Person Sheet
NameMitford LAIDMAN 
, 2567, L1011
, 2567, L1011Birth12 Jun 1711, Woodhorn, NBL
Baptism18 Oct 1711, Mitford, NBL Age: <1
Bapt MemoMr John Laidman. Clerk. Mitford
Baptism6 Dec 1711, Woodhorn, NBL Age: <1
Bapt MemoMitford may have been baptised twice at two different churches. However, with the mistakes there are on the I.G.I. there is the possibility that one of the churches may have been incorrect, and therefore the entry was inserted again, this time correctly. The Mormons do not delete the incorrect entry when it is discovered; they simply insert what they believe to be the correct entry, and this can happen several times.
Death1746, Morpeth, NBL
Burial28 Aug 1746, Morpeth, NBL
Burial Memo‘Charity’
OccupationMerchant
FlagsLaidman of interest, NBL Laidman, Richmond/1
FatherRev. John LAIDMAN , 2545, K1007 (1680-1745)
MotherChristian MITFORD , 2688 (ca1680-1743)
Misc. Notes
In his father John Laidman's will dated September 1745, it states that his "Executors shall weekly pay to my son Midford Laidman now in Morpeth jail the sum of two shillings and sixpence during the time of his Confinement". Midford must have been in some kind of trouble: probably not as a debtor, as his father would presumably have paid it off; nor indeed for a serious crime, for which the penalty would have been death or transportation. Mitford Laidman remains a fascinating and enigmatic character. He was certainly well-born, with very important family connections: his mother was a Mitford, of the Seghill Mitfords, closely related to the important Mitford family of Mitford (he was close enough to have been born or christened at Mitford Hall). His grandmother was a Blackett of a noble Northumberland family, many of whom were magistrates.
He should by all accounts have had strings enough to get him out of a jail sentence for whatever he did. One can only speculate as to what that was: intensive research in Morpeth of the quarter sessions and assizes revealed nothing at all. In 1745 the great Jacobite rebellion occurred. It is just possible that Mitford was involved in this. He would not necessarily have had Catholic leanings - some of the leaders of the previous Jacobite uprising in 1715 were Protestants. From 1740 onwards, the Catholics and Jacobite sympathisers were being taxed at double the rate of ordinary people; they were also imprisoned or fined, many to such an extent they became penniless. Although he was not in prison at the time of his death, Morpeth burial records do show Mitford Laidman as having been buried by charity, i.e: he was a pauper.
If this were the case, Mitford would have been a great embarrassment to his family. It is therefore possible that no effort was made to orchestrate his release and, by their great influence, all records of his ‘misdoings’ were suppressed.
Masters & Apprentices register for Northumberland1741-1745:
Page 149
1742/3
Jany: 4
[No.] 22
Midford Laidman of Morpeth Merch: Saml: Son of Saml: Arthur
He should by all accounts have had strings enough to get him out of a jail sentence for whatever he did. One can only speculate as to what that was: intensive research in Morpeth of the quarter sessions and assizes revealed nothing at all. In 1745 the great Jacobite rebellion occurred. It is just possible that Mitford was involved in this. He would not necessarily have had Catholic leanings - some of the leaders of the previous Jacobite uprising in 1715 were Protestants. From 1740 onwards, the Catholics and Jacobite sympathisers were being taxed at double the rate of ordinary people; they were also imprisoned or fined, many to such an extent they became penniless. Although he was not in prison at the time of his death, Morpeth burial records do show Mitford Laidman as having been buried by charity, i.e: he was a pauper.
If this were the case, Mitford would have been a great embarrassment to his family. It is therefore possible that no effort was made to orchestrate his release and, by their great influence, all records of his ‘misdoings’ were suppressed.
Masters & Apprentices register for Northumberland1741-1745:
Page 149
1742/3
Jany: 4
[No.] 22
Midford Laidman of Morpeth Merch: Saml: Son of Saml: Arthur
Spouses
ChildrenWilliam , 2370, M1935 (ca1744-1801)