Origins of William Stretton 1585-1647

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Origins of William Stretton 1585-1647

Legg inn av Gjest » 01 nov 2005 13:51:12

William Stretton (1585-1647), sometime Mayor of Tenterden, Kent, and
Master of the Company of Butchers of London in 1636, is the ancestor of
a number of Stretton/Stratton families in the United States, several of
his sons having emigrated to the colonies.

The genealogies of the various American descendants of William Stretton
regularly refer to his having come from the village of Shrivenham,
Berkshire, and provide him with a father, John, and a grandfather,
William, said to have died c1603. The source of this material appears
to be Harriet Russell Stratton's Book of the Strattons (Vol. I 1908,
Vol. II 1918, Chattanooga). This work also names William's wife as
Elizabeth, and, following consistent usage amongst descendants in the
United States, spells his surname "Stratton".

The will of William Stratton of Shrivenham was proved at the P.C.C. on
12 May 1604, being dated 16 September 1601. He describes himself as a
widower and a smith, "aged and very feeble & weake in body, and at
this present very much grieved with paines and greifes". He names
his son John as executor and residual beneficiary, and leaves legacies
to his sister Agnes; Richard, Thomas, Nicholas and Jane, the children
of his son-in-law John Saunders; his daughter Christian; the children
of his daughter Joan; his son John's son William; Margaret and Agnes
the children of his deceased daughter Agnes Cox; his daughter Jane
Saunders; and his "cousin" [?nephew] Thomas Stratton.

The registers of Shrivenham commence only in 1575, and on 17 May in
that year we find that John, son of William Stratton, was baptised. I
have not been able to trace this John's marriage, but his son William
Stratton was baptised at Shrivenham on 3 February 1600. Given that our
William's first child was baptised in 1613 (*), it is reasonable to
conclude that they are not one and the same man.

If William Stretton was not from Shrivenham, then what were his
origins? The records of the Worshipful Company of Butchers reveal
three Strettons who were admitted to the livery in around 1600:
William, George [Master in 1632 & 1637] and Richard.

According to the printed lists of the Butchers' records at the
Guildhall Library, apprenticeship documents appear to survive only for
Richard (1585/6, to Thomas Massy), whose indenture records his father
as John Stretton, glover, of Tamworth. Were these three brothers, and
did George and William serve their time under their elder brother?

The registers of Tamworth show the baptism of Richard, son of John
Stretton (4 January 1570), and also of his half-brothers George (3
March 1582) and William (20 February 1585). This would offer
confirmation of the above supposition, and answer the question in
favour of a Tamworth descent. Their father, John, married firstly
Ellen Hill (18 October 1566) and secondly Margaret Hunter (21 May
1570); there were four other children.

MAR


(*) Sarah Stretton, baptised St. Leonard Eastcheap, London, 5 September
1613 (PR)

Simon Fairthorne

Re: Origins of William Stretton 1585-1647

Legg inn av Simon Fairthorne » 02 nov 2005 01:05:01

Hi

I've been worried by this ancestry for some time
Firstly I was put off by references to "Shrivenham, Kent"

More seriously the descendants of Edward Stratton include Thomas Stratton
died 1702 in Watchfield (part of Shrivenham) and it states that Thomas
married 16 June 1664 at Shrivenham Elizabeth Jenner daughter of Thomas
Jenner and Eleanor Fairthorne and that this Elizabeth was baptised at
Shrivenham 9 May 1627
looks fine - except Thomas Jenner (Joyner) and Elinor Fairthorne were
married 6 February 1636/37

At this point I didn't take the rest of the genealogy very seriously, there
was an Elizabeth Jenner baptised in 1627 but there are three generations of
Thomas Jenners; it may (very tentative) be that she is a sister not daughter
of the Thomas Jenner mentioned above.

The relationships between the Shrivenham families of Stratton, Jenner,
Blagrove and Fairthorne is one of the many jobs I keep meaning to do - at
present our house is in chaos with major building works so I may not come
back with anything until the new year

cheers

Simon

----- Original Message -----
From: <mjcar@btinternet.com>
To: <GEN-MEDIEVAL-L@rootsweb.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 12:51 PM
Subject: Origins of William Stretton 1585-1647


William Stretton (1585-1647), sometime Mayor of Tenterden, Kent, and
Master of the Company of Butchers of London in 1636, is the ancestor of
a number of Stretton/Stratton families in the United States, several of
his sons having emigrated to the colonies.

The genealogies of the various American descendants of William Stretton
regularly refer to his having come from the village of Shrivenham,
Berkshire, and provide him with a father, John, and a grandfather,
William, said to have died c1603. The source of this material appears
to be Harriet Russell Stratton's Book of the Strattons (Vol. I 1908,
Vol. II 1918, Chattanooga). This work also names William's wife as
Elizabeth, and, following consistent usage amongst descendants in the
United States, spells his surname "Stratton".

Gjest

Re: Origins of William Stretton 1585-1647

Legg inn av Gjest » 02 nov 2005 10:03:05

Thanks for your note, Simon.

When you do find time to tackle the Shrivenham families, at least you
know you won't have to be sidetracked by the spurious
Strettons-of-Tenterden connection.

Regards

Michael

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