After experiencing problems with my previous website, this is now the home of the MADDER One-name Study.
I first started researching my family history over forty years ago – I bought my first certificate in April 1973.
I had sent most of my life trying to explain why my surname was Madder-Smith and that was my first attempt to find out the truth.
I discovered a Madder family from Norfolk who moved to Essex (via Suffolk) and who called themselves Smith. William Madder, born 1815, AKA George Smith, Benjamin Madder etc., was the culprit, but I still haven’t found out why.
Having traced my direct line back to the marriage of Robert Madder and Elizabeth Grimes in Syderstone in Norfolk in 1766, I became stuck. I expanded my search across Norfolk, then East Anglia. I continued to look for Robert Madder wherever there were records.
Marriage of Robert and Elizabeth 10th Dec 1766
I still haven’t found him, but I had amassed a large collection of Madder data. I started to arrange it into trees. Some connected, others remain a single family. I discovered I had started a one-name study.
I joined the Guild of One-Name Studies, member number 5239.
If you carry the Madder name or have a Madder in your family tree, get in touch. I can probably help you with your research.
And if you come across a certain Robert Madder, born around 1739, please let me know.
maddergenealogist 