Our tale begins in 1611 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. This year saw the birth of Godfrey Hundley, my 11th great grandfather. According to the U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, Godfrey sailed to America on the vessel “Primrose.” He arrived in Virginia on July 27, 1635; he was 24 years old.

Henry Hundley is the next Hundley on record. In 1642, Henry lived in Gloucester County, Virginia, which was part of York River County until 1651. Other Hundley’s living in the county included Robert and Elizabeth Hundley and Phillip Hunley. It appears the Hundley’s frequently changed the spelling of their name (“Hundley” versus “Hunley”) from document to document.

Throughout the years, the Hunley’s gradually moved West, from Virginia to Tennessee and eventually to Kentucky, where my father was born in 1941.