I tend to think of my CUTTS and MOODY lines in parallel as they lived in pretty much the same area, and from what information I have, lived very similar lives. However, the CUTTS are predominantly from Derbyshire and the MOODYs are predominantly from Nottinghamshire. There is a fair amount of boundary hopping, but the lives of the two families remained separate until Herbert CUTTS married (Henri)Etta MOODY in 1891.

Unfortunately, I haven't yet run into any body researching MOODYs so I'm not 100% certain that my research is correct. I tend to approach finding others researching the same lines as a very good way of verifying not only the line but the logic that I used to put it together.

History

The furthest back I've got is Richard MOODY who married Elizabeth MAUR in South Leverton in 1705. So far, I only have them down as the parents of three sons: Cornelius (1706) [an uncommon, but not unusual, name in the area following the drainage of the Fens, etc, see the BECK family page for more information], Richard (1707) and John (1711).

Due to his name, I have traced Cornelius' marriage (1728, Treswell) and the christening of two daughters (1732 and 1725, North Leverton), but the majority of my information is a straight line down to myself through his brother Richard - whose family remained in the South Leverton area for several generations. Although there was a family who claimed to be from Warsop - probably due to a daughter's indiscretions. Ironically, the result of the indiscretion, Etta MOODY, did live in Warsop after her marriage to Herbert CUTTS in Bolsover in 1891.

My Connection

As I've already said, I am descended from Richard MOODY "junior" and there isn't much point out-lining the family when my line is the only one I have information on in the downloadable files. However, I will share a few more "fallen women" with you.

Richard junior's grand-daughter Mary MOODY had a son John (1795, South Leverton). I have found (so far) no further records for her and I would like to think that she married and moved away. One day, I'll find her.

Her great-granddaughter, Mary Ann MOODY - also known as Polly - had a daughter, Henrietta MOODY - also known as Hetty and Etta - in 1872, South Wingfield. Polly had been a servant on the 1871 census and our best guess is that she met a man she couldn't say "no" to, with one thing and another.

Etta was raised by her grandparents, John and Sarah MOODY, convinced they were her own parents. She went on to marry Herbert CUTTS, but at some point, she had a lover by the name of Mr LANCASHIRE. No further information on this affair has been given to me.

I hasten to add that although I do get some amusement out of finding such information, my amusement is usually to do with their descendants' insistance that their predecessors were as pure as the driven. Life isn't like that. It never was. Especially for the lower ends of the social scale. So, I try not to judge, but I am perversely proud of such women, who are great examples of survivors.

Files

• Descendency Narrative [PDF]
  Last updated 14/06/2009

Related Families

Families who married into, or were married into by, the MOODYs:

CUTTS,
FLETCHER,
GEESON,
HOPKIN,
MAUR,
NEWTON,
STORRS,
WHITTINGTON