The Cullingford is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from either Gulliford, a hamlet near Exmouth in Devon, or Colyford, a village near Colyton in Devon. The word itself is derived from the Olde English personal name "Cula", from a Germanic root "kul", swollen, with the Olde English "ford", a shallow river crossing.

Current research identifies the earliest known ancestor of our Cullingford line as being Samuel Cullingford of Suffolk. Samuels great grand-daughter Lucy Mouser married John Jessop who emigrated to Australia in 1838 after her death.

The Mouser ancestry goes back 10 generations and biographies exist for some members as indicated by links

• Samuel Cullingford married Hannah
  • Everett Cullingford 1735 - 1814 married Elizabeth Dowsing
    • Lucy Cullingford ~1773 - 1839 married William Mouser  
      • Lucy Mouser 1795 - 1836 married John Jessop 
        • John Jessop 1834 - 1906 married Sarah Ann Burgess 
          • John Crofton Jessop 1861 - 1910 married Hannah Shoobridge
            • Sydney Walter Jessop 1887 - 1973 married Emily Louisa McDermott
              • Esmond Earl Jessop 1915 - 2000 married Mary Agnes Darrough
                • My Mother