| Notes |
- RESEARCH_NOTES:
1. FHL book 929.242 G868f "The Greswold Family, 12 Generations in England," researched and edited by Robert L. and Esther G. French, comp. by Coralee Griswold [Wethersfeld, CT; 1999]. The authors standardize spelling as Greswold for England and Griswold for America. As of 2012, it appears that this book is the most current evolution of the Griswold ancestry and includes all previous research up to 1999 when it was published. (It also supersedes the author's own work in 1990 for the later English generations). See notes in this database of the original Griswold for a more detailed explanation of the various sources and a bibliography of previously published books that the authors include in this genealogical compilation.
"Roger10 Greswold (John9, John8, John7, 8.John6, 6.John5, 5.William4, 4.Richard3, 2.Ralph2, John1) was born about 1540 in Rowington, Warwickshire, England. Roger was buried 15 Mar
1617/1618 in Ederstone, England. His spouse has not been identified They had 5 children:.
i. William Greswold, christened 17 May 1563 in Wooton Wawen, Warwickshire, England. Definitely not the owner of Broad Oaks house, now Ron Herd's home The geography is wrong and, in his will, Ron Herd's William mentions a brother Henry and a sister Ann for whom there are no records to connect them to Roger William is mentioned as a son of Roger in the will of 27 John9 the Elder (1578), when he received a heifer
ii. Margerie Greswold, christened 27 Oct 1566 in Wooton Wawen, Warwickshire, England n fr
iii. Isabell Greswold, mentioned as a daughter of Roger in the will of 27.John9 the Elder (1578) when she also received a heifer, but there is no birth record, unless she was the one christened 10 Feb 1572 in Solihull, Warwickshire, England.
iv. George Greswold, christened 6 Nov 1574.
v. Thomas Greswold, christened 8 Nov 1579 in Wooton Wawen, Warwickshire, England. He married Elizabeth (___). Elizabeth was buried 25 Jun 1634 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England. Thomas died after Feb 1620 in Stoneleigh, England, his family is in his will.
2. The book "The Griswold Family, the First Five Generations in America," comp. and ed. by Esther Griswold French and Robert Lewis French, May 1990, printed by The Griswold Family Association, 116 Garden St., Wethersfield, CT, 06109, pages 6-24. The authors note that their book updates Vol. II, "The Griswold Family England - America," which was published 50 years ago:
"William. Among all the Griswold families studied in England going back to the 13th century, the first progenitor we can be sure of for the emigrants, Edward and Matthew, is William, born c. 1513-1515, died before 1571; married c. 1535 Elizabeth, who died after 1571.
(There is another William, son of Roger, who died in 1545; but he was less than 16 years of age at his father's death. TAG 41:100-101.)
Five known children were born to them. The order of their birth is taken from the will, which lists males first, then females, each in order of birth. They were probably intermixed, and Roger could have been anywhere from second to fifth Child:
Thomas, b. 1540.
Roger, b. ca. 1542.
Isabel, b. ca. 1543.
Margaret, b. ca. 1546.
Mary, b. ca 1549."
3. The book "The Griswold Family, the First Five Generations in America," comp. and ed. by Esther Griswold French and Robert Lewis French, May 1990, printed by The Griswold Family Association, 116 Garden St., Wethersfield, CT, 06109, pages 6-24. The authors note that their book updates Vol. II, "The Griswold Family England - America," which was published 50 years ago:
"Roger (son of William). Born probably between 1540 and 1545, died bef. 1605, Roger was married ca. 1568-9 to an unknown wife. The following Chancery Proceedings (TAG 41:100) explains the relationship and location of three generations of Griswolds, as well as placing Roger as the eldest of the three sons of Roger. Their birthdates are computed from the known baptismal date of George.
'Chancery Proceedings. 2 Jas I, G 11/26. Public Record Office. (No date in body of the document, but in a later hand written on 17 Nov. 1607.) The Bill (i.e. petition: wording badly worn away on one edge.)
'Roger Greswold of Kenilworth yeoman says that about March 44 Eliz (1602/3) there was... between him on one part and Thos Braband, Ann mother of the said Thomas then wife of Thomas Hart, the same Thomas Hart, Richard Holmes and Alice on the other part, Certain closes or fields called Broomfields and other lands then in their possession to be purchased by Roger Greswold deceased father of the petitioner.
'The lands were entailed to the heirs male of William Greswold father of the said Roger Greswold deceased.
'There was an arbitration before Sir Thomas Leigh. The petitioner 'being in great necessity and need of money' showed the award to one Thomas Greswold who was then about to buy the lands.
'He alleges that Roger senior had thought wrongfully that the land was not entailed and sold it to Thomas Braband and Co.
'The reply is that the defendant's father John Brabonde bought the property from Roger senior deceased.'
Children of Roger:
Roger, b. ca. 1570.
Thomas, b. ca. 1572.
George, bp. 6 Nov. 1574 at Wooten Wawen."
4. The booklet "The Griswold Family in England before 1639 - A Report of the Findings of Bonnie Boone Day Griswold and James Wells Griswold," 1984, Exeter, NH, copy in the library of the Windsor CT. Historical Society. The authors went to England to look up actual records. Quote from pp. 10-13:
"The search for hard facts about our direct Griswold ancestors in England has yielded information only on Edward. This we found in the Warwickshire County Records Library. Even this information is evidently not new because the names and accurate dates are given in Glen E. Griswold's Vol. II of the Griswold Family. But since he does not cite the source of his information, maybe the following will add a bit...[See notes for Edward for full transcription of records found of his children.]
The publication, the "American Genealogist," Volumes 39, 40, and 71 reports the extensive work of Genevieve Kiepura and John Hunt. Since their findings take 12 pages of close print, we will attempt to summarize it here. None of the original documents reported here have we seen personally, but the source reported in these articles suggest other areas for investigation.
The articles clearly represent the extensive and careful work they have done and further dramatize the difficulties encountered because there were so many Griswolds in the area and so many of the families used the traditional first names.
Mrs. Kiepura reports that the parish regester for Wootten Wawen lists the baptism of "Edward, son of George Griswold, 26 July 1607. There are references to the baptisms of George, son of Roger, 6 Nov. 1574; and to the burial of Dousabele, wife of George Griswold, 28 Aug. 1615. No Matthew or Michael in the index."
For their research, Mrs. Kiepura and Mr. Hunt had copies of 11 wills that were on file at the Worcester Records Office. Piecing the fragments of facts given in each will to create a sequential chart is like a detective story. However, as a summary, the following is given by Mr. Hunt:
Roger Griswold of Rowington. Will 1545 [had son:]
William, b. ca. 1515-20? [had son:]
Roger of Kenilworth, b. ca. 1540-45?, d. before 1607 [had sons:]
Roger of Kenilworth, b. ca. 1570? of age by 1607.
Thomas of Stonley, d. 1620. House in Kenilworth.
George, bp. 1574 at Wootten Wawen [had sons:]
Edward, bp. 1607 Wootten Wawen.
Matthew, b. 1620.
Thomas of Kenilworth [had sons:]
Thomas.
Matthew of Stonley. Will of 1701/2.
(BDG and JWG Note: We still have not found an English source that proves that Matthew is a brother of Edward. The listing given above is based on the testimony given by George Griswold in 1700 for a court in Connecticut as to what he remembers.)
In Volume 71 of the 'American Genealogist', Mr. Hunt reports on a copy of a will of 'Thomas Griswold of Stonley, Warwickshire dated the last day of Feb. 1620 wherein the testator, besides mentioning the rent of his house and gorunds in the town and parish of Kenilworth, names his close called Beggerspath and the ground called Broomfield, alias Thickthorn clearly in the vicinity of Kenilworth.'"
5. The following are various articles in the publication "The American Genealogist" concerning Griswold ancestry in England, which I include for reference purposes. They appeared together over about three years and represent an evolution of research with the later articles clarifying or refuting elements of earlier articles. The 1999 book "The Greswold Family: 12 Generations in America," which appeared about 30 years later, incorporated and supplanted much of this data – so the following must be used with some caution:
A. TAG 39:176-80: "Griswold Ancestry in England," by Genevieve Tylee Kiepura:
"Descendants of the Griswold clan have contributed greatly to American life in every field. The ancestry of the pioneers should be recorded in greater detail, and the identity of the wives, who braved the unknown New World, is equally important. The contributor has had a more thorough search of English records made than has previously been undertaken.
The reliable record facts in American sources which serve as clues were long ago cited in full in Edward Elbridge Salisbury and Evelyn McCurdy Salisbury, "Family-Histories and Genealogies" (1892), 2:2-5, so here we need only abstract them briefly for reference:
1. Testimony given 15 May 1684 by Edward Griswold, aged about 77, that he came to New England in 1639 [hence born ca. 1607], and by Matthew Griswold, aged about 64, to the same effect [hence born ca. 1620].
2. George Griswold, aged about 67, testified 9 May 1700 that in youth he lived with his father, Edward Griswold, in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, and had heard his father say that the house they lived in there belonged to Edward's brother Matthew, and he had seen a letter from Thomas Griswold of Kenilworth intimating that Thomas lived in said house belonging to his brother Matthew [proving there was a third brother, Thomas].
3. On 19 Jan. 1737/8, Capt. George Griswold, aged about 72, and Mr. John Griswold, aged about 69, sons of George Griswold, both of Windsor, Conn., testified that their grandfather's name was Edward Griswold, that their great-grandfather was George Griswold who had three sons, the eldest named Edward, the second named Matthew, and the third or youngest named Thomas, of whom the first two came to New England from "Killingsworth" in Warwickshire; also that said Edward's eldest son has always been reputed to be Francis Griswold.
4. Margaret wife of Edward Griswold died 23 Aug. 1670.
5. The will of John Riley named in his will of 13 May 1674 his brother John Belding, his brother Emanuel Buck, and his cousin Michael Griswold [see "The American Genealogist," supra, 10:51-52].
The following data came from England from various officials – county archivists, parish registers, Bishop's Transcripts, photostats and copies of wills, and paid researchers.
Wanting first to verify the statement (3 above) that Edward was the son of George, we first checked the George, son of Henry of Grete and Yardley, given in the Visitation of Warwickshire, and found that the marriage bond of Henry Griswold and Dorothy James is dated 1592 (bond 1026), hence their son George could not have been old enough to have been Edward's father. The following sources were searched, with the results stated below:
Kenilworth: The parish registers, before 1676, were destroyed by fire.
Solihull: "The only mention of an Edward Griswold in the index relates to birth of children of Edward beginning 1609, and the burial of one in 1617. The index shows a George Griswold (no parents were then stated) bapt. 23 April 8, 1548 and a George bapt. 13 June 1577. No 0ther entry for George until 1644. The index has no Matthew or Michael."
Wills: The wills of the district are filed at Worcester and eleven were sent to me. Among them was that of Clement Griswold of Henley-in-Arden, who named eldest son Frank and second son George; probated 1611. The parish register of Henley shows that Francis son of Clement was baptized 10 Jan. l605; hence George son of Clement cannot be Edward's father.
Wooten Wawen: "We also examined the parish register of Wooten Wawen (a chapelry of Henley) which has the baptism of Edward, son of George Griswold, 26 July 1607. There are references to the baptism of George son of Roger, 6 Nov. 1574 and the burial of Dousabel, wife of George Griswold, 28 Aug. 1615. No Matthew or Michael in the index."
There are no wills of the above George, Roger, or Dousabel in Worcester Archives. However, we have here the baptism of Edward son of George in the right year and think he is surely the emigrant. The death of Dousabel in 1615 necessitates the supposition that Matthew and Thomas were by a later wife and half-brothers of Edward, since we know from the evidence digested above that Matthew was born about 1620 and that Thomas was still younger. Among the wills obtained, the following seem important:
Roger Griswold of Rowington, will dated 9 June named wife Margaret, brother John Griswold, sons Robert, William, John, and Richard.
Thomas Griswold of Rowington, husbandman, will dated 23 Feb. 1570, proved 23 Apr. 1571, named son Roger Griswold, his mother Elizabeth, daughters Marye, Margaret, Isabel (after attaining the age of 21) and Elizabeth my wife.
Rowington is about four miles east of Henley and Wooten Wawen, where Roger had George baptized in 1574, and about eight miles west of Kenilworth
John Benford of Henley in the parish of Wooten Wawen, will 14 May 1597, named wife Elizabeth, son Baldwyn, son John and daughter Joan; overseers, my brother Buck and my son [i.e. stepson] Roger Griswold.
Will of Roger Griswold of Rowington, 2 Feb. 1613, gave to wife Joan, sons Thomas, William, Henry, John, Roger, Richard, daughter Katherine, and mother Elizabeth Benford; witnessed by Wyllme Seth, Robert Griswold, John Hinde, and others.
Will of Elizabeth Benford, late of Rowington, widow, 12 Sept. 1614, no legatees named; "my natural son John to be administrator." Witnessed by William Kerbye and Johannes Pennell, notary public. John Benford of Henley-in- Arden and William Kerbye of the same parish were bound to administer the goods.
Rowington printed parish registers (1612, 1617, 1618 and 1626 are copied from the Bishops' Transcripts and are in the appendix) begin in 1616 and contain no reference to George or Dousabel Griswold. The marriage bonds 1553-1645 were checked for the surnames Griswold, Kirby and Benford. The only entry found was Roger Griswold to Joan Sadler, dated 15 July 1601. Presumably this pertains to Roger above whose 1613 will names wife Joan, but she may have been a second wife since the will names seven children only twelve years later.
Only three parishes mentioned in the wills above were not checked: Tamworth, which is extant but not indexed, Lapworth, and Wroxall. They may contain further Griswold, Buck or Kirby data. A few miscellaneous items call for mention.
John Benford's will named "Brother Buck." There is only one Buck will in Worcester archives that of Thomas Buck of Wroxhall, proved 1601, which named Katherine Buck, daughter, kinsman John Buck, and two children of Gregory Kyrbey of Lapworth. Possibly the widow Elizabeth Griswold who married John Benford was a sister of Thomas Buck, for note the Kirby mention in connection with her own estate. And it may be significant that the will of John Riley of Wethersfield (see the American evidences, no. 5 above) indicates his relationship to both Emanuel Buck and Michael Griswold.
John Kirby of Hartford and Middletown, Conn., was baptized in Rowington, Warwickshire, 4 Jan. 1624/5, son of Humphrey Kirby, for whom no estate was found. The only Kirby wills reported were those of John of Tanworth, 1612; William of Henley-in-Arden 1625; and William of Tanworth, 1629, none of which mentions a Griswold.
An attempt was made to find apprentice records, but it was reported that there were none for the early seventeenth century.
The contributor suggest the following line of descent:
Roger Griswold of Rowington, d. 1545. His will names brother John; if John of Langdon Hall is meant, this would place him as of the sixth generation of the Visitation family. Sons Robert, John, William and Richard, one of whom was probably father of:
Thomas Griswold of Rowington, probably grandson of the above Roger, d. 1571, wife Elizabeth, daughters Mary, Margaret, and Isabel, and son Roger.
Roger Griswold of Rowington, removed to Wooten Wawen, married Elizabeth (Buck?), who after his death married John Benford of Wooten Wawen. They had at least George, bapt. 6 Nov. 1574 and Roger, d. 1613.
George Griswold, bapt. 6. Nov. 1574 married Dousable ___, bur. 28 Aug. 1615, by whom he had: Edward; married second, an unknown, by whom he had: Matthew, b. 1620, and Thomas.
Edward Griswold, bapt. at Wooten Wawen 26 July 1607; married, as we shall presently show, Margaret Blencow of Marston St. Lawrence, co. Northampton, daughter of John Blencow and his wife Mary Wallison.
Editor's Note: Mrs. Kiepura deserves high credit for the discovery of the baptism of Edward Griswold in England, the burial of his mother, and the baptism of George Griswold as son of Roger. The pedigree back of this George may be as she suggests, but it does not appear to be fully proved. It should be noted that the Thomas who died in 1571 was apparently quite a young man, with three girls under age and the one son Roger who may also have been very young in 1571; and Thomas left a widow Elizabeth who may well have remarried. If it was Elizabeth the widow of Thomas who married John Benford, we know from Benford's will that she had a son Roger. In that event, it may have been Roger the son of Thomas and Elizabeth who died 1613; for this Roger left seven children (apparently the eldest son was named Thomas, which would be for his father), and for all we know he may have had other children who died young. So this Roger who died 1613 may have been as old as 45 or even older, and if so, was born before the death of Thomas and could have been his son.
This is suggested merely as an alternative hypothesis. If it should be the correct one, then who was the Roger who had the son George (father as we think of the American Edward) baptized at Wooten Wawen in 1574? Conceivably he could have been brother of Thomas who died 1571 leaving four young children; that would make him a grandson (probably) and namesake of the early Roger with whom the pedigree starts. Either conjecture could be true; but this one would explain the lack of mention of George in the Benford will, although the stepson Roger was mentioned.
Whatever solution is adopted, the records obtained by Mrs. Kiepura will have to serve as the basis for all future studies of the family. She has discovered also the identity and parentage of the wife of Edward Griswold the colonist, as will appear in what follows.)"
B. TAG 39:180-81: "Margaret (Blencow) Griswold"
"In the Visitation of Northamptonshire, "Harleian Society Publications," 87:19, is found a pedigree of Blencow of Marston-St. Lawrence, Kings Sutton Hundred. (For earlier generations, see Metcalfe, "Visitation of Northamptonshire, 1618-19, p. 69.) John Blencow of the said Marston-St. Lawrence, Esq., living in 1618, died about 1613, married first, Mary, daughter of John Walleson of Rislip in the County of Middlesex, and second, Joyce, daughter of Thomas Cooper of Powick, co. Warwick, widow of Francis Savage, D.D. There were nine sons and three daughters, all by the first wife, of whom Thomas, the eldest son, was aged 16 in 1618 and so born ca. 1602. Among the children was Margaret who niarried Edward Griswold of Cubbington in Solihull, co. Warwick.
No parish records have been found at Marston-St. Lawrence. Turning to Middlesex pedigrees in "Harleian Society Publications," 65:136 [MS Harl. 1551, we find a pedigree of Wallison according to which John Wallison of Rislip, co. Middlesex, 1595, had three daughters and coheiresses: wife of John Blencow of Marsten, co. Northampton; Elizabeth wife of Maximillian Emyly of Hemeldon, co. Northampton; and Margaret wife of Thomas Bethon of Rowington, co. Warwick.
It will thus be seen that the Margaret Blencow who married Edward Griswold of Cubbington had an aunt who lived in Rowington, where we found so many records of Griswolds, and as already shown, our Edward son of George was born in 1607 in Wooten Wawen, about four miles from Rowington. Most probably after the death of his first wife, the mother of Edward, George Griswold moved to Cubbington or Kenilworth, places which on map 37 of "A Genealogical Atlas of England and Wales" (Gardner-Harland-Smith) Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, 1960) are no more than three miles apart; and on the same map, Kenilworth is no more than six miles east of Rowington.
In view of the large amount of research that has now of been done in this small section of Warwickshire, the apparent closeness in age of our Edward Griswold and of Margaret Blencow, and the fact that the colonist's wife was named Margaret, we conclude that her identity is clearly indicated by the above records. The contributor has invested considerable thought, energy and money in the search thus far, and if further confirmatory evidence is to be sought, it will have to be undertaken by other interested descendants.
C. TAG 41:43-44: "Note on the Ancestry of the Griswolds of Connecticut," by John G. Hunt:
"In her Griswold article, "The American Genealogist," 39:176-180, Mrs. Kiepura contributed valuable data, probably identifying the parents of Edward Griswold (c.1607-c.1691), the early Connecticut settler. She shows that the parish registers of Kenilworth, co. Warwick, were destroyed by fire. Some Griswold items from these registers seem to have been extant about a hundred years ago, and after some discussion of this matter with Mr. Jacobus, it has been left to him to comment on this matter in a note which follows this.
Mrs. Kiepura's paper, near its close, indicates that the colonist, Edward Griswold, married Margaret Blencow. The "Victoria County History of Warwickshire, vol. 6, passim, reveals, sub Cubbington, that Edward Griswold of that parish which adjoins Kenilworth died in 1633. His I.p.m. shows that his wife Margaret died the same year. That she who died 1633 was born Margaret Blencow is suggested by the following circumstances.
(1) Letters Patent, 3 Dec. 1633, by which Charles I granted to John Blinco of Marston St. Lawrence houses and lands in Cubbington, Tanworth, Solihull, and Lapworth in Warwickshire, during the minority of John, son and heir of Edward Greswold, gent., dec'd (this record was obtained by Ralph D. Phillips of Nassau, New York State, from the Northants Record Office).
(2) I.P.M., wards 7/84-211: On death of Edward Greswold taken 20th Aug. 9 Chas. I [1633] – Margaret wife of Edward Greswold died at Cubbington 16 June last. John Greswold gent is heir aged l4 on June 5th last.
(3) In Bridge's "History of Northamptonshire," I:183, sub Merston St. Lawrence, one may find the inscription on the brass in the church copied, in Latin. It shows that Thomas and John, sons of Edward Greswould, Esq., died by May 1640.
(4) The pedigree of Blencow of Marston St. Lawrence, Northants, in the 1618 Visitation of Northamptonshire, shows that Margaret Blencow had married Edward Greswould of Cubbington by that year. Our colonist, born c. 1607, would have been under twelve in 1618, so it is extremely unlikely that he could have been husband of Margaret Blencow.
In view of the foregoing facts, we must conclude that Edward Griswold of Cubbington, husband of Margaret Blencow, was not the New England settler, and Mrs. Kiepura writes that she now concurs and withdraws that part of her paper which relates to the Blencow marriage. The parentage of Edward Griswold of Cubbington, and his place in the Griswold pedigree, are known, but until a connection can be established with the branch of the family which produced the New England colonists, it seems unwise to devote further space to the Cubbington group.
The following items, taken from "Descriptive Calendar of Ancient Deeds" [of Great Britain] may well relate to members of the branch of the family with which the main part of Mrs. Kiepura's article deals:
Vol. III, no. D-798: grant by Bennet Medeley of Whitnash to [three other men] and Roger Greswold of lands in Radeway... (1495).
Vol. II, no. B-2981: [in 1496] lic. granted to... Roger Greswold to grant lands [to abbot of Stonley] in Radeway [Stoneleigh Abbey lay next to Kenilworth."
Vol. II, no. B-3376: Release dated 1472 by which John Greswold, son and heir of John Greswold of Rowing ton, gave to Richard Greswold his son, rights in Olton in Solihull which formerly belonged to said releasor, by demise of Thomas Benham of Henley.
Vol. II, no. B-3378: Grant by John, son and heir of John Greswold of Rowinton, to Richard Greswold his brother, vicar of Toneworth, a messuage in Solihull which he inherited on his father's death. 1485."
D. TAG 41:44-46: "Further Griswold Notes," by Donald Lines Jacobus:
"As mentioned in Mr. Hunt's note above, items from the Kenilworth, Warwickshire, Parish Registers relating to Griswolds have appeared in prints and it seems advisable to comment on these. So far as ascertained, these items first appeared in print in "Family-Histories and Genealogies," by Edward Elbridge Salisbury and Evelyn McCurdy Salisbury, 1892, where they were attributed (see Vol. 2, pp. 1, 9, and footnote 23 on p. 11) to the papers of the then deceased Rev. F. W. Chapman of Rocky Hill, Conn. That gentleman was a prolific compiler of family histories (such as Chapman, Bulkeley and Trowbridge), and the English Griswold entries sound authentic. We can only suppose that he obtained them from someone in England who had access to what remained a century ago of the Kenilworth registers or to a copy of them.
The cited footnote on page 11 states: "The existing records of Kenilworth give baptisms of children of Edward Griswold, as follows: Sarah, 1631; George, 1633; Sarah, 1635; Liddie, 1637." Only year dates are given, and in the supplemental volume of charts no dates are stated, not even the year dates.
Also in 1892 Henry R. Stiles published his "History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor" which inc1udes (2:346-362) an account of the Griswold family. This refers to the Salisbury work on the family, and also, in a footnote on page 350 states: "We learn from Dr. Rufus W. Griswold of Wethersfield, Conn., that the late Rev. F. W. Chapman, prior to his death, had ready for collection [sic: publication must be meant] a very large genealogical collection of the Griswold family. We have not been able to obtain access to this collection. - H.R.S."
Dr. Stiles therefore did not see the worth records which the Rev. Mr. Chapman had obtained, nor is there any reason to suppose from his account that he himself had procured any English research. Yet his account of the older children of Edward Griswold differs from the Salisbury account.
Stiles states the first five children, with year dates of birth, as Sarah, 1631; George, 1633, Francis, 1635; Liddia, 1637; and Sarah, 1638. Four of them – all except Francis – are marked with an asterisk to indicate that the dates were from Kenilworth records. It will be seen that the 1635 date for the second Sarah was misread and misprinted as 1638. This left a gap between 1633 and 1637, and into this gap the unrecorded son Francis was fitted, in 1635. Now Sarah married at Windsor in 1650, and would have been only twelve at her date of marriage if born in 1638. Actually, she was born in 1635 and was fifteen at marriage. Another consequence of the error is a fictitious birth date of 1635 for Francis; since the first child of Francis was born 28 Mar. 1653, he surely was married in 1652, and the 1635 birth date would make him marry at seventeen. The Salisburys correctly list Francis as older than George, and I suggest that he may have been born about 1629, two years before the first recorded child. Edward was born 1607, so may well have married by 1628 or 1629. Several later writers, whom we need not name, have followed the Stiles errors.
It seems to have been overlooked that other Griswold entries were found in the "yet existing Kenilworth records (as appears from Mr. Chapman's papers)," cited by the Salisburys. Apparently two men named Thomas "Grissold" appear in these entries from 1632 to 1636, and one Thomas Griswold was buried 5 May 1644. This was too early for these entries to relate to Thomas Griswold, the younger brother mentioned in the American depositions as remaining in England; since he was younger than both Edward and Matthew, and Matthew by his stated age was born about 1620, he himself was born not much if any earlier than 1622. Surely he was the Thomas Griswold who had a son Matthew born [sic] at Kenilworth on 1 May 1649.
Undoubtedly this Matthew Griswold, son of Thomas and nephew of the colonists Edward and Matthew, is the man of this name whose will dated 20 Feb. 1701/2 describes him as of Tilehil1 in the parish of Stonleigh in the County of Warwick, yeoman. A photostatic copy of this will was obtained by Mrs. J.J. Kiepura and sent to me to copy, and the following abstract is presented with her permission. After stating that he is sick and weak in body and commending his soul to God, he refers to a bargain made with his brother Thomas to purchase "certaine Houses & Lands in Killingworth," the bargain to be sealed "at May day next" when the remaining balance of £65 is to be paid to the brother; and these houses and lands are to go, together with "the new stable," to the life use of his daughter Sarah Corbett and at her death to the heirs of her body, and for want of such issue then to his own "right heirs." This applied only to the part of the housing that was in the tenure of John Kirke and Joseph Moreton, the garden and stable. The balance of the housing "with all the ffeilds of Killingworth was to go to his wife Mary for life, then to his "other two daughters," Elizabeth and Hester. To his wife Mary, his house and lands at Beggars path with the commons, for life and then to said Elizabeth and Hester. His wife to be executrix of the personal estate, and the remainder to be divided between her and Elizabeth and Hester. There was a well belonging to the houses in Killingworth; this was to be held and used in common, with a right of way from each house.
It is of some interest to learn that the Kenilworth housing, to which the colonists Edward and Matthew seem to have felt they had some claim, descended from their brother Thomas to his son Matthew (who bought out his brother Thomas, Jr.), and by will from Matthew to his eldest daughter Sarah (Griswold) Corbett. The earlier history of the Kenilworth housing, if it can be ascertained, may aid in further exploring the ancestry of the New England brothers of Thomas Griswold.
The evidence set forth by Mr. Hunt in his note above makes it necessary to give up Margaret Blencow as wife of the emigrant Edward Griswold, since she was wife of a different Edward and died in England. However, it seems reasonably certain that Mrs. Kiepura in her paper has given us the baptismal record and parentage of the emigrant Edward, for it is highly improbable that in the same region and in the same year two George Griswolds would each name a son Edward. With this to build on, perhaps others can now obtain additional evidence and push the line further back."
E. TAG 41:100-101: "Further Griswold Notes," by John G. Hunt
"In an earlier article [TAG, supra, 40:46], reference was made to a will of Matthew Griswold of Stonleigh (near Kenilworth), Warwickshire, dated 1701/2, wherein his lands in Beggarspath are named.
Mr. Ralph D. Phillips of Nassau, N.Y., obtained from England a photostatic copy of the will of Thomas Grishold of "Stonley," Warwickshire, dated the last day of Feb. 1620, wherein the testator, besides mentioning the rent of his house and grounds in the town and parish of Kennelworth, named his close called Beggarspath and ground called Broomfield alias Thickthorne, clearly in the vicinity of Kenilworth.
While neither of these wills tells us anything of the ancestry of our early Griswolds of Connecticut, they become more meaningful when the following Chancery Proceeding is studied:
"Chancery Proceedings
Public Record Office
C2 Jas I, G 11/26
[No date in the body of the document, but in a later hand written on 17 Nov. 1607.]
The Bill [i.e, petition wording badly worn away on one edge]
Roger Greswold of Kenilworth yeoman says that about March 44 Eliz [1602/3] there was... between him on one part and Thos Braband, Anne mother of the said Thomas then wife of Thomas Hart, the same Thomas Hart, Richard Holmes & Alice on the other part, Certain closes or fields called Broomfields & other lands then in their possession to be purchased by Roger Greswold deceased father of the petitioner.
The lands were entailed to the heirs male of William Greswold father of the said Roger Greswold deceased father of the petitioner.
There was an arbitration before Sir Thomas Leigh. The petitioner "being in great necessity and need of money" showed the award to one Thomas Griswold who was then about to buy the lands.
He alleges that Roger senior had thought wrongfully that the land was not entailed and sold it to Thomas Braband & Co.
The Reply is that the defendant's father John Brabonde bought the property from Roger senior deceased."
In the light of this chancery proceeding, and of the above cited wills, it seems clear that both Matthew and Thomas Griswold, the above testators, had some kinship to William Griswold, the father of the elder Roger Griswold of Kenilworth. The Thomas of the 1620 will may be identical with the Thomas named in the Chancery Proceedings. It now seems probable, as inferred by Mr Jacobus in his comment on Mrs. Kiepura's findings [TAG, supra, 39:179], that Roger Griswold (father of George who was father of the New England colonists) was brother, not son, of the Thomas Griswold who died in 1571. Further, it seems that William was father of this Roger. The following pedigree, suggested by Mr. Jacobus, may well be the closest to the facts of the case that we are likely to assemble, unless further documentary evidence should come to light.
A. Roger Griswold of Rowington, will 1545.(1)
B. William, b. ca. 1515-20?(2)
C. Thomas of Rowington, b. ca. 1540?, will pr. 1571; m. Elizabeth, will 1614, m. (2) John Benford.(3)
D. Roger of Rowington, b. ca. 1565? will 1613.(4)
C. Roger of Kenilworth, b. ca. 1540-45?, d. bef. 1607.(5)
D. Roger of Kenilworth, b. ca. 1570? of age by 1607.(6)
D. Thomas of Stonley, d. 1620, house in Kenilworth.(7)
D. George, bp. 1574 at Wooten Wawen.(8)
E. Edward, bp. 1607 Wooten Wawen.(9)
E. Matthew(10)
E. George(11) [Next article below deletes this individual noting he was erroneously shown.]
E. Thomas of Kenilworth(12)
F. Thomas(13)
F. Matthew of Stonley, will 1701/2.(14)
In explanation, and to sum up the will of Roger (1) named his son William (2). In the Chancery record, Roger(6) is called son of Roger (4) who was son of William (2). Thomas (7) is not a proved son of Roger (4) but his will refers to land called Broomfield, and so does the Chancery record of Roger (6). The American settlers are Edward (9), Matthew (10) and George (11). The will of Matthew (14) refers to land in Beggarspath, and so does the will of Thomas (7). George (8) was baptized as son of Roger (4)."
F. TAG 41:249: "Griswold Erratum," by D.L. Jacobus:
"On the Griswold chart, TAG 41:101 (April 1965), omit the George who is numbered 11; the emigrants Edward and Matthew Griswold had no such known brother, and the American George was of course the son of Edward and named for his grandfather. It was a slip on my part to place George in this position on the chart, which was originally not intended for publication but which I drew up somewhat hastily to submit to Mr. Hunt. He returned it to me some time later, asking me to include it at the end of his article; and neither of us caught this slip!"
6. The book "The Ancestry of Allen Grinnell Cleaver and Martha Irene Jessup," by William Jessup Cleaver (Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, Inc., 1989), pp. 486-90, 494-95:
"GRISWOLD
…The English ancestry of Edward has been the subject of much careful scholarly discussion (sometimes apparently heated). This solution appears to have the best documentation.
Roger Griswold of Rowington - Margaret
William Griswold
Roger Griswold of Kenilworth
George Griswold of Wooten Wawen - Dousabel
Edward Griswold, emigrant - Margaret
Francis Griswold (1st son of Edward)…
John Griswold (6th son of Edward) - Mary Bemis (See) …
D. ROGER GRISWOLD of Rowington, county Warwickshire, England died in 1545 leaving a will dated 9 June 1545 mentioning wife Margaret; sons Robert, William, John and Richard; and brother John. (1)
C. WILLIAM GRISWOLD was born about 1515 to 1520. He was the second son of Roger. He appears to be the father of Thomas of Rowington and Roger of Kenilworth. (1)(3)
B. ROGER GRISWOLD of Kenilworth was born about 1545-50 anti died before 1607. In a Chancery proceeding in 1602/3 involving certain lands, the relationship of this Roger to his father William is indicated. There were three sons: the second Roger of Kenilworth, Thomas of Stonley and George. (1)(2)(3)
A. GEORGE GRISWOLD was baptized at Wooten Wawan in Warwickshire in 1574. He married, first, Dousabel and had a son Edward. Dousabel was buried at Wooten Wawen, wife of George, 28 August 1615 and George remarried, a wife whose name is unknown. Sons Matthew and Thomas were born of this marriage. Edward and his half-brother Matthew emigrated to New England. (1)(2)(3)(9)
1. EDWARD GRISWOLD, son of George and Dousabell--, was baptized 26 July 1607 in Wooten Wawen, a chapelry of Henley in Warwickshire, England...
References:
(1) TAG, vol. 39, 1963. Mrs. Genevive Tvlee Kiepura.
(2) TAG, vol. 40, 1946, John G. Hunt and Donald Lines Jacobus.
(3) TAG, vol. 41, 1965, John G. Hunt.
(9) Family Histories and Genealogies, E. E. and E. M. Salisbury, 1892, vol. II."
~ORDINANCES:
BAPTISM:
ENDOWMENT:
SEALING TO PARENTS:
SEALING TO SPOUSE:
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Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
Abt 1540 - 1618 (78 years)
