John Gray of Stapleford Tawney

From http://synapse.cs.byu.edu/~randy/gen/gray.html

A John Gray was buried May 28, 1658. This could have been either the father or the son. John Gray was married before going to Stapleford, and in Harrow-on-the-Hill church records there is a John Gray baptized February 2, 1589 and married on October 6, 1606 to Elizabeth Ward. These dates would correspond with John of Stapleford, as his eldest child was born in 1608.

A.P. Clarke in the "Clarkes Genealogies" quotes from the The Parish Registers of Stapleford Tawney, Essex Co., England, as printed at the private press of Frederick Arthur Crisp, Grove Park, Denmark Hill, London, S.E., 1892, states that John Gray of that place had the following children:

• Richard, baptized August 1608, buried October 9, 1613.
• Joshua, baptized November 25, 1610, buried January 20, 1621.
• John, baptized 1612.
• Sarah, baptized January 12, 1616, married Thomas Harding May 30, 1642.
• Rebecca, baptized 1615, married Thomas Perry May 28, 1650.
• Joan, buried February 12, 1621.
• Edward, baptized April 15, 1623 (no further mention).
• Thomas, baptized July 16, 1620 (no further mention).

It is to be presumed that John Gray was not native to Stapleford Tawney, but was only a resident of that parish for some years.

It appears that the Gray family was from Harwich, Essex, as a John and Thomas Gray were living there in 1579. Six of the names in the John Gray family of Stapleford were similar to the names in Edward Grays family. They were John, Elizabeth, Edward, Sarah, Thomas and Rebecca.

It is believed that John Gray of Stapleford Tawney descended from the Dorset branch of the Gray family. The Dorset Grays are of great antiquity, and were for many generations in high favor with the English kings. Members of this family were for centuries seated in Westminster and in other sections in and about London.

notes

From http://www.basilgray.com/ch6.htm

John is recorded as a “Landed Gentry and Merchant Shipper” in Stapleford vital records during this period. He seems to have gone back and forth between London and Stapleford on a very regular basis. There is even some evidence that he sailed to America more than once. He worked with the “Council for New England, a company with a charter authorizing settlement around Massachusetts Bay Colony to the North of P’limouth.” In 1630 that same company planted over a 1000 Puritans under John Winthrop of Suffolk around Dorchester, Roxbury, Watertown, Newtown (Cambridge), Charlestown and Boston. Between 1630 and 1640 15,000 to 20,000 more settlers followed. These were mostly merchant adventurers, a term for merchants on trading ventures.
Puritanism was very strong in Essex where John and his family lived, but we have no evidence that they were puritans. Their church was Greensted Church at Thoydon Mount, a Church of England parish church serving Stapleford Tawney. Built around 650 AD, it was well used by the Anglo-Saxons, then the Normans. It is now regarded as the “oldest wooden church in the world.”
John and Elizabeth had nine children. Sadly their first three children died very young. Daughter Joan, born in 1606, died at age 14 in Stapleford. Son Richard, born in 1608, died at age 4 in Stapleford. Son Joshua, born in 1610, died in Stapleford at age 10. Perhaps this is first hand evidence of those “periodic epidemics” of the times. These children were all buried at Greensted Churchyard.
Of the remaining six children: John (1611-1658) inherited the family home in Stapleford and most of the family business ventures, Rebecca (1615-?) married Thomas Perry of Stapleford and died there. Sarah (1616-?) married Thomas Harding in Stapleford and remained there. Anne (1632-?) married first Francis Grey, and secondly Edward Collingwood of Northumberland, England. Anne and Edward removed to Scotland.
That leaves the two youngest boys, Thomas and Edward. When their father John died in Stapleford Tawney in 1640, the boys were just 20 and 17. There were estates to pass on in Stapleford and London, and a LOT of money involved. The two youngest boys had started apprenticing, but they were not prepared to jump into any of their father’s ventures. Younger sons of gentleman merchants of this time were usually deprived of the bulk of an inheritance by the rules of “primogeniture” and “entail” (by which all land in the family went to the eldest son). The Clark’s Kindred Genealogies (A.P. Clarke & the Vermont Historical Society, Gray Genealogy) speaks of a Gray family legend that “the two boys were shipped off to America by relatives who were scheming for the property that Edward and Thomas were to inherit.” Variations of this thought have been found in many sources. In the Cory Family History the story goes that “Edward and his brother Thomas were shipped to America (Plymouth Colony) as boys. There was a family dispute about inheritance. Apparently the oldest brother (unnamed) wanted the family fortune and didn’t share with the younger brothers when they came of age. So the oldest brother shipped Edward and Thomas to Plymouth as apprentices.” In Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth by Davis the story goes that “They were only boys, and were smuggled aboard the ship in which they made the voyage in order to get them out of the country, interested parties at home intriguing to get possession of certain property which rightly belonged to Edward and Thomas.” In A Patchwork History of Tiverton, Rhode Island we are told that “the two young brothers arrived in Plymouth Colony from Essex, England with instructions to establish a financial base in the New Colonies.”
In a book called Little Compton Families by Wilbour, the two young boys were “brought to the Colonies by their father in 1640, this being the father’s third trip to Plimouth, and set the boys up to apprentice.”

Both became highly respected business men, and acquired much wealth.”

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http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46371463

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GEDCOM Note

Category: English Immigrants to Massachusetts

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John Gray<ref>GEDCOMS: LH3R-Z6R; d. May 20, 1658 (Age 69) Yarmouth, Massachusetts: LDS baptism Oct 30, 1922 (264 yrs aft death). Temple: Salt Lake City. Endowment: Sep 10, 1941 (283 yrs aft death). confirmationDec 4, 1968 (310 yrs aft death). spouse sealing Elizabeth Ward Jan 26, 1995 (336 yrs aft death). LDS Temple: Idaho Falls, Idaho. LDS child sealing Jan 9, 1998 (339 years after death). LDS Temple: Ogden, Utah. Aug 17, 2000 (342 years after death); WayBack Machine: Holmesfam.net (dead link); Patricia Toland sources: U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s; 2 citations provide evidence for Name, Arrival; Kerry Fisher; John Gray #S-483210297 Boston, Massachusetts; Year: 1639; Page Number: 126 APID: 1,7486::703512; S-483224283 Ancestry Family Trees.[http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=64480265&pid...]</ref>

b. 02 Feb 1589 Stapleford, Tawney, Essex d. 1658<ref>Valerie Koutek imported death data for England in Gray-445on 19 Oct 2010. Kerry Fisher added bio to state death is in Mass. USAon 01 Apr 2013 (see changes).</ref>

Marriage

m. abt 1605 Essex<ref>(Age 15)</ref> Elizabeth Ward

Immigration

Arrival: 1639 Boston, Massachusetts<ref>#S-483210297

Boston, Massachusetts; Year: 1639; Page Number: 126 APID: 1,7486::703512; S-483210297 U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Ancestry.com</ref>

Tracking Notes

John Graie Find A Grave Memorial# 46371463. Findagrave.com. Web.[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46371463]

John Gray, of Stapleford Tawney. Geni.com. Web.[John Gray of Stapleford Tawney]

"A.P. Clarke in the "Clarkes Genealogies" quotes from the The Parish Registers of Stapleford Tawney, Essex Co., England, as printed at the private press of Frederick Arthur Crisp, Grove Park, Denmark Hill, London, S.E., 1892, states that John Gray of that place had the following children: Richard, baptized August 1608, buried October 9, 1613. Joshua, baptized November 25, 1610, buried January 20, 1621. John, baptized1612. Sarah, baptized January 12, 1616, married Thomas Harding May 30, 1642. Rebecca, baptized 1615, married Thomas Perry May 28, 1650. Joan, buried February 12, 1621. Edward, baptized April 15, 1623 (no further mention). Thomas, baptized July 16, 1620 (no further mention). It is to be presumed that John Gray was not native to Stapleford Tawney, but was only a resident of that parish for some years.A John Gray was buried May 28, 1658. This could have been either the father or the son. John Gray was married before going to Stapleford, and in Harrow-on-the-Hill church records there is a John Gray baptized February 2, 1589 and married on October 6, 1606 to Elizabeth Ward. These dates would correspond with John of Stapleford, as his eldest child was born in 1608.It appears that the Gray family was from Harwich, Essex, as a John andThomas Gray were living there in 1579. Six of the names in the John Gray family of Stapleford were similar to the names in Edward Grays family. They were John, Elizabeth, Edward, Sarah, Thomas and Rebecca.It is believed that John Gray of Stapleford Tawney descended from the Dorset branch of the Gray family. The Dorset Grays are of great antiquity, and were for many generations in high favor with the English kings. Members of this family were for centuries seated in Westminster andin other sections in and about London." (Rootsweb, 1999, June 3).[http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=raviac&id...]

Sources

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England