Francis Norwood - Origins of Francis Norwood and a discussion of Norwood Y DNA

Contributor Clint Norwood’s biography on Richard Norwood:

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Norwood-31

Proposes that his son Francis Norwood born 1603 in Leckhampton Court married Judith Gates and had a son Francis who presumably is our immigrant.

“Francis, Esq., Named by Richardson. b. 1603, Leckhampton[9] Court, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Richard's oldest son. Has children[5]md Judith Gates; their two sons, Capt. William Norwood and Francis Norwood are mentioned in the 1689 will of Henry Norwood [1] d. 1682”

Then you’ll see the note by contributor Richard Norwood scolding the others and he removed Thomas Norwood and Judith Gates as parents to Francis Norwood, Sr our immigrant. “I have removed Thomas Norwood and Judith Gates as parents of Francis Norwood, Sr., as there are no primary sources to confirm this couple as his parents. His parentage remains a mystery.”

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Norwood-316

Contributor Richard Norwood is one of the three Y DNA test takers who are direct male descendants of this Francis Norwood. He’s done a Y-111 STR test and is in haplogroup R1b-DF27 which is in R1b1a2. And his results confirm that these families are not related.

And I think Richard may have a point. We have several unrelated families and some researches want to show they have a common ancestor and they do not. At least seven different families in America descend from ancestor that took the name Norwood independently. But the genetic evidence proves that they are not descended from the same Norwood ancestor and the genealogy is incorrect.

Haplogroup I1 includes descendants of Theophilus Norwood b c 1690 of South Carolina.

Haplogroup E1b includes a member in Virginia. This matches one sample from Kent who is a “close” relative of G. Marion Norwood Callam, who authored Norwoods I, II, III. This family possibly originated from Roman solders from the Balkans.

Haplogroup R1b1a2 includes five separate unrelated lineages:

1) The Norwoods of Knoxville, TN and Capt John Norwood of Lincolnshire England b 1605, and Benjamin Norwood of MD.

2) The larger group Norwoods of Surry, Virginia who descend from Immigrant William Norwood

3) Descendants of the Norwood family of our immigrant Francis Norwood. Looking at his genetic data it is very possibly that he took on the name Norwood to hide his identity. That was one theory proposed by E. Poole. These data are based on three separate samples from descendants of his son Joshua (1683-1762).

4) The largest group of Norwoods of Maryland who descend from Captain John Norwood b 1605. This is an important group because they are genetically related to the current larger goup of Norwoods living in Kent, England.

5) The Norwoods of Bermuda and New Jersey via Richard Norwood b 1590

While the five lineages are all in R1b1a2 these families separated well over 1,000 years ago. They are not descended from the same family in Leckhampton.

What I conclude from this is Captain William Norwood who went to Surry, Virginia may be of this family but his brother Francis is not the same Francis who came to New England. Based on these data it would be impossible for them to have been close family.
There are two competing “paper trail” theories about the origin of Francis. The older of these is that Francis was the son of Judge Francis of England c 1600 - 1682 and his mother is probably unknown. This first source was E Poole born July 16, 1787 who wrote to his grandson about their ancestor Francis and he named his father as Judge Francis of England who was a regicide. He did not name a mother.
The second source is a book by G. Marion Norwood Callam written this century. She posits that Francis was son of Thomas of Leckhampton. However, that family where loyalists which doesn't make sense if his father was a regicide.
Familyseach has his parents as Francis and Judith Gator. But I searched for christening records and marriage records and found nothing.
One World Tree on Ancestry has Thomas Norwood and Judith Gator.
All of these “paper trail” theories assume that the family of Francis Norwood is closely related to the other Norwood families. And the DNA evidence clearly shows that this is not the case.

Here are some quotes from the two “paper trail” theories:

Quotes by Ebenezer Pool born July 16, 1787 that he wrote to his grandson:

"Judge Norwood was a Regicide. His son Francis Norwood was born in England 1640 or about, came to Gloucester, settled at Annisquam in 1663. He married Elisabeth, daughter of Clement Coldom Oct. 15 1663. He died March 4th 1709.

"Francis Norwood born in Essex Co., England about 1640 was the son of Judge Norwood one of the Regicides or advisors to put Charles I to death. He was imprisoned for life as supposed in 1660 and his large estate was confiscated. Large estates in London, Co. of Essex, England.

"Judge Francis Norwood of England was born about the year 1600. He owned a large estate located in Norwood Park. Soon after the settlement of Salem [1629], Massachusetts, a son of said Francis came here and for a time stopped in Salem, but settled in Lynn where he had a family. Francis Norwood a son of said M. Norwood born 1640 and grandson of old Francis of England took up his residence at Annisquam, Gloucester about 1662. He was married to Elizabeth Coldom of Lynn. She was the daughter of Clement Coldom of Lynn."
Sincerely,

"According to tradition, Francis Norwood, the first Norwood of New England, was the son of Judge (known of by the writer) Norwood. About 1660 the judge was accused by King Charles II on his coming into power of having encouraged many persons to impression [sic, probably imprison] King Charles I and even to his being put to death, for this, king Charles II about 1660 had the estate of Judge Norwood confiscated and he not allowed to leave certain proscribed limits. Soon after this, his son Francis Norwood, come to Salem, Mass. and in a year or more married a wife in Lynn, Mass. He with his wife come to Gloucester, Cape Ann, about 1663. All of the Norwoods of Cape Ann and Maine and elsewhere in New England are his descendants."

Notes of the work of G. Marion Norwood Callam:

G. Marion Norwood Callam, a genealogist in England, and author of three books on the Norwood family in England and America (The Norwoods I, II, III), has claimed that Francis was the son of a Captain Thomas Norwood of the Leckhampton Court branch of the family in Goucestershire, England. To date, no records have been discovered to verify this connection. In fact, because the Leckhampton Court family were staunch royalists and family stories indicate that Francis Norwood fled England to escape the recriminations of Charles II, the connection seems unlikely. Further reference in Ebenezer Pool's notes to Essex County cast additional doubt on the Leckhampton connection.