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The Stafford Society was incorporated as a nonprofit genealogical research and educational corporation in the State of Washington in December 2005. We are a 501(c) 3 Federal tax exempt organization and welcome tax deductable donations.

The Stafford surname is probably derived from families living in Staffordshire England. In Europe, surnames began to be used in the 12th century, but it took several centuries before the majority of Europeans had one. The International Genealogical Index lumps Stafford, Sanford, Safford and Stanford under the surname Stauffer. No link from any current Stafford lineage to any of the Noble Staffords has been proven with satisfactory documentation. The direct male lines in that branch have gone extinct more than twice with the husbands of Stafford daughters taking the name and titles. The matriarchal lines continue to this day.

The Stafford Society’s mission is to assist all Stafford researchers on a share and share alike basis in researching all Stafford branches and to provide a single repository of all information made available to us. Send whatever information you have on your earliest known Stafford ancestor, their spouses and children, and we will respond.

Contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Our on-line genealogical data is restricted to members as we strive to develop an accurate single version of the facts. Our membership fee of $15 a year sustains the Society.

To date, we have identified 237 Stafford Branches. As proof becomes available, related Branches are merged into a single Branch. For example, Branch 8 has been merged into Branch 4, and Branches 57 & 71 have been merged into Branch 13.

Male Y-DNA testing has found 8 distinct Stafford lineages sharing multiple branches. These branches will remain separate in our database until paper connections are found to enable us to merge the connected branches into one. Additionally 22 other Stafford lines have been Y DNA tested that do not match any other lines in our database so far. This bears out our understanding that the Stafford surname is not one single lineage descended from a common ancestor but is a group of lineages based around a geographical location. Visit the Research Section for more details.

Many researchers spend large amounts of time collecting data: birth certificates, photos, GED-COM files, etc. What happens when your files or photos are lost or damaged? What happens when the "family" genealogist passes on and there is no one immediately interested in taking on that role given the burden of sorting through all of the files, certificates and other items that has accumulated over many years? Often, these resources are packed up and either put away where it is forgotten, or much worse, sent to the dump. What a shame that all of this history is lost.

In today's society many seem to think that anything in print or on the web is gospel truth. In fact, a lot of the information is inaccurate, or incomplete. All information needs to be verified, checked and sourced against the best data available. Only then, can all Stafford families be assured of their full and accurate heritage. The Stafford Society is here to collect and document all information on all persons who are part of the Stafford family. We are constantly striving to find connections between the various Stafford lines and combine them into the smallest number of branches. We will use DNA evidence whenever possible to verify the connections we have made and to establish new connections between Stafford branches.

We invite you to join the Stafford Society and sustain the exciting research that we are undertaking. There are many opportunities to participate in the Society. Membership dues are $15.00 per year, US funds. Membership is January 1 to December 31. Payments received from October to December are also applied to the following year’s membership.

Michael H. Stafford, President

The Stafford Society

Stafford Castle, Staffordshire England banner image attribution:  The original uploader was Giles Jones at English Wikipedia.  CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

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