This web-site is intended to reinforce family ties, provide some family
history, and also be fun for those who browse it..
The earliest Mabley family in Buckinghamshires is recorded in the late 1500's,
based in Hanslope 5 miles north of Great Linford/Newport Pagnell (Robert
Mabley, born 1567, married Cicely Steel, born 1571, on November 4, 1592). The family
had migrated south from the important medieval town of Northampton
In subsequent centuries the Mabley/Mapley family spread from two main branches, one in
Great Linford and one from Newport Pagnell, in Buckinghamshire. Other villages like
Little Linford, (New) Bradwell, Great & Little Woolstone, Castlethorpe and Hanslope all have Mapley
families on record. Initially working in the lace sector (the women) and the agricultural sector
(the men), the advent of a national railway network created employment for the generations
(1881-) and also led to migration away from Buckinghamshire, with family
also emigrating to Australia (convicted Richard in 1845) and
the United States in the 1860's...
Growing trade skills also encouraged labour movement. Elijah Mapley, a shoemaker,
moved to Staveley, Derbyshire and built a family base there, and of course the draw of
london attracted Mableys/Mapleys to the capital city.
The Mapley family got caught up in many wars - from Matthew fighting in Quebec in 1690, Roswel in the Vermont Militia in the American War of Independence, to Benjamin fighting Napoleon at Waterloo and Emanuel wounded at Sebastopol in the Crimean War.
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