The Langstaffs arrive in North America
Not much is known about Henry Langstaff other than he was born in 1605 in the village of Lathbury, England, made the voyage to New England in 1631, 11 years after the Pilgrim’s voyage on the Mayflower. His ship arrived in Portsmouth and for some time lived in what is now Dover, New Hampshire until 1705. He lived to the age of 100; a remarkable accomplishment for the time.
It was this Henry Langstaff that brought the Langstaff family over to North America. They stayed in the New England Area for five generations then, John Langstaff moved to Canada in the early 1800’s.
Now, fast forward to 1942, another three generations and it gets interesting. More than three centuries after the original Henry Langstaff came over to North America, another Henry Langstaff – Henry Harding Langstaff (Hank) went back to England to serve in the Second World War as a member of the Canadian Air Force. While there he met and, in 1946, married Joyce Ward an English woman. Joyce was born in Northampton, less than 15 miles from Lathbury, England where the original Henry was born over 340 years before.
