LEATHERLAND ANCESTRY : HOME 

                               

      

                             Holy Trinity Church, Churchover where my great great grandparents married in 1866 

I am David Richards, a retired former civil servant.  My maternal grandfather was Charles Leatherland and my main genealogical interest lies in tracing Leatherland ancestors. This began in the mid 1980s when I found a letter to my Grandpa from Christopher Holme of Oxford whose family owned an old portrait said to be of a distant ancestor called John Leatherland plus a leather pouch inscribed "John Leatherland Constantinople 1685".

Grandpa was a minor public figure (a Labour Life Peer in the House of Lords) so because the surname was rare, Mr Holme had contacted him wondering whether we knew anything about this John Leatherland or whether he might perhaps be our ancestor. The story behind the portrait and wallet remain unclear forty years later, but this inspired my interest in the family origins.

                   

                         All Saints Church, Yelvertoft where 18th century Leatherland ancestors were married and baptised 

In the late 1960s my uncle (another John Leatherland) had traced some of our ancestry and he was happy to share his research notes with me. I was also fortunate to work just two minutes' walk from St Catherine's House where civil registration records were kept so I began to make frequent visits to obtain birth, marriage and death certificates.

After an initial flurry of activity, my research took a back seat during the 1990s, but the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are reinvigorated me in the 2000s, helped by the discovery that much research could be carried out online. Between 2018 and 2021 I did an intensive genealogy course with the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies which helped to hone my research skills. 

                      

The Red Lion Inn, Kilsby 1887 : Photo from Jean McLaughlin  

www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/UckfieldphtgrsAG.htm

In addition to online resources, I have also carried out research in archives, mainly the Northamptonshire and Warwickshire Record Offices. For example, some of the villages where my Leatherland ancestors lived have excellent parish chest records such as Crick’s overseers’ accounts.

This website attempts to summarise my research. It focuses mainly on Leatherland ancestors, but I am including a couple of pages on other ancestral lines as I am also very interested in tracing all ancestors. 

                                    

                                          Hollowell, Northants, home to Leatherland families for over 200 years

I have two online trees, plus a private Family Historian database. The online trees are  :

LEATHERLAND ANCESTRY - Family Tree

An Ancestry tree – I am happy to share a link to this to anyone who is interested

In March 2025 I registered a One Name Study with the Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS). The main surname being studied is Leatherland plus the variants Leitherland, Letherland, Litherland and Lytherland. Litherland is almost certainly the root surname, derived from people who lived in Litherland near Liverpool. More information on my One Name Study page. 

As of late September 2026 I am in the process of a major update to this website whose content and structure has not changed much since first created in 2009. 

David Richards

April 2009

Contact me : mailto:davidr4u@btinternet.com

Site last updated 4 October 2026