Author Archives: genealogy1066

That a name did not always carry the same blood was a common feature of medieval life, and one example was that of the Harris family of Maldon, Prittlewell, and Southminster, Essex; a branch of which probably being the source … Continue reading →

Firstly, may all reading this be safe and remain safe. My personal view: A key question when discerning how people of the same surname within a parish might be related is to find records of their land holdings. When I … Continue reading →

1. 1.1. Thomas Busby (headright of Arthur Bayly), m. Susannah Grey, dau. of Capt. Francis Grey, of Surry Co., and was br.-in-law of Peter Grey, and Anthony Allan (who had m. a sister of Sussanah and Peter Grey). Anthony Allen’s … Continue reading →

These notes allow for the opinion of some Harris researchers of old that emphasise a connection between the Harris family of Wiveliscombe, Somerset, and Thomas Harris who d. in 1688 in Virginia. They also claim a close association between the … Continue reading →

COUNSELL 1. John Counsell, m. (2). Joan Thurston, in Wedmore. 1.1. Mawde Counsell, m. John Weekes, June 7, 1585. 1.2. Marian Counsell, m. Richard Weekes, May 30, 1586, nephews of Edith Weekes (Wyke) who m. John Voules,* May 18, 1566. … Continue reading →

There was a very distinct breed of Harris, closely associated with Bristol and the tobacco trade with Virginia. They assuredly knew others of their locality – the Harris of Wiveliscombe, kin of the Bennetts and Blands, that controlled much of … Continue reading →

It is very difficult to choose an ancestor, especially in the face of a gale of a lack of information. Assumptions can be made and narratives invented to explain the assumptions. Such is genealogy of the thin ice variety – … Continue reading →

1. John Harrys, of London. Jan. 21, 1470. Protection for John Harrys of London in the retinue of George duke of Clarence, lieutenant of Ireland. (C.S.P.). Debtor: William Skyby, clerk, John Harris, citizen and grocer [merchant] of London. Creditor: Thomas … Continue reading →

EDWARD BRANTLEY OF VIRGINIA The only thing that can be said of Edward Brantley of Virginia is that the vast majority of his and his family’s connections were originally of the vicinity of Bristol, England, as this account shows. There … Continue reading →

England is small. Somerset is a small part of England. The part of Somerset from which came many settlers of early Virginia comprised of a number of villages through which all roads went to Bristol; a magnet of opportunity, especially … Continue reading →

Rodney Stoke (4 mls. fr. Cheddar, 12 mls fr. Mells and West Pennard, from whence the Kitchen/Kinchen family probably originated; where Joan, a sister of William Kitchen, m. Thomas Pearce, Nov. 24, 1586. 1. John Kitchen, m. Grace Cade, Aug. … Continue reading →

The question of “the Sergeant” stretches the mind, and much imagination has gone into “proving” descent from him. Such is required, for the spider’s web of Harris families in and around Cheddar and Wedmore in Somerset can not be disintangled … Continue reading →

1. 2. John Harris, m. Jone … Jone Harrys of Badgworth. May, 10, 1541. To be bur. in churchyard of Bagworth (5 mls Cheddar/juxta Wedmore). Ch. of Wellys 4d. Ch. of B. I2d. Izabell Stebbes a cow, my second kyrtell, … Continue reading →

1. … 2. Richard Counsell, bapt. Apr. 4, 1568, held one third of the manor of Mudgley, names as “cousin” in the will of Marie (Beard) Sherwell, widow of Robert Sherwell, of Blackford, Somerset. John Harris, d. 1625, m. Penelope … Continue reading →

Thomas Joyner, who died in 1694, in Virginia, was highly likely to have been born in the London area of England,and have been of a prosperous land-owning family of Dorchester-on-Thames, Berkshire; the son of a Thomas Joyner, an attorney in … Continue reading →

The most difficult thing in determining the lineage of any Virginia settler of English stock is to disambiguate their family from that of their relatives; albeit distant cousins, made close by both divides of their family marrying into the same … Continue reading →

1. … 2. John Harris, m. Jone … Jone Harrys of Badgworth. Will dated May, 10, 1541. Bur. in churchyard of Bagworth: Izabell Stebbes a cow, my second kyrtell, my best neck kerchyff, a wovyng (woven) apron. Thomas Stebbis her … Continue reading →

The surname Kinchen hardly appears in any English legal or church documentation from 1500-1700, the reason being it is a corruption of of Kitchen/Kichen/Kytchen, the e being also an i in some cases. A Kitchen family of South Somerset intermarried … Continue reading →

1. Charlemagne, m. Hildegard of Vinzgouw. 2. Louis I., m. (2) Judith of Bavaria, dau. of Welf I, count in Swabia, and Hedwig, a member of the Saxon nobility, the dau. of Count Isambart (“Isambard the Saxon”). 3. Charles II., … Continue reading →

1. Thomas Harris, b. 1495. 2. John Harris m. Agnes White, who m. Sept. 1, 1560, in Taunton, 10 mls from Wiveliscombe. (His family were connected to that of Herring, both families also being later connected in Wayne Co. – … Continue reading →