Bugden

Bugden is an English name and a traditional Newfoundland family name.

Bugden appears in the Hansard of the Parliament of England in both tax rolls and Acts of Parliament.

On July 18, 1641, the House of Lords discussed a riot against the Bishop of Lincoln at “Bugden” (Buckden). The rioters were protesting the Enclosure Acts and tore down the fences to the common pastures. Among those arrested were: Mary Shelley, Henry & Mary Longeland, John & Marriam Laundell and Francis Bradshawe. They were sent to London in shackles and imprisoned in a prison ship in The River Thames. The prisoners were released by Parliament after they apologized and swore to never interfere with the Bishop of Lincoln again, until Lord Henry Bugden appeared.

On July 8,1648, the House of Lords discussed the building of Bugden Manor in Huntingdonshire. Sir John Maynard was a member of the exclusive Order of the Bath ordered the manor built but when the contractors failed to complete the job on time, Maynard lobbied Parliament to pass an act absolving him of penalties and forfeitures.

In 1693, Edmond Bugden was assessed a tax of 1.4 pounds for a home worth 7 pounds rent per year. The tax was 'Four Shillings In The Pound Aid”, a levy to raise money for King William’s War and Bugden’s name appears on the rolls for Middlesex, St Dunstan Stepney and the Hamlet of Wapping.

Six years later, Edmond Bugden appears in Parliament’s Hansard as Edmund Bugden. Edmund Bugden was probably the first Bugden to visit Newfoundland. he was a Royal Navy Officer and it is probable he visited the Island convoying fishing ships to the Grand Banks or in route to America or the West Indies. On February 28, 1699, the House of Commons received a petition from Captain Edmund Bugden, a Royal Navy Officer who captured French and Spanish ships during King William’s War. Bugden was “ Lieutenant of the Colchester, and Captain of the Jersey: and, as such, was concerned in the taking several Prizes about the Leeward Islands.

Bugden reports that Christopher Codrington wrested several prize-ships from him and robbed him of his booty; Bugden was appealing to the House of Commons for redress. Bugden had other grievances too: he listed a number of instances of fraud in the Royal Navy and wanted his court martial overturned. King William's War soon ended, and with it Edmund Bugden's naval career faded into obscurity.

On March 19,1706, an act was introduced to Parliament so that an infant named John Williams could renew a lease of the Parsonage of Bugden, which was held by an Officer of the Cathedral of Lincoln. The act also settled a salary for the Vicar of Bugden and vested “Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Parish of Bugden in the Bishop of Lincoln.”

In the 1830s, John Macarthur brought Thomas Bugden and his family from England to Australia to tend gardens and help farm Merino Sheep and dairy cattle in Camden, New South Wales.