#52Ancestors "Great" - 7 of our many-Great-grandparents

Another post in the year-long challenge, #52Ancestors by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow. I am way behind, but every post is another post! Today I am a few weeks late, but am sharing on the theme "GREAT" deciding to look up the earliest ancestors I could document.  Most of these ancestors are my 6th to 9th greatgrandparents.  Almost all of my family names have at least an estimated birthdate based on whatever document I was able to find - a marriage record, a birth record of their child, etc. Some dates were from transcriptions done by local societies or individuals. But for some, the original Parish Registers were online, and wonderfully readable, and the lines were followed step by step. Here are a few of the baptized ones I found, from 1566 up. I've included one of the snippets I took from my downloaded register pages.

BENT, Robert b. 29 Sep 1566 Weyhill, Hampshire, England; m. Annis GOSLING 13 Oct 1589, Weyhill, Hampshire.

BERRINGTON, Agnis [Annis], bap 10 Oct 1568 Datchet, Buckingham, Eng; father's name Thoms. BERRINGTON; m. Robert TINKER 14 Feb 1591 New Windsor, Berkshire, Eng

CLARKE, Thomas bap 7 Mar 1568 Banham, Norfolk, Eng;, father's name Rowland CLARKE; m. Mary CANNE abt 1600, Banham, Norfolk, Eng.  

TROWBRIDGE, John, bap 25 Mar 1570 Taunton Somerset Eng; father's name Thomas TROWBRIDGE; m. 31 Jul 1597 Agnes PROWSE in Tiverton, Somerset Eng.

PROWSE/PROUSE, Agnes, bap 14 Apr 1576 Tiverton Devon Eng; father's name John PROWSE; m. John TROWBRIDGE as above.

SEARLE, Robert, bap 12 May 1576 Honiton Devon Eng; bap with no further info; d. between 20 Mar 1644 and 15 Jan 1646 [Will, Probate]

TREAT, Richard, bap 28 Aug 1584 Pitminster Somerset Eng; father's name Robert TROTT; m. Alice GAYLARD [var.] 27 Apr 1615 Pitminster, Somerset Eng.  Note the TREAT family in the USA were known as TROTT [or variants] in England.

One of my favourite activities is to dig through a Parish Register, page by page by page, trying to read those very early ones from 1500s to early 1700s. Some early registers are very clearly written, neat, tidy, adequate ink on the pen; others are a scribbling splotchy mess. Occasionally the writing was clearly meant to be ornamental for the priest's satisfaction! Amazing variations.

The 1500s Banham Norfolk England Parish Register was a total delight to read. Scanning the pages, I was able to read a significant number of the words and names. Very satisfying. 

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is not letting me "reply" to your comments. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day!!

#52Ancestors: Gualter MERWIN 1593/4 - abt 1642, England

Another post in the year-long challenge, #52Ancestors by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow. I am a little behind, but every post is another post! Today I am writing about Gualter MERWIN, the father of an early New England settler to Connecticut., Miles MERWIN, who arrived before 1648. Gualter, is an old version of spelling for Walter; Merwin has been found spelled with different first vowels: Merwin, Morwin, Murwin.

Much of the information I was able to glean online came from several books: (a) The English Ancestry of the Merwin and Tinker Families of New England, 1995, v.149; pp.301-302, Douglas Richardson; and (b) The English Ancestry of Miles and Elizabeth (Powell) Merwin, published by the Miles Merwin Association. Note, the 2nd book is available to download as a pdf from FamilySearch. 

First off, I need to say I have very few verified data points for Gualter MERWIN - which is not surprising as few paper documents survive from late 1500s in England. When I started researching this family, I joined The Miles Merwin Association which provided some genealogical information - very useful. The first unverified information I have is that Gualter was baptised in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England on 3 Mar 1593/94, naming his father as Nicholas MORWIN [variant spelling].  I have not as yet found the baptism register in Buckinghamshire online. St Mary parish church registers need to be examined.  

The  next point is Gualter's marriage in nearby New Windsor, Berkshire, England, on 12 January 1617/18, to Margaret TINKER, daughter of Robert TINKER & Ann/Agnes BERRINGTON. I found a transcription done by the Berkshire Family History Society showing the date, place, bride and groom, and the church:  St John the Baptist parish church image here is from early 1800s, before a complete rebuild in 1822.  This church is down the long road to Windsor Castle - yes, that Windsor Castle! 

Gualter and Margaret had 10 children that I have been able to find any information on, all of whom were born in New Windsor, Berkshire, England, not all baptisms found: 

    1.  Thomas, b. abt 1620, d. 28 Nov 1622

    2.  Benjamin [twin], bap 19 Nov 1621, d. 28 Nov 1622

    3.  Joseph [twin], bap 19 Nov 1621, d. 28 Nov 1622

    4.  Miles [ancestor], bap. 1 Feb 1623, d. 23 Apr 1697 Milford CT;
            m.1) abt 1647 to Elizabeth POWELL [d. 10 Jul 1664 CT], 7 children;
            m.2) abt 1664 Sarah Platt [d.15 May 1670 CT], 4 children; and, 
            m.3) 30 Nov 1670 Sara [unknown], no children.
    5.  Anthony, b. abt 1625, d. 8 Feb 1634 aged 9 

    6.  Rhoda, b. abt 1627-35

    7.  Nicholas, b. abt 1627-35

    8.  Mary, b. abt 1627-35

    9.  Sarah, b. abt 1630; m. 3 Feb 1649/50 to  John Rowlett 

  10.  Joseph, bap 20 Nov 1636, died infant.

Gualter apparently was buried 8 Feb 1642/43 in New Windsor, Berkshire.  His wife, Margaret, was buried a month later, 11 Mar 1642/43. The Prerogative Court of Canterbury Index [transcribed/typed] shows his eldest son Thomas as administrator of his estate, dated 11 March 1643.  I have not found any further information, nor his actual will, only this index. More research to be done... 

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day!!

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No. 37, Large Family: Mary KING - 13 children, 87 grandchildren

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog based on Themes. Last week's theme was Working For A Living, and this week's is LARGE FAMILY.  Hmmm, time to go trolling through my tree to see who has a very large family...

Oh my, there are so many couples with 10 or more, born by the same parents. And of course, there were some families which had larger numbers of children, but with several different mothers, or different fathers. I decided to look for a direct ancestor, a WOMAN who birthed the largest number of children:  Mary KING, wife of Thomas RICE.  Mary is my ex-husband's 6th great-grandmother, and she had 13 children, 87 grandchildren!

Mary KING, b. abt 1630 was the 5th of the 6 children of Thomas KING and Anne COLLINS, whose family arrived in early Massachusetts about 1638, from an unknown town in Dorset, England, possibly Shaftsbury (Shaston). She had 1 brother, and 3 older and 1 younger sisters.

Thomas RICE, b. 1625/26, the 4th of 13 children (father, Edmund RICE, mother Thomasina/Tamasin FROST), and his family came from Stanstead, Suffolk, England, arriving in early Massachusetts in 1638. Stanstead/Stansted is a small village about 40 miles north of London, England.

The Edmund RICE (1638) Association keeps detailed genealogies [with sources quoted/listed], and may be searched for more information. This is where I found my first details for this early immigrant family.

Mary KING married Thomas RICE in about 1651, although this has not yet been confirmed with documents.  They settled in Sudbury, Massachusetts, where they had 13 children:

1. Grace, b. 1652, d. 3 Jan 1653/54
2. Thomas (jr), b. 30 Jun 1654, d. after 1747; m. 10 Jan 1681/2 to his 1st cousin, Anna Rice; 14 children
3. Mary, b. 4 Sep 1656, d. 22 Aug 1733; m. (1st) 28 Nov 1678 to Josiah White; 7 children; (2nd) 15 Jul 1718 to Thomas Sawyer
4. [Capt.] Peter, b. 24 Oct 1658, d. 28 Nov 1753; m. abt 1688 to Rebecca How(e); 9 children
5. Nathaniel, b. 3 Jan 1660/61, d. 13 Nov 1726; m. (1st) Sarah Stone (d. 1704); (2nd) Dec 1704 to Patience Brown; 3 children
6. Sarah, b. 15 Jan 1661/62, d. abt 1742; m. bef 1706 to John Adams; 1 son
7. Ephraim, b. 15 Apr 1665, d. 25 Oct 1732; m. (1st) 21 Feb 1687/88 to Hannah Livermore, 10 children (Hannah d. 25 May? 1724);  m. (2nd) Mary Noyes
8. Gershom, b. 9 May 1667, d. 19 Dec 1768! ; m. abt 1694 to Elizabeth Balcom(me); 6 children
9. James, b. 31 Mar 1669, d. 14 Oct 1730; m. abt 1695 to Sarah Stone (not related to #5 or #11's wives); 10 children
10. Frances, b. 3 Feb 1669/70, d. abt 1767; m. abt 1689 to Benjamin Allen; 6 children
11. Jonas, b. 6 Mar 1672/73, d. 22 Sep 1753; m. 10 Feb 1701/02 to Mary Stone (sister to #5's wife, Sarah), 5 children
12. Grace, b. 15 Jan 1674/75, d. after 19 Dec 1768; m. 10 Feb 1701/02 to [Deacon] Nathaniel Moore [cousin?]; 9 children
13. Elisha,  [direct ancestor] b. 4 Dec 1679, d. bef 19 Oct 1761; m. 10 Feb 1705/06 to Elizabeth WHEELER, granddaughter of Resolved WHITE (Mayflower - see ship below); 7 children.
    Our family line goes down from their 6th child, Elijah RICE.  

A few family trees and articles note a 14th child, named "Remnant Rice" (b. 1681).  However this is quite unlikely for many reasons: the name itself is a big clue that this is a hoax, and in addition, it would be unlikely that Mary was still having children in 1681 or so. The Edmund Rice Association lists this name, but only to explain there is no evidence whatsoever that there has ever been such a child.  

Mary's 13 children (one died young) produced a grand total of 87 grandchildren! My hat tips to her in awe. I'm certain there would have been extended family members available to help, and I note there were several RICE families in the region, including her sister Elizabeth King who married Samuel Rice, Mary's brother-in-law. It does indeed take a village to raise families which were so large. I'm daunted by the laundry, sewing, cooking, gardening, and other tasks which would take so much of Mary's time each day, each season. 

Wish I could find a diary of this time, in order to find any details of how the women handled their daily tasks, and managed to find time with their many children. Generally, such a large group would break into several 'groups', e.g., the older few, the middle ones, the younger few. And the older children would have responsibility for the younger children, as soon as they became old enough to help out in that way.  

If you have information and corrections on Thomas RICE & Mary KING, and their children, I would be very pleased to receive any details. I may be contacted through the email at the bottom of the page, or in the Comments section below.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day.