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John Bancroft

Male - 1557


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  • Name John Bancroft 
    Gender Male 
    Died 13 Sep 1557  Chellaston, Derbyshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Saint Peter's Church, Chellaston, Derbyshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I4540  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Bancroft,   b. of Chellaston or Barrow or Swarkeston, Derbyshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F1425  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Margaret Hollingsworth or Haryngworth,   d. Chellaston, Derbyshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Ralph or Rauffe Bancroft,   d. Aft 1611, Chellaston, Derbyshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. William Bancroft,   d. 1611, of Chellaston, Derbyshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Thomas Bancroft,   d. From 16 Mar 1628 to 24 Jul 1629, of Chellaston, Derbyshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location
     4. Bancroft
     5. Margrett Bancroft
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F2099  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. Pedigree formulated from the research work of J. Henry Lea, Esq., in the English probate records (note he indicates additional work should be done to look at the parish records - something he had not done - to confirm this proposed pedigree). See notes with direct line Bancroft English-born males for full quote of Mr. Lea's research on which he based this pedigree:
      1. ___ Bancroft, of Chellaston, Barrow, or Swarkeston, Co. Derby? Md. ___ ___, relict, living in 1557 and legatee of lands in Barrow by will of her son Ralph, of Chellaston, Derby, dated 21 Apr 1557.
      2. Ralph Bancroft of Chellaston, co. Derby; will dated 21 Apr, probated 13 Sep 1557; bur. at Chellaston: md. (2) Alice (dau. of Christopher Wright; liv. and ex., 1557). First wife, dec'd before 1557 and bur. at Chellaston.
      2. Jane and other daus. (2 or 3), who married Thos. Ryvett, Wm. Wandyll, and ___ Alderman.
      2. John Bancroft, of Chellaston; son of above, married Margaret Hollingsworth (or Haryngworth); will dated May 11, 1556; proved at Lichfield, 24 Jan 1557, and inventoried 18 Sep 1557. Will refers to "my boys under 21. To my oldest son (Ralph) the Hall I now dwell in; to my second son the over house; to my third son part of the land in Swarston (Swarkeston), he paying his fourth brother xv li."
      3. Ralph Bancroft, liv. 1611, and admr. of his bro. William (Qu. - if of So. Cave, Yorks., and adm. 12 Feb 1616, to relict Alice.); md. Alice ___. By process of elimination, most likely candidate for father of Thomas Bancroft (see Henry Lea's rationale for this).
      4. Thomas Bancroft of Swarkeston, yeoman; will dated 13 Oct 1626; probated at Lichfield 11 Oct 1627; bur. at Swarkeston; md. Rebecca ___, liv. 1627, but bur. at Swarkeston before 1639.
      5. John Bancroft, eldest son, was of Swarkeston 1627; come to NE. in the "James," 12 Apr 1632; d. 1637; md. Jane ___, widow and had grant of 100 ac. of land in 1638, removed to Southhampton, L.I., and after to Windsor, Ct., was dec'd in 1644 when her land was divided between Jona. Stratton and Thos. Talmadge, Jr.; she had prob. mar. a second time.
      6. Anne Bancroft, m. 13 May 1647 to John Griffin of Windsor, CT.
      6. John Bancroft of Windsor, CT; md. 3 Dec 1650 Hannah Dupper; she md. 2d to John Ludlam.
      6. Thomas Bancroft of Enfield, CT.
      6. Samuel Bancroft. (According to Hinman.)
      6. William Bancroft. (According to Hinman.)
      5. Ralph Bancroft, second son; legatee of lands in Swarkeston, in 1627. The other Thomas who was born 1621 and died 1691 in Lynn, Mass., may have been the son of this Ralph.
      5. Thomas Bancroft, 3rd son; poet, author in 1639; of Bradley, near Ashbourne, Derby, 1649-1658; had issue.
      5. Dorothy. (Two daughters who married to John Errignton and Thomas Senior, but unsure as which daughter married which of the two men.)
      5. Elizabeth. (Two daughters who married to John Errignton and Thomas Senior, but unsure as which daughter married which of the two men.)
      3. William Bancroft of Chellaston, d. 1611; adm. 12 Apr to bro. Ralph; bur. 20 May 1611; wife's name unknown but dec'd before 1611.
      4. Thomas Bancroft, a minor in 1611.
      4. Catherine.
      4. Margaret.
      4. Mary.
      3. Thomas Bancroft of Chellaston, yeoman; will dated 16 mar 1628; probated 24 Jul 1629; wife is Dorothy, dau. of James Forman.
      4. William Bancroft, of Chellaston, yeoman; will dated 21 Jun 1649, probated 8 Jun 1650; no issue (Pembroke, 89.); md. dau. of Gilbert Newton.
      4. Elizabeth.
      4. Margaret.
      4. Catherine, md. ___ Newton.
      3. ___ Bancroft, a son; name unknown; liv. 1557.
      3. Margrett Bancroft, only daughter, liv. 1557.

      2. Henry R. Stiles, "The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut," 1892, v. 2, p. 41:
      "John Bancroft came in the 'James' from London, Eng., Apr. 1632; arrived 12 Jun (8 weeks passage); res. Lynn Mass.; d. 1637; 'Col. Rec. Mass.,' 3 Sep 1633; 'Winthrop's Journal,' 12 Sep 1663; 'Hubbard's Hist. New Engl.,' p. 156. His wid. Jane received 100 acres of land at Lynn, 1638. Nov. 19, 1644, Jona. Strattan and Thos. Talmadge, Jr., of Southampton, Long Island (a settlement emanating from Lynn), petitioned for the peaceable settlement of the lot betwixt them, 'which formerly was gr. unto Widd. Bancroft,' which was consented to. Tradition in the Bancroft family says she m. (2) a man who removed with her and her children to Connecticut. "Savage' mentions ch. John and Thomas.
      Children (born England):
      A. Anna, m. 13 May 1647, John Griffin; sett. Simsbury; 10 children.
      B. John.
      C. Thomas.
      D. Samuel.
      E. William (acc. to 'Hinman,' for which we find no authority.)
      Thomas Bancroft, poet (a native of Swarkstonem, on the Trent, Derbyshire, where his parents were buriedm and who pr a vol. of epigrams and epitaphs, 1639, London, Eng.) says of his brother John Bancroft:
      'You sold your land the lighter hence to go
      To foreign coasts, yet (Fate would have it so)
      Did ne'er New England reach, but went with them
      That journery toward New Jerusalem.'
      Tradition speaks of a sojourn on Long Island and the death there of one of the three brothers; that one then went to Mass. and one to Connecticut."

      2. From Ancesty.com's "English Origins of New England Families," Vol. III, pp. 513-519, Article: "Genealogical Gleanings among the English Archives." Communicated by J. Henry Lea, Esq.
      The following extracts, taken from original wills filed in the Consistory Court of Lichfield, and the Prerogative Court ot Canterbury, England, go far toward building a complete pedigree of the ancestry and collateral relatives of John Bancroft, who, with his wife Jane, came to New England in the "James" in 1682 (Hotton's Lists, p. 160. CoL Rec. of Mass., 3 Sept., 1633. Winthrop's Journal. Hubbard's Hist. of New England, p. 156.), settled at Lynn, and died in 1687, leaving children Anne, John and Thomas (and possibly Samuel and William), probably all born in England, although they are not mentioned in the pas­senger list with their parents (there called Barcroft, as noted by Savage - Savage's Gen. Dict., I, 110.), but perhaps omitted on account of their youth, as they were probably born after 1627. His widow had a grant of land in Lynn in 1638, and afterward removed to Southampton, L. I., and thence to Connecticut. She died before 19 November, 1644, when we find Jonathan Stratton and Thomas Talmadge, Jr., of Southampton, petitioning for a settlement between them of the lot "which formerly was granted to Widdow Bancroft." (Southampton Court Records, extracted by J. M. Bancroft, or Bloomfield, N. J.) He has left a large and notable posterity, preeminent among whom may be noted the distinguished historian, Hubert Howe Bancroft.
      The complete identification of the emigrant depends on a volume of poetry published two years after his death, by a younger brother, Thomas Bancroft of Swarkeston (t Stephen Biog. Dict., III., 112), who, beside mention of his parents as then buried in that place, refers to his elder brother, John Bancroft, in these lines ("Two Bookes of Epigrammes and Epitaphs" (481), pp. 86, 4to, Lond., 1639): ­
      "You sold your land the lighter hence to go
      To foreign coasts, yet (Fate would have it so)
      Did ne'er New England reach, but went with them
      That journey toward New Jeruselem."
      In view of the proved facts, we may safely neglect the poetic license of the elegist, who makes his brother die upon the passage instead of shortly after his arrival on our shores.
      The identity of the Thomas Bancroft of Swarkeston, whose will was proved in 1621, with the father of the two brothers, is unmistakable. A careful examination of the Swarkeston Parish Register (which fortunately dates from 1604), and perhaps others in the neighborhood, will of course be necessary to absolutely prove some conjectured points, as well as to pro­vide cumulative proof regarding the emigrant, while an examination of the Derby Feet of Fines, for the sale of his patrimony, might also be in order in this connection.
      Probate of the Will of John Bancroft of Wolstanton, Co. Stafford, granted 8 February, 1546-7, to "Blanch Bancroft, the relict, and Thomas Rowley, the Executors named in the will. (Wolstanton lies in teh parish jurisdiction of newcastle-under-Lyne and Stoke-upon-Trentt and about twenty miles N.W. or Derby, around which all the other localties named in the wills cluster closely.)
      The above entry in the Act Books contains the earliest mention of the name in the Lichfield Consistory, and is the only record remaining, the will having perished. The Calendars show two earlier occurences, both Johns, in 1543 and 1545, but examination of the original wills shows them to be Bromcroft and Bonrose respectively, and evidently not at all of the family in question. The testator, as being the earliest known of the name, may be conjectured, with much reason, to be the prepositor of the whole Derbyshire and Staffordshire clan, from whom our American emigrant certainly sprung.
      Will of Rauffe Bancroft of Chellaston, Co. Derby, dated 21 Apri11557. To be buried in Church of Chellaston "nere my first wife." My mother shall have the land at Barrow. To my son Christopher land in Swarston and 6 spoones that were his mothers. To son Rauffe lease of Cottun held of mayster Bradshaw of Osmaston. (There are no less than five hamlets called Cotton in Staffordshire, the adjoining county, one of which is no doubt intended. Osmaston is near Derby, to the north­west.) My leases of the Peake Hoone Lays (,) Parsons piece, etc., held of mayster Rolston of Swarston. To churches of Bulton, Alvaston, Swarston, Barrow and Chellaston each 1s. and sheep. Legacies to Swarston and Taine Bridges in the more. Godsons: Ruaffe Bancroft, Rauffe Wandyll, Rauffe Potter and Ellen Wryght (sic). To each of the children of my sister Jane a lamb. Names Willm. Tickyll, Richd Hoone and John Knight. To daughter Margaret her mothers goods at Barowe. Servant Robert Norman. Father in law Christopher Wryght. Godson Rauffe Pymm. To daughter Agnes goods wch were my first wifes. Son William. My children all under 24. To dau. Marye pan that was her mothers. "My five children I had by my first wife. My gostly father Sr Thos. Gilbert." "Yf my wife be now with chylde." Wife Alice and son William Executors. Overseers: John Bancroft my brother, Richard Walleer, Willm Wandyll and Thos. Ryvett my brother-in-law. Witnesses: Sr John Gilbert, Curat, Jno. Bancroft, Richd: Walleer, Wm: Wandyll, Thos. Ryvett, Robt. Nowell and Wm: Tyckyll. Inventory taken 10 May 1557 byWm: Mayre, Tho: Haryngworthe, Richd. Forde and Tho: Stone; total £269-19-5. Proved at Lichfield 18 September 1557 by relict Alice, power reserved to William Bancroft the other Exor.
      Will of John Bancroft of Chellaston, Co. Derby, dated 11 May 1557. "My boys" under 21. To ____ my eldest son, the Hall I now dwell in. To ___ my second son, the overhouse. To ____ my third son, part of land in Swarston, he paying his fourth brother xv. Ii. To daughter Margett goods &c., if any other daur. by my wife the same. GodChildren: Mary Bancroft, Phylyp Wandyll and Ciceley Hodkynson. " Everyone of my sisters shall have a new xii. d." John Storer. Servant John Meakyn. My mayd Katheryn. My mother Bancroft shall have 2/. A Iamb to each of my sister Jane's children. To sisters in law Joyce Mee and Alice Harynworth a new vi. d. To father in law and mother in law the same. George Haryngworth and Christopher my brother in law. To brothers in law Robert Mayre, Richard Walker and William Wandyll goods &c. To sisters in law Agnes Haryngworth and Alyce Bancroft vi. d. each. Master Rolston of Swarston, Roger Bryddon of Derby. To each of the children of my brother in law Wm: Wandyll and of my sister Alderman a lamb. To John Pereson Sen. and Jr. clothing. Wife Margaret and son Ralph Executors. Overseers: Richd. Walker, Wm: Wandyll, Richd: Haryngworth and Thomas Haryrgworth my brother in law. Witnesses: Sr Thos. Gilbert, Curat, Ric Walker, Wm: Wandell, Henry Storer, and Riohd: Haryngworth. Inventory taken 18 September 1557 by Thos. Haryngworth, Thos: Stone, Nicholas Peerson and Wm: Roberts; total £150-9-0. Proved at Lichfield 24 January 1557 by relict Margaret, power reserved for son Ralph, the other Excr.
      Admon. of William Bancroft of Chellaston, Co. Derby, granted at Lich­field 22 Apri1 1611 to Ralph Bancroft, the brother, for the tuition of Catherine, Thomas, Margaret and Mary, the children of the deceased, minors. Inventory taken 20 May 1611 by John Olyver, Willm More, Willm Smyeth & Roger Meare; total £125-16-2, exhibited at Derby 8 November 1611.
      Will of Thomas Bancroft of Swarston alias Swarkeston, Co. Derby, yeoman, dated 18 October 1626. To be buried in the Church of Swarkeston. To my Wife Rebecca. £4: yearly out of land in Swarston. To Ralph Ban­croft, my second son, house in Swarston now occupied by my eldest son John Bancroft. To Thomas Bancroft, my third son, 40/ yearly. To Katherine Bancroft, my kinswoman, 30/. To Margaret Bancroft, sister of the said Katherine. Thomas Byard, my apprentice servant. Alexander Arnefield, my servant. To every grandchild I have one ewe. Residue to my five children, John, Ralph, Thomas, Dorothy and Elizabeth. Executors: John Bancroft, my son, and John Erington, my son in lawe. Overseers: Robert Gilbert, of Barrow, my neighbor, and Thomas Senior, my son in law. Witnesses: John Bould, Thomas Pomfret, Ralphe Bancrofte and Thos: Senior. Inventory taken 19 October 2 Chas. I., by Roger Gilbert, John Joyner, Thos: BouId and Richd: Shepardd; total £275-17-2. Proved at Lichfield 11 October 1627 by John Bancroft the son, power reserved for John Errington, the other Exor.
      Will of Thomas Bancroft of Chellaston, County Derby, yeoman, dated 16 March 1628. My son William Bancroft, under 21. To Dorothy my wife messuage farm &c in Chellaston and she Executrix (afterward called "my now wife"). (As this Dorothy seems certainly to have been daughter of James Forman, the fol­lowing entry in the Lincoln Marriage Licenses is probably only a coincidence:­1602-3, March 1 - Thos Bancrofte & Dorothy Burton. (St. Mich.)." although she may have been a widow at the time.) Daughter Elizabeth Bancroft, under 21. The children of James Farman. To Margaret Bancroft; 2/, and to Catherine Bancroft the same. Overseers; James Forman (sic) my loving father in law, and Thos: Hollingworth, my loving unkle (A curious and suggestive entry is found in the following marriage license in the Vicar General's office, at London, half a century later: - ­"1676, Sep. 26 - Robert Barcroft, of Westminster, Midx., Gent., Bach'r, abt 35, & Mrs Mary Hollingworth, of St. Sepulchre's, London. Spr, abt 21; consent of mother Mrs. Eliza­beth Hollingworth, of'same, Widow; at St. George's, Southwark, or Knightsbridge or Marybone, Midx."). Witnesses: Roger Allestrge (sic; probably Allestry, a well known Derbyshire family name, is intended), James Wildess and Richard Cartwright. Inventory (no date) taken by Richd: Whingates, William Soor and Richd: Farman; total £85-8-4. Proved at Lichfield 24 July 1629 by the Extrx. named.
      The above extracts cover all wills in the Lichfield Consistory, prior to the Commonwealth, which I can with certainty identify with the family of the Emigrant at this time. From the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, however, I obtain the following additional evidence:
      Will of William Bancrofte of Chelllston, Co. Derby, yeoman, dated 21 June 1649. I commit mybody to be buried in the church or church-yard of the parish where I shall end my nat: life. I bequeath unto my sister Katherine Newton, 60 li. To my two uncles William Farman and John Farman, 15 Ii. apiece. I give to my aunt Elizabeth Farman, 15 Ii. To my aunt Ellen, being the wife of John Farman, 15 Ii. I bequeath to Thomas Forman (sic), son of my aunt Elizabeth, 10 Ii. To Frances Farmer, daughter of John Farmer, 10 Ii. I give to the two eldest children of Wil­liam Farman, my uncle, which are now living, to either of them, 10 Ii. I give to my aunt Katherine 10 Ii., provided that if she shall in any wise sue or molest my executors concerning any part of my lands and Tene­ments, then I give her only 10s. Item, to each one of the children of William Pickering of Chellaston, 20s. I give to the four children of my father-in-law, Gilbert Newton, 20 li. I give to Anne Orme of Chellaston, 20s. To my uncle George Farman and my father-in-law, Gilbert Newton, to their only proper use and behoof, all my lands and tenements in Chellas­ton, in consideration that they be my executors, and pay my debts and legacies out of the same. Overseers: my friends James Wildes and Rich­ard Domelawe. I give my cousin Thomas Bancroftes children of Brad­ley, 10 Ii. equally amongst them.(signed) Wm. BancroftE.
      Witnesses: Tho. Lightwood; William WIllis; Elizabeth Forman; Ellen Forman; Thomas Forman. Proved 8 June 1650 by George Farmer and Gilbert Newton, the executors named. (P. C. C. Pembroke, 89.)
      The above will is of especial interest as showing that Thomas Bancroft the Poet, brother of the Emigrant, was already residing at Bradley so early as 1649, and that he was then married and had issue.
      In the next number of these Gleanings, I shall submit the pedigree de­duced from all.
      The search of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, which was promised for this number of these Gleanings, in completion of the testamentary evi­dences on the Bancrofts to the Commonwealth period, has proved most dis­appointing, for, while a large number of wills and admons. were found, none have been received which fit certainly into the direct ancestry of the emigrant, John Bancroft, although both here and in the Lichfield Court there are many which throw light on the collateral branches. The following Admon. seems to be that of Ralph, presumably the eldest son of John and Margaret (Hollingsworth) Bancroft of Chellaston, and while hIs loca­tion is somewhat remote, it is by no means impossible, and the absence of the name in that neighborhood before that time (In Calendars of Exchequer Court York, 1389-1619) adds to the probability that he was a Derbyshire man who had crossed the border.
      Admon. of Ralph Bancroft of South Cave, Co. Yorks, deceased intestate, granted 12 February 1616 to Alice Bancroft, widow, the relict, to administer the goods, credits, etc. P. C. C. Adm. Act Bk 105.
      A word may be in order in this connection as to the construction of the tentative pedigree which follows. It is absolutely certain that Thomas Ban­croft of Swarkeston, father of our emigrant, was the grand-son of John and Margaret (Hollingsworth) Bancroft of Chellaston - the wills leave no pos­sible doubt on this point, but they do leave us in uncertainty as to which of the four sons of John was his parent; but of these we may dismiss William of Chellaston, who died intestate in 1611, as his son Thomas, then under age (See his tuition, on page 86, ante.), could not have been a grandfather at the making of his will fifteen years after! Thomas of Chellaston, whose will we have in 1629, may be also dismissed, as he left an only son William, who died without issue be­fore 1650. This reduces us to Ralph and the unknown fourth son, and as I believe the latter to have died long before, and unmarried, it narrows the probability to Ralph (of South Cave?), to whom (by his wife Alice?) I have ventured to attribute the descent, subject to correction by future discoveries. It is greatly to be desired that the parish registers involved, all of which, with the exception of Barrow, go far back enough to serve our purpose (Viz: Chellaston 1570, Bradley 1579, Swarkeston 16O4, So. Cave 1558, and Barrow 1735), should be examined, but this of course falls outside the province of these Gleanings.The wills of the comigerous families of Hollingsworth, Wright, Ryvett, Forman, Alderman, and others, would also add much to our know­ledge of this interesting family.

      BURIAL:
      1. From the website 1 Jan 2008 <http//freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/brett/chellaston/chellaston_mi.htm#Church> which is the website for the Chellaston Parish Church:
      "Monumental inscriptions in St. Peter's Church, extracted from 'The History, Gazetteer, and Directory of the County of Derby,' Vol., II, Part I, by Stephen Glover, 1829: In the south asile of this church... is engraven [on an alabaster slab], the effigies of a man and his wife, in scroll lines. This is for Ralph Bancroft, and Alice, his wife, without date. Two others for the same family; the inscriptions on them are nearly obliterated:
      Humphri Bancroft died Ano Dom. 23 April 1557; and Elizabeth, his wife, ...
      John Bancroft died Ano. Dom. 13 Sep 1557; and Margaret, his wife,..."