Interest in the Pontifex family is an esoteric taste, but for the select few I would like to post the following. There weren't a lot of them, just 60 or 70 each time in the census in the mid-19th century. They probably descended from a single source. In the 16th to 18th centuries they lived in Bucks, in West Wycombe, Iver, Burnham, etc. I don't know the origin of the family name. A couple of times I have seen "Bishop alias Pontifex" in Common Pleas records, but I think this may have been a scribal error. I don't have proof of family connections, but arranged chronologically by approximate date of birth they are: Born 1400-1410 Richard Pontifex, of Wingrave, Bucks, husbandman, found in Common Pleas 1432-1465. Possibly this is father and son, since they are over a period of 30 years. Born 1410-1420 William Pontifex, of London, girdler, in the will of his uncle Roger Celle, of St Albans, Herts, chaplain, 1446. Born 1440-1460 John Pontifex, of East Claydon, Bucks, carter or husbandman, in Common Pleas 1489-1512 William Pontifex, priest, of West Ham, Essex, in Common Pleas 1498-1505, will 1518 Born 1460-1480 Robert Pontifex, of East Claydon, carrier or husbandman, Common Pleas in 1505-1512 William Pontifex, of East Claydon, husbandman, Common Pleas 1509, died at Leighton Buzzard, Beds, 1523 (Letters & Papers, Henry VIII) Born 1500-1520 John Pontifex, of Hughenden, Bucks, cook, wife Joan. Common Pleas 1551-1553 Born 1530-1540 John Pontifex, of West Wycombe, Bucks, will 1589, wife Alice, children William and Edward.