Francis French, of Derby

"The son of WILLIAM & ELIZABETH (SYMMES) FRENCH, he came with his half-brother, William, William's family, and nephew, John, on the good ship, "Defense" from London in 1635 at 10 years of age. See French Family Association Official Website for a complete explanation of the relationship of Francis French to William French (1580-1625) and his wife, Elizabeth Symmes using records from Halstead, co. Essex, England.

As an adult, he removed to Milford in the Colony of Conn. in 1650 and on April 10, 1661, he married LYDIA BUNNELL in Milford, Conn.

The township of Derby in the Colony of New Haven was purchased from the Paugusset Indians and belonged to Milford. The first planters of Derby were RICHARD BALDWIN and FRANCIS FRENCH in about 1654. In the laying out of tracts for homelots, Frances French received 1 1/2 acres plus one additional acre of land bounded with the highway east. His house was built in 1661 on the hill above the old cemetery.

Derby records show that for April, 1666, he received 8 shillings & 9 pence for 5 days of work. Feb. 29, 1671 Frances French in the second division of land received three acres more or less on the west side of the field. On Dec. 30, 1678, at a town meeting "ffrances ffrench" and Ephraim Smith were chosen fence viewers. Derby town records have many entries with his name until his death in 1691.

Francis & Lydia were the parents of eight known children" findagrave

Origins

http://www.frenchfamilyassoc.com/FFA/CHARTSWEB/ChartE002.htm

William French of The Leete and Elizabeth French had son Francis French in 1625. Therefore, Francis French was not the son nor nephew of William French the emigrant, but he was his youngest brother by a different mother. This shows from later reports why he was very close to him in a bloodline, but did not give to him in his will as he was not one of his children. He took him to New England with him on the ship Defence probably because both of Francis' parents had died. I have his mother's burial record and it states that she was a widow, but I do not have the record of William's burial. In any case, Francis has 100% French blood, and his line continues in FFA Chart #8. Perhaps I can find someone in that blood line to take the DNA test to verify these findings.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28255825