The small village of Ide, pronounced “eed”, appears in the Domesday book of 1086 as “Ida”. It is close to the village of Alphington and not far from Exeter. The church is dedicated to St. Ida. The first account of our ancestors to appear in the records there is the marriage of Robert Cuttiford to Dorthia Moxy on 12th November 1668.
The village we see today is very much changed since those days. The row of cottages called ” The College” standing by a stream date from the 17th-century would have been familiar to Robert and his family. Most of the other buildings in Ide would have been rebuilt or replaced in the three and a half centuries since then. Indeed, even the church was completely rebuilt in 1834.
Robert and Dorthia had three sons, Thomas, Gilbert and Robert. It is typical of the variations of spelling found in those old records that the name of the oldest son, Thomas was recorded as Cutresford whereas Gilbert and Robert appear as Cuttiford. The oldest son, Thomas married Elizabeth Baker on 27th February 1692. They had four daughters, Mary, christened as Cuterford and Elizabetha, Dorothea and Sara were christened as Cuttiford. For Gilbert, the second son of Robert and Dorthea, there are no children recorded. It is the third son, Robert, who is of interest to the Cuddefords and Cuddifords of the present time. He was christened at Ide on the 16th June 1680 and married Jane Ratcliffe on the 3rd December 1705. Robert and Jane had seven children, 5 sons and two daughters. They were all christened as Cuttifords.
- Jane, christened 18th September 1706. Married Abraham Hallett in 1732.
- Robert, christened 11th October 1708. Married Susanna Friend on 4th
January 1730. They had three daughters:- Jane, christened 18th November 1731. Died August 1732.
- Sarah christened 27th April 1734.
- Mary, christened 5th of April 1736.
- Thomas, christened 16th April 1711 – (no further information).
- Edward, christened 3rd February 1713. Married Elizabeth Berry 13th
September 1736. Edward and Elizabeth had several children and from then
on that family was recorded as Cuddiford. At some point, Edward and
Elizabeth moved to Alphington and then to Newton St, Cyres and eventually
back to Alphington. Descendants of this branch now live in Newton St. Cyres. - James, christened 27th April 1717. We know he moved to Newton St.Cyres
where, on the 25th May 1740 he married Elizabeth Helmore. The Cudde-
fords of Newton St. Cyres descend from this couple. James spelled his
name as ” Cuddeford ” as do all his descendants. - Dorothy, christened 10th January 1719.
- Johannes (possibly John) christened 1721.