Peggy, more thoughts on our English connections and on the origins of the Bamford name:
According to the britishsurnames.co.uk website, Bamford is a name of English origins. Assuming that the name would be concentrated where it first originated, at least in earlier times, I checked the UK 1881 census to see if it could find a pattern. I've used this ploy in the past, especially with the Griffith's Valuation records of 1847-1864 in Ireland, to good effect.
The UK 1881 census shows an overwhelming concentration of Bamfords in the County of Lancashire with 2155 people of that surname. The next highest concentration was in Derbyshire with the 399, and Yorkshire was the only other county over 300 with 322. Smaller numbers of Bamfords were sprinkled throughout the UK.
More precise locations can be found in the Census District data. The main concentration of Bamfords was to be found in the Census District of Wuerdle Wardle, Lancashire, with 296. Five neighbouring Census Districts had concentrations ranging from 101 to 161.
So it's my conclusion that the Bamfords in County Antrim were English immigrants, possibly arriving as early as the English Plantation of Ireland in the 1600's, although with the Indusrial Revolution people became much more mobile between England, Ireland and Scotland.
It's significant that Wuerdle Wardle was in the parish, now borough, of Rochdale in northeast Manchester, because south Antrim became a centre of the Irish textile industry, with many English and Scottish immigrants brought in to build it. So the linen industry in Antrim has venerable roots:
“Rochdale rose to prominence during the 19th century as a major mill town and centre for textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the first ever industrialised towns.[3”
This seems a good place to look for Antrim and Down ancestors with English surnames and emmigrant Irish family members to England.
Cheers,
Bill