| Notes |
- RESEARCH_NOTES:
1. "The American Genealogist," Vol. 27 "The Four Spencer Brothers: Their Ancestors and Descendants," compiled by Donald Lines Jacobus, M. A.
"John Spencer, born probably within a few years after 1500, buried at Edworth, co. Bedford, 9 June 1558; married Anne, perhaps Merrill, who was buried at Edworth, 16 June 1560.
John was called "senior" at burial. The recorder in entering the burial of Ann Spencer, widow, paid her respect by the following tribute: "the good hospitallity keeper; and she did give to the towneship of Edworth ii of her best bease [beastsl to be lett to ii pore folks in the towne for iii s. a cow & the parson & churchwarden to have the letting of them & the distributing of the money to the poore & to se the stock meinteined each of them to have iiii d. of the vi s. for ther paynes to se this truly done acording to her last will."
Her will, dated 13 June 1560, proved 21 Apr. 1561, calls her Widow, in Edworth, Beds., and names her son Gerard (aged 17); son Michael, to have the chest that was his brother John's; John Spencer, son Michael's Child, to have £20; Elisabeth Lymer, to have ₤4 at marriage; Alice Aystin, to have a calf; servants; for the mending of "London Brygge waye," 10 s.; brother Edward's children, to have the ₤1 that he borrowed of her, and the barley he gave her sons to his children; Nicholas Merryll and John Merryll his brother, to have the barley their father gave her sons; and the poor of Edworth, to have the gift already mentioned. Michael Spencer was a witness.
From this will we gain the impression that our Spencer family at that period was of the yeoman class, and somewhat better off than the average village family of the time and place. Whether they were in origin a younger branch of an older gentry family, or a more humble clan which by industry and good fortune had improved its lot, we are not in a position to affirm. It would be necessary to prove the parentage and more remote ancestry of John Spencer, Sr., by documentary evidence, before claiming any specific connection with any other Spencer family in England. From the terms of the will, it would seem that Anne's brother was Edward Merryll or Merrill, and that this was her maiden name. A search of Merrill wills might confirm this conjecture.
Children:
i. Michael, b. probably 1530-1535.
ii. John, bur. at Edworth, 21 Apr. 1560, as son of Ann Spencer, widow.
iii. Gerard, b. Ca. 15143; d. at Biggleswade, Beds, ca. 1577; m. at Edworth, 30 July 1568, Ellen Whyston. His will, dated 8 July 1576, proved 20 May 1577, calls him of Biggleswade, yeoman, and names son Richard, under 21 (to have ₤60); daus. Agnes and Johan Spencer (underage) and child unborn, to have 140 marks apiece at 18 years; wife Elen; god-daughter Johan Spencer, my brother 's dau. (to have ₤1); brother Michael Spencer (to have 5 marks); wife Helen and brother Michael, executors. (F.C.C. Doughtrey, 19.) Children: 1. Richard. 2. Agnes. 3. Joan. 4. A child, b. 1576-7."
2. FHL book 929.273 Sp33 "The Spencers of the Great Migration," by Jack Taif Spencer and Edith Woolley Spencer (Gateway Press, Baltimore; 1997) vol. 1, partial excerpts from pp. 79-80, 85:
"When we seek to define the status of the Spencers at Edworth in the mid-1500s, it seems clear that they were still in the "tenant" category. In Rev. John Holding's study, he found that the farm operated by the Spencers was held under a leasehold arrangement from the lord of the manor (in this case the PARRYS). A careful reading of ANNE (Merrill) Spencer'S will (widow of JohnC) shows that there was no mention of the distribution of land or tenements to her oldest son. Holding calculated that the leasehold at Edworth would expire in the year 1575. Anne died in 1560, so apparently her son's operation of the farm was safe for another fifteen years. We know that MichaelB did serve out the remaining years of the lease, but by 1573 he had located at STOTFOld, a short distance south of Edworth.
Just what lease or ownership arrangements the Spencers had at Stotfold has not been revealed in the literature, but presumably it was another leasehold. MichaelB and his wife Elizabeth still had several small children at this stage and indeed their last three children (including GerardA born at Stotfold There was at least one other living son (ThomasA, b. 1571), so it seems unlikely that GerardA (b. 1576) would have inherited a leasehold. In any event, GerardA and Alice Whitbread had all of their children born at Stotfold.
In the sequence of events mentioned above, it would appear that leases were the predominant pattern of land usage at least by the parents and grandparents of GerardA Spencer (b.1576) Rev. Holding notes that GerardA in 1615 conveyed a lease to his brother, ThomasA, (b. 1571) and quote "conveying them next year to the same". This may have marked the year when GerardA and Alice Spencer moved from Stotfold, but their new location has never been ascertained. Apparently they did not move to co. Essex as was once believed since a careful search of the records in 1993 in Braintree and nearby towns revealed no clue as to their presence in that region. At this time in the family's history, the children ranged in age from one to fourteen years."
"...This vast expanse of time brought us from Thomas1 of Badby down through HenryH, ThomasG, RobertF, and JOHNE Spencer. The "E" generation ended about 1500 with the death of JOHNE of South Mylls, Beds. His children, however had survived the internal struggles of the 1500s for the possession of the English Crown.
The children of JOHND Spencer of South Mylls and CHRISTIAN BAKER came on the scene in time to witness the attack on the Catholics by Henry VIII (1509-1547) and the great religious struggle of that period.
The life spans of the children of JohnSpencer of South Mylls (ca 1500-1568) (William, Robert, JOHN) and ETHELREDE BAKER coincide almost exactly with the reign of Henry VIII to the mid-1500s. It was during this period also, that we note the shift of the family from SOUTH MYLLS to EDWORTH. JohnC (later the husband of ANNE Merrill) was the first born at EDWORTH shortly before Henry VIII ascended the throne in 1509.
The Spencer occupation at Edworth extended on for another three-quarters of a century to about 1576. The last Spencer to be born at Edworth appears to have been ThomasA Spencer in 1571. His unborn siblings (KatherineA, GerardA, and RichardA) were born at STOTFOld. Thus, those who lived at Edworth survived the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547), EdwardVI (1547-1553), and much of the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). It was during this period that the Spencers in generations "C" and "B" of Edworth were exposed to the great religious convulsions under HenryVIII and the restraints implosed under Elizabeth I against the rising Puritan forces.
When GerardA (b. 1576) (father of the Four Brothers) was born at Stotfold, Elizabeth was in the middle of her reign and the great battle against the Spanish Armada (1588) took place when GerardA was only twelve years of age. When GerardA and Alice Whitbread were married at UPPER GRAVENHURST in 1600, Elizabeth'S long reign was coming to a close and Puritanism had become a widespread influence in the life of the average Englishman. During the years that Gerard and Alice's children were born (1601-1614), James I (1603-1625) had come to the throne and the struggle against the Puritans was intensifying. Charles I (1625-1649) continued to oppress the Puritans and by 1630 the stage was being set for a great Civil War between the religious and political factions.
We can now see that the Four Spencer Brothers were young men who had arrived on the scene at a critical juncture in English history. It is clear from the record that neither they nor their parents were in a solid position of land ownership. Indeed, this Spencer line for generations seemed to be in the "tenant" class. Consequently, Gerard and Alice's children easily could have looked to America for the "great salvation" and the acquisition of a promised one hundred acres of free land for each emigrant."
3. FHL book 929.273 Sp33 "The Spencers of the Great Migration," by Jack Taif Spencer and Edith Woolley Spencer (Gateway Press, Baltimore; 1997) vol. 1, partial excerpt of full transcript in the notes of the earliest Spencer, pp. 53-55, 57-60:
"Vital Records for the Early English Generations of the New England Spencers.
CHART I: The near relatives of the five Spencer siblings of Bedfordshire who came to New England about 1630:
-JohnC Spencer (1505-1550) = Anne Merrill (d. 1560)
-MichaelB (b. 1531) = Agnes Lymer (d. 1562); = Eliz. (d. 1599)
-John (b. 1577 Edworth) children b. Baldock, Beds.: Daniel = Sarah Audley; Francis = Margaret Roberts.
-Michael (1558-1560 Edworth)
-Anne (b. 1560 Edworth)
-Joan (b. 1564 Edworth)
-Alice (b. 1566 Edworth)
-Thomas (1571-1631 Edworth) = Margaret Spencer (?). Children b. Stotfold, beds.: Gerard (b. 1601) = Joan Hills; Anthony = Katherine Hills; Thomas; Richard; Margaret (d. 1635) = Simon Spencer.
-Catherine (b. 1573 Edworth) = ___ Bland
-Gerard (b. 1576 Stotfold) = Alice Whitbread. Children b. Stotfold: William (1601-1640) = Agnes Harris; Elizabeth (b. 1602) = Timothy Tomlins; John (b. 1604); Henry (1605-1607); Thomas (1607-1767) = Ann Derifield, = Sarah Bearding; Richard (1608-1614); a son; Michael (1611-1653) = Isabel ___; Gerard (1614-1685) = Hannah Hills, = Rebecca Porter Clark. [Note that the pedigree continues with another generation from the children William, Thomas, and Gerard.]
-Richard (1580 Stotfold-1645)
-John (1533-1560)
-Gerard (ca 1543-1577) = Ellen Whysson. Children b. Biggleswade, Beds.: Richard, Agnes, Joan, a child (b. 1567).
-William (b. ca 1545)...
II. The Vital Records of the Early Generations in England [KP note: I delete all generations prior to JohnC since it is unproven conjecture.]
-JohnC Spencer of Edworth; b. ca 1505; m. Ann Merrill (d. 1560); d. 1558.
The Family of JohnC Spencer of Edworth (JohnD, JohnE, RobertF, ThomasG, HenryH, ThomasI) and Ann Merrill.
-MichaelB Spencer of Edworth, Beds.; (The first of the Spencers at Stotfold, Beds); b. 1531 at Edworth; m. (1) Agnes Lorimer (Limer), 22 Jan 1555/56 at Edworth. Agnes bur. at Edworth, 23 Feb 1562; m. (2) Elizabeth ___ in 1563; Elizabeth bur. at Stotfold, 18 Nov 1599; d. after 1599. Probably bur. at Biggleswade, Beds.
-JohnB Spencer of Edworth; b. ca 1533 at Edworth; d. ca 1560.
-Gerard Spencer, b. ca 1543 at Biggleswade, Beds. (perhaps earlier); m. Ellen (Helen) Whyston (Whysson), 10 July 1568 at Edworth, Beds. Ellen was the dau. of Wm. and Elizabeth Whyston; d. ca 1576 at Biggleswade. Will dated 8 July 1576 and proved 20 May 1577.
-WilliamB Spencer of Edworth; b. ca 1545 at Edworth.
The Family of MichaelB Spencer (b. ca 1531) and Agnes Lorimer (d 1561/62 and Elizabeth ___; (The first three children were by Agnes Lorimer).
-JohnA Spencer (MichaelB, JohnC, JohnD, JohnE, RobertF, ThomasG, HenryH, ThomasI). (Holding states that JohnA may have settled at Baldock, Beds, where several of his children were baptized); bapt. 20 April 1557 at Edworth, Beds.
-MichaelA Spencer; bpt. 27 May 1558 at Edworth, Beds.; bur. 21 April l560 at Edworth.
-Anna Spencer; bapt.) 24 July 1560.
-Joan Spencer; bapt. 21 Aug 1564 at Edworth. AliceA Spencer; bapt.) 30 Aug 1566 at Edworth.
-Thomas Spencer; bapt. 12 Mar 1571 at Edworth; m. Margaret Spencer (?) who was bur. 19 Dec 1635 at Stotfold. (So identified by Jacobus. Holding identifies Margaret as the daughter of Thomas who married a Spencer); d. 1631.
-Katherine Spencer; b. 1573 at Stotfold, Beds. m. ___ Bland; d. Before 1645. (Katherine had daughters Sarah and Hannah Bland). It appears that Katherine was the first child baptized at Stotfold after the family had moved from Edworth. Some records indicate that GerardA was the first of the children born at Stotfold.
-Gerard Spencer (the father of the Five Spencer Siblings who came to New England about 1630); bapt. 20 May 1576 at Stotfold; m. Alice Whitbread of Upper Gravenhurst, Beds, on 10 Nov 1600. Alice was born at Meppershall, Beds, ca 1580 She died in May of 1646. She belonged to a family of considerable prominence. Gerard moved from Stotfold sometime before his children emigrated to New England. Possibly Gerard moved to London, but this is not confirmed; d. before 1646.
-RichardA Spencer; b. (bapt.) 9 July 1580 at Stotfold. m.?; Will dated 17 Mar 1645; codicil dated 29 May 1646; proved 6 June 1646.
4. FHL book 929.273 Sp33 "The Spencers of the Great Migration," by Jack Taif Spencer and Edith Woolley Spencer (Gateway Press, Baltimore; 1997) vol. 1, partial excerpt of full transcript in the notes of the earliest Spencer, pp. 62-63:
"Records PUBLISHED byVICAR JohnHOldING IN 1903 and Donald L. Jacobus IN The 1950s.
In his writings of the early 1950s on the Spencers of Bedfordshire, the Dean of American genealogists, Donald L. Jacobus, published the first comprehensive history of the descendants of the Four Spencer brothers as well as their immediate ancestors in England. It was a landmark in genealogy which has scarcely been equalled to this day. A half century before Jacobus, the first great landmark had been written by Vicar John Holding of Stotfold, Bedfordshire. Jacobus naturally leaned heavily on Holding's material and made the following comments:
In 1903 the Rev. John Holding, M.A., then Vicar of Stotfold, Co. Bedford, England published "The Spencers of Bedfordshire". Despite a lack of formal arrangement, the book is a mine of information...
Holding noted that most English parish registers are good only back to about 1538. He found the Edworth and Stotfold registers in Bedfordshire to be quite clear from the middle of the 16th century onwards for at least another century.
Holding further states:
"There have always been two large farms in Edworth comprising really the whole land in the parish with the exception of about eight acres attached, as glebe-land, to the Rectory, giving the total area of about 1,122 acres; so that the Spencers' farm would be over six hundred acres in extent, a very large farm even in the present day, and giving employment to half the laboring poor in the place. The population at the last census in 1901 was only 86. The Hall where the Spencers resided is still standing, although much modernized and is occupied at this day by a gentlemen named SMYTH, who holds a very good and respectable position in the county, and what is interesting to note is able to show his armorial bearings and to be styled "gentleman", although technically but a yeoman, farming his own land (Authors' notes: It is quite remarkable that a "SMYTH" family appears at this point because the surname appears associated with the Spencer lineage far back into the 1400s).
Edworth is a parish on the borders of Hertfordshire, and is situate half way between Baldock and Biggleswade, and about two miles from Stotfold. The Roman way (now called the "Old North Road") passes a little to the west of the village. The church is a small edifice of stone, built about A.D. 1250, and capable of seating 120 persons. It consists of a chancel, nave, north and south transepts, north and south porches, and an embattled western tower containing three bells. There are two ancient and stained-glass windows in good preservation, and in the chancel a memorial window to members of the SMYTH family."
Holding cites a marriage between RobertUS PARRYS of Ellington and Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of Thomas Spencer of "Copool", but no date is given.
"With these indisputable facts before us, we think we may safely conclude that JohnC Spencer, who died at Edworth in 1558, must have been known to all or most of them, and that it may have been from a member of the Parrys family that he obtained the lease of his farm at Edworth. The lease of the Edworth farm would expire about 1575, which would make it one of twenty-one years.
We find ANNE Spencer in her will conveying her interest in the lease to Michael[B] Spencer her eldest son, who must have remained there as long as the lease was in force; and then, if not further confirmed or continued in the tenancy, he must have removed elsewhere. The latter event took place, for we find him at Stotfold in 1576, where the first evidence of his appearance there is the record in the register of this parish of the baptism of GerardA Spencer, son of MichaelB Spencer and Elizabeth his wife, 20 May 1576. We place the lease at twenty-one years for reasons which will appear shortly.
In closing our investigation we will gather together and summarize our facts. As early as 1555 we find a person named JohnC Spencer living at Edworth in Bedfordshire; he is proved to be the ancestor of Gerard1 Spencer who migrated from Bedfordshire to New England about the year 1638. This JohnC Spencer had the leasehold of an extensive farm, of which the terms of tenancy expired about the year 1575, being apparently one of the usual tenure of twenty-one years. He died in 1558, and from the contents of his widow's will he appears to have been of considerable substance; and although ranking as a yeoman and tenant farmer, was apparently connected with some of the best and most distinguished families in his neighborhood. There is every indication that previous to his advent at Edworth he had resided at St. Albans, where he was held in such high estimation as to be chosen one of the first chief burgesses of that town, and as such named in the Royal Charter granted to it by King Edward VI in 1553. For some reason his name suddenly disappears from the roll of chief burgesses and his place is filled by another, according to the provisions of the charter that "if any chief burgess shall die or live out of the borough, or be removed from his office, the mayor and chief burgesses shall within eight days after such death or removal choose one or more of the inhabitants to be the chief burgess for their lives". JohnC Spencer was not removed from his office nor did he die at that time, for the register of burials at St. Albans has been strictly searched, and no entry can be found there of his burial; hence we conclude that he removed himself elsewhere.
There also is the strongest collateral evidence that he left a son William behind him in St. Albans, who settled there, and in time also became one of the chief burgesses, and afterwards mayor of the borough.
We also have every reason to believe that this son, for some reason or other, travelled to his brother's home at Edworth, where he had a child baptized in 1565.
A grandson of this JohnC Spencer is proved to have possessed an estate in St. Albans, and is styled "Gent." in his Will; another grandson also, at his burial, is entered in the register as "gen" or "gentleman", both of these men had become citizens of London."
(Authors' Note: It seems quite clear from the above description by John Holding that he had mixed the two JohnSpencers of the same generation. It seems certain that Holding was speaking of the JohnSpencer who had married Ethelrede Baker. The reader is referred to the Holdings-Phillipps master chart showing the relationships between the families of the two JohnSpencers. The John Spencer who was the grandfather of the Four Brothers had married Ann Merrill and his father was married to CHRISTIAN BAKER.. As we have mentioned earlier, nearly all later genealogists were confused about these two main descending lines).
We shall close the material presented by Vicar John Holding and now turn to the important study conducted by Donald L. Jacobus in the 1950s and published in The American Genealogist (TAG). Jacobus commented on JohnC Spencer as follows:
"JohnC Spencer was called "senior" at burial. The recorder in entering the burial of Ann Spencer, widow, paid her respect by the following tribute: "the good hospitality keeper, and she did give to the towneship in the towne for iii s. a cow & the parson and churchwarden to have the letting of them and the distributing of the money to the poore and to se the stock maintained etch of them to have iiii d. of the vi s. for ther paynes to se this truly done according to her last will".
Her will, dated 13 June 1560, proved 21 April 1561, calls her widow, in Edworth, Beds., and names her son Gerard (aged 17); son Michael, to have the chest that was his brother JOHN's; JOHN's son Michael's Child, to have L20; ELISABETH LYMER, to have L4 at marriage; Alice AYSTEIN to have a calf; servants; for the mending of "London Brygge waye" 10 s; brother Edward's children, to have the L1 that he borrowed of her, and the barley he gave her sons to his children; Nicholas MERRYLL and JohnMERRYLL his brother, to have the barley their father gave her sons; and the poor of Edworth, to have the gift already mentioned. Michael Spencer was a witness.
From the Will of Ann (Merrill) Spencer we gain the impression that our Spencer family at that period was of the yeoman class, and somewhat better off than the average village family of the time and place. (Webster defines "yeoman" as "a man of the commonality of the first or most respectable class; a freeholder; a man free born"). Whether they were in origin a younger branch of an older gentry family, or a more humble clan which by industry and good fortune had improved its lot, we are not in a position to affirm. It would be necessary to prove the parentage and more remote ancestry of JohnC Spencer, Sr. by documentary evidence, before claiming any specific connection with any other Spencer family in England. From the terms of the Will, it would seem that Anne's brother was Edward MERRYLL or Merrill, and that this her maiden name. A search of Merrill wills might confirm this conjecture." ..."
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Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
Bef 1510 - 1560 (~ 50 years)