA tells us about the families from Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.
The map of the area is below.
The names of this branch are paternal ancestors of Charlie Mead. His great-grandparent surnames are Mead, Peppiatt, Cook, Hamp, Bird, Janes, Vaisey & Hinde. A further generation bact are also Burrows and Stanbridge. The trees currently available are The Meads, The Peppiatts, The Stanbridges, The Burrows, The Cooks, The Hamps, & The Vaiseys.
The families come from the low agricultural lands to the north-west of the Chiltern Hills and were mainly farm labourers, straw dealers & plaiters. The influence of the Non-Conformist Churches were strong and some emigrated to Utah after missionaries from of the Church of Latter-Day Saints from the USA visited in the 1840's. Others moved into the towns of Dunstable and Luton for manufacturing work.
So far I have details of three families from Eaton Bray who went to the USA having become involved with the CLS mission and then decided to emigrate to the USA.
The first was Thomas Smith, with his wife Margaret and daughter Lucy who left Eaton Bray via Liverpool to New Orleans on the ship 'Falcon' in March 1853. On arrival in Utah he adopted the name Thomas X Smith to distinguish himself from other Thomas Hamps. The ship sailed on the 28th March. A very detailed record of the voyage exists called 'The Emigration of Thomas X Smith & Margaret Gurney from England to Utah' by James Jack. It is noteworthy for it's detail and insight into the issues that arose between the travllers and the crew. A school was set up for the children on board and a roster for making tents and covers for wgons for the land journeys on arrival.
The ship arrived at New Oreans on 18th May 1853 to be met by an Elder Brown and then boarded a steamer, 'St Nicholas', for the journey up the Missisippi to St Louis. Before the steamer left one of the passengers from Glasgow fell overboard and was sewpt away. The steamer left on the 20th, and the next day there was a roll-call of the travellers and the marriage of 2 of them. On arrival at St Louis on the 27th the company was met by another Elder, Elder Eldredge, and transferred to the Packet 'Dee Vernon'. At this point the couple married on the trip up the Missisippi left the company. The account records and number of baptism on the way, as well as deaths, both infants and adults.
The 'Dee Vernon took the travelled to Keokuk which is at the sothernmost point of Iowa on the Missisippi where they arrived the next day and then set up camp. For the next week or so the travllers were orgamnised into group for each wagon and provisions and utensils given out. The Company set out on the 15th June and travelled 9 miles before camping. However they were held up by constable who found that a pair of oxen in the teams did not belong to the Company and the President of the company was arrested and taken back to Keokuk, and found not guilty! It seems such issues came up quite often and, while progress was about 10 to 15 miles a day it was often interrupted by straying animals and disputes. Also members of the company died en-route, often of issues quite untreatable in the circumstances and buried en-route. The party struggled with equipment issues too, the wagons often broke shafts, harness, spokes and chains. Towards the end they often met travelled going the other way such as missionaries going to Europe from Salt Lake City. They arrived on 16 Oct 1853.
The second was his elder brother George Smith, who with his wife and daughter left Eaton Bray in June 1854 from Liverpool on the 'Clara Wheeler' to New Orleans. They joined the Milo Andrus Company, which used wagons and travelled from Mormon Grove, Kansas to Salt Lake City, Utah, 4 August 1855 to 24 October 1855.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable journeys is the participation of a Bird family in the 4th, James G Willie, Handcart Company Journey to Salt Lake City in August 1856.
Frederick Bird and his wife Mary Ann Fenn lived at Moor End, Eaton Bray, where they became interested in the teachings of the Mormon missionaries from the US. In July 1857 Frederick died in the Union Workhouse, Leighton Buzzard of hepatitis. He must have been ill for a while because his wife and children joined a party of immigrants to the US organised by the Mormons which left Liverpool on the 'Thornton' for New York and arrived on the 16th June, 1856. From there the company went by train to Iowa City where they were to be organised into the Handcart company and received their provisions for the walk to Council Bluff on the banks of the Missouri, over 350km. However the handcarts were not ready and the supplies were not sufficient but the settlers in Iowa helped them out.
It took 4 weeks to arrive at Council Bluff and supplies for the next phase were very low and there were worries about the lateness of the season through mountainous terrain. In spite of this warning the company resolved to continue and left Florence on the west bank of the Missouri on the 18th August. At this point Mary Ann 'lost' her two eldest girls to two local men by subterfuge, they were taken away to see the sights before the Company was due to set out the next day. Ann Bird married Milo Mitchell in Council Bluff the next year and Sabina Bird married Edwin Dempster Smith also at Council Bluff.
The rest of the journey to Utah, which took until 9 November, was terrible. Not only did they not have enough food, but food was not delivered to them as promised on the way. In the end rescue parties were sent out from Salt Lake City but many died from lack of food, dysentery and sheer cold. In total 67 persons died. However Mary lost no more of her family and there are many descendants.
Amended and updated April 2025