Welcome to the HomePage
of the Pitfield Family Genealogical Website

This site is designed to show the results of twenty years of research into the Pitfield family throughout the world

Since I first caught the Genealogy bug I have embarked on a one-name study to trace the family history of every member of the Pitfield family to whom I can find reference, going back over 600 years.

This site aims to show details of all of the Pitfields, along with their spouses etc., that I have come across.  Each person that I have information about has an individual Person Sheet which shows, where the information is available, their parents, spouses and children. These Person Sheets are interlinked - by clicking on the child, spouse or parent of an individual you will be taken to the Person Sheet for that relative. Any person who was born after 1900 does not have a person sheet of their own and they do not appear in any of the indexes, although some of these 20th century Pitfields may be shown on the Person Sheet of their parents, if the parents were born before 1900. I have left these individuals out to protect the privacy of any living persons. If you are a member of the Pitfield family accessing this site (and therefore almost certainly born after 1900!!!), then your details will not be shown, but it is likely that your ancestors are, and it is possible that I am in possession of information relating to you and your family, that is not shown on this site. If you would like to contact me I would be happy to share information with you.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or information about the Pitfield family

A brief outline of the origins of the Pitfield family

I have been very fortunate to be able to trace my own Pitfield family back to a Robert Pitfold who died at Allington, near Bridport, in 1586.  Before Robert, the records show a John Pytfolde as being taxed at Allington in 1525 and it is likely that John was the father of Robert.   Details of the family that originated in Dorset can be found in Database One.

As yet I have been unable to trace the Dorset family any further back. However the name Pitfold/Pytfold is found elsewhere in the country, around the same time as John was living at Allington, and there are yet earlier references to the name going back to 1398. To see details of these early Pitfolds/Pitfields follow the Early Pitfields link.

The Pitfields in England.
My research has shown that there are two distinct Pitfield families in England. The first family originated in the southern county of Dorset, where the name evolved from the name Pitfold which was present in the county from at least 1525. Details of this family are shown in Database One. The second family originated in the northern county of Lancashire. In this county the name evolved from Patefield and Peatfield with the spelling of the name changing constantly between Patefield, Peatfield and Pitfield in the same families. Some members of this family took the name Pitfield whilst others kept the name Patefield. Both names still exist in the locality today. Details of this family are shown in Database Three.

Because I have traced so many Pitfields, wherever they may have lived and died, it has not always been possible to show how all of them are connected one to the other.  For this reason I have broken my researches into several manageable portions, in the hope that one day they may all be connected together.  These different areas of research are shown on this site as five distinct databases, details of which are shown below.  It should be pointed out that if you are looking for a particular member of the Pitfield family they may not appear in the Database that you expect. For instance, there are members of the Pitfield family who appear in Australia, New Zealand and America who I can show are descended from either Robert Pitfold of Allington or have their origins in Lancashire. Therefore they are shown in either the Dorset or Lancashire Databases, rather than the Australian or North American Databases. To find the Pitfield that you are interested in, you may have to visit more than one Database, each of which has its own index.

The known Pitfield descendants of Robert Pitfold, who died at Allington, Dorset, in 1586 (the Dorset Family)
The main thrust of my research has been to trace all of the known Pitfield descendants of Robert Pitfold (      1586), who is my own earliest proven ancestor.   Robert Pitfold of Allington (      1586) was a yeoman farmer who had ten sons.   The vast majority of  the Pitfields that I have come across, I have been able to trace back to one of the sons of Robert.  Therefore this database is the largest of the five shown. Go to Database One.

The Pitfield family in Canada and USA
This database shows two families. Firstly the family and descendants of  Benjamin Pitfield (      -1793) of Timber Creek, New Jersey, USA and secondly the family and descendants of George Pitfield (circa 1749 - 1827) of New Brunswick, Canada.  It is likely these two were brothers and there is circumstantial evidence that they are related to the Dorset Pitfield family, although as yet I have been unable to trace the origins of either of them. Go to Database Two.

The Pitfield family of Lancashire
In the county of Lancashire there has existed a family of the name of Peatfield or Patefield going back to at least 1500.   Over the years some branches of this family have changed their name to Pitfield and the names Pitfield, Peatfield and Patefield all exist in the north of England today. This database shows several Lancashire families who go by the name Pitfield, and show, where appropriate their Peatfield/Patefield origins.  It is not the results of research into the name Peatfield or Patefield, as other researchers have made a study of these families, but only shows families that had branches containing the name Pitfield. Go to Database Three.

The Pitfield family in Australia
The Australian Pitfields consist of several small but interesting group of families, some with convict and some with non-convict origins. Go to Database Four.

Unconnected Pitfield families
This database shows various Pitfields who I have found, but have been unable to connect up with any of the main groups in the other databases.  Within this database there are some quite large family groups spanning several generations as well as single Pitfields, about whom I may have very little information.  These various people may be shown anywhere in the world.  I am always striving to connect those shown here to other groups that I have information about. Go to Database Five.