Other branches of the Scaife family

There are of course many other branches of the family, some larger than others. Here is a list of some of the ones we have come across:

  • East Riding Scaifes - Clusters can be found in Hull, Beverley and Elloughton, and (possibly separate) in Pocklington. The City of York itself has been a longstanding home of the family. In 1555, John Skaife, King and Queen's messenger was resident there and appears to have been a man of some importance. There are several more recent groups here which we have not yet managed to relate to each other.
  • A large group of Scaifes have lived in the area once known as Richmondshire, since at least the 17th century.
  • In Lancashire, there has been a steady stream of immigrants from the counties of Yorkshire, Westmorland and Cumberland. A family who spelt the surname Scaiff, and whose descendants still do so, was based in Liverpool from the 19th Century. A branch of the Braisty Woods family moved to Manchester at a similar time.
  • Durham and Northumberland has been home to many Scaifes, probably from the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland. In particular, we need to find more about the Durham Scaifes as they could be linked to the Scaifes in Richmondshire (see above.) One Durham branch which we do know about is the Scaife family of Tanfield. They are probably descended from the Winton Scaifes.
  • In Cumberland, there are groups of Scaifes dotted around everywhere. A family in Brampton were possibly related to the Winton Scaifes as some of their number used the Coat of Arms. There was also an early family in St Bees, some of whom made their living at sea.
  • London has been attracting Scaifes for centuries leading to some strange spelling versions of the surname. One prominent family which came from the Carlisle area settled in Clerkenwell in the mid-18th century. The head of this family, one Arthur Scaife, was an armourer and brazier and his descendants were on the whole an adventurous lot, one of them attempting to start a coin-striking business in Melbourne, Australia in the 1850s.