Hello!
In The Ely ancestry : lineage of Richard Ely of Plymouth, England by Moses Beach and William Ely (1902), two possibilities for the ancestors of Richard Ely are presented.
One of them is that the immigrant Richard Ely was a member of the Ely family of Basingstoke and was the son of Rev. Thomas Elye, of Southamptonshire and Elizabeth Elye This is based on the existence of a young son of Thomas Ely named Richard mentioned in the 1631 inquisition following his death (page xliii).
The Ely Ancestry also highlights another possibility. The immigrant could be a Richard Ely mentioned in the 1615 will of his grandfather, Leonard Ely of Wonston (page 17). The writer concocts an imaginative story of family betrayal and heartbreak to explain why Richard Ely would immigrate to the New World.
In the introduction to the book, the authors acknowledge that "We are not able to trace him [Richard Ely] with certainty beyond the town of Plymouth." (page ix).
Both the potential lineages put forth for Richard Ely of Lyme are simply instances of mentions of the name Richard Ely in various wills. The lack of any further information about these Richards makes them potential candidates for the American Elys to connect to as ancestors.
In light of documentary evidence for the origins of Richard Ely, I suggest that we remove the link between Richard Ely and the parents currently attached to him here on Geni.
Sincerely,
Tamas Caldwell-Gilbert
P.S. What is the source that identifies Richard Ely as Deputy Governor of CT? He is not included on the list of Deputy Governors on Wikipedia and The Ely Ancestry makes no mention of such a title. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Connect...
