Beginning

The story of the Sheldons in Warwickshire begins with the first use of the name in 1189 when Oenus de Scheldon [Owen de Sheldon] appears in the Pipe Rolls of the first year of the reign of Richard I. This is both first use of Scheldon as a hereditary surname in Warwickshire and the first recording of the place of Scheldon which later becomes Sheldon. This to settle a debt owed.

The Setting

In 1086 the place Machitone, later Mackadown is listed in the Domesday book. This was the site of the Anglo-Saxon Macca’s tun or ” Macca’s farm.” It’s current location is at the intersection of  Tile Cross Road and Mackadown Lane in an area now occupied by Tile Cross Park.  Mackadown later becomes a part of Scheldon.  On the map below Kent’s Moat encompassed a 12th century sub-manor house of Sheldon known as the West Hall.  Sheldon Hall at Tile Cross being the East Hall [on the map below called Mackadown Farm.]  The Sheldon Hall Manor, now on Gressel Lane, was built in the 12th century. It was replaced in the early 16th-century with a timber-framed manor house which is still known as Sheldon Hall. It appears on the Map below as the Chestnuts.

Machitone  in 1086 had 14 households. By comparison with the other places in order Merstone [now Marston Green] 6 Households, Elmedone [Elmdon]  0 households,  Winchicelle [Wiggins Hill] 0 household, Dercetai [Dotshill] 9 households, Witecore [Nether Whitacre] 8. The closest large community was Coleshill with 54 households. Coleshill would be the jurisdiction in the Hundred of Hemlingford.

By comparison Birmingham was but 9 households, Coventry 69 and Nuneaton 85. So back in the eleventh and twelfth centuries things looked very different than today. This portion of John Speed’s 1610 map shows the relative size of the towns 500 years later. The towns with yellow rectangles are those on the same page in the Domesday Book. Those in orange are all the places mentioned in the earliest records for Sheldons.

In 1911 the population of Sheldon was 451. Today the borough of Sheldon is about 22,000 souls, part of the greater Birmingham area. Coleshill has about 6,000 and Coventry 73,000. So Coleshill did not take off in the same way as Birmingham or even Coventry. Nether Whitacre went from 8 households to a population of about 950. In any event when Owen de Scheldon makes his first appearance it is a small hamlet with Coleshill being it closest larger village.

Next Generations

Next in the record is Anselm de Scheldon who appears in the Roll of the Justices of Eyre for Warwickshire for 1221 for  1/2 Knight’s Fee and then again 1235-1242. He is listed as a witness on an undated land grant by Jordan de Whitace to Helias son of Helias of Makinton [in the Netherlands Helias is known as the Knight of the Swans]. We have a mention of a William de Sheldon as a witness to a Quitclaim for Lady Margery do Nerbon widow which places this about 1245-55. We do not know what his relationship to Anslem de Scheldon is. We do know that Anselm’s son Henry was his heir and succeeds him as Lord of Sheldon in 1288. We know that Anselm’s was a knight in 1221 and typically a knight would have been at least 21 so this places his birth around 1200, which is consistent with him being the son of Owen. So Anselm’s estimated lifespan c.1200-1288

It is Anselm’s son Henry that has the first church built in Sheldon dedicated to St. Giles about 1250.

In 1260 Henry confers a house and 2 acres to a William de Scheldon [perhaps the same as above, possibly a brother?] who was the parson at Sheldon. I am surmising this “may” be the land shown below the church as the Sheldon Rectory. The church is just a short way south of  the previous map.

About 1278 Henry de Scheldon is part of the Inquisition and survey of lands in Warwickshire. It is unclear to me if this is the same Henry de Scheldon or perhaps a son Henry. In about 1279 he is acting as the King’s Commissioner and by 1282 he has received 1/2 Knight’s fee for service to the King. So our Henry seems quite ambitious working his way up to knighthood, like his father before him! And as previously noted succeeding his father in 1288 as Lord of Sheldon. His son Nicholas de Scheldon appears to succeed his father about 1315 as Lord of Sheldon, placing his father’s lifespan at about (1225-1315). If so both very long lived.

At this point there are several Scheldon families including the William previously mentioned who witnesses additional deeds. And a William the son of William de Scheldon. In 1291 there is a Deed from Robert called de Engelond of Scheldon listed as a merchant to a William Brown of Coleshill. He appears in a second deed as a witness. We also have a William son of Osbert de Sycheldon deeding land to Thomas de Wridfren. In 1296 we have a Ralph de Scheldon as a witness and clerk to a deed in Wroxall. Then we have a Richard de Scheldon in 1300 deeding to Sir John de Clintone land in Coleshill with witnesses Sir Henry de Scheldon, knight and a Robert de Scheldon. Another deed in 1300 speaks of the land of Robert de Scheldon in Merston [now Marston Green].

The Rise of Nicholas de Sheldon

The first record we have for Nicholas de Scheldon c 1283-1349 is as Nicholas Lord of Sheldon in 1304-05 where he is mentioned in a land deed.   In 1306 King Edward I put out a royal proclamation that all esquires eligible for knighthood should come to Westminster to be knighted in turn by their future king [his son Edward], and then march with him, against the Scots, to avenge the murder of John III Comyn [killed Feb 1306] and the desecration of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries by Robert the Bruce. On the 22th May 1306 [Whitsuntide] on the occasion of the knighting of his son Edward, Prince of Wales, and then Duke of Aquitaine,  266 men, the largest number ever knighted at one time, received the Order of Bath at Westminster Abbey at an extravagant ceremony.

A huge feast followed called the Feast of the Swans in the neighbouring hall, the assembly took a collective oath to defeat Robert the Bruce.  Nicholas de Sheldon appears as one of the men knighted that day in The Institution, laws & ceremonies of the most Noble Order of the Garter by Elias Ashmole c. 1672 pg 38-39 A rather auspicious beginning for young Nicholas. 

He appears in December of that same year as witness to a deed between Thomas de Boyvil and Sir Richard de Wytacre of land in Little Packington as Nicholas de Sheldone and Knight. Then in 1316-17 he becomes Lord of the Manor of Sheldon and parson at St. Giles Church. September 3rd 1318 he is again listed as Nicholas de Schedlon Knight as a witness to a gift. In 1332-3 Nicholas de Scheldon, Knight deeds to William de Bromleye chaplain and William, servant of the rector of Scheldon a messuage, land, meadow etc in the Manor of Scheldone which William de Hurst held in Sheldone, a lease for life. Then on the 17th July of 1339 Nicholas de Sheldon is a patron to the Priory and Convent de Maxstoke.

Maxstoke castle shown below is about 6 miles from Sheldon Hall and the Priory about 1 2/2 miles south of the Castle and about 5 miles from Sheldon.

In December of 1342 Nicholas de Sheldon becomes vicar of the church of St. Giles. As we see commemorated in this plaque in the Church.

Nicholas de Sheldon also appears in the History of Sheldon in Dugale’s Antiquities of Warwickshire pg 726  as the second prior of St. Giles church at Sheldon, after Thomas de Stodham.

Nicholas dies probably in 1349, as a new prior is installed in July 1349. There is a deed which is dated first year of the reign of Edward III which would be about 1327 and mentions “the late Nicholas de Scheldon” which many other records prove must be incorrect, including those shown above. I suspect there was an arrangement that took place in 1327 and was not proven until Nicholas’ death in 1349.

We have a document recorded at Lenton Abbey in Nottinghamshire, which is an enrollment of a grant by Thomas de Stodham who we know was the first Rector of St. Giles church in Sheldon [Nicholas de Schedlone being the second], reciting the lands he had as gift of Nicholas de Scheldon, knight which is listed as undated. Then there is the enrollment by Sir John Hothum, bishop of Ely, witnessing that Henry son and heir of Sir Nicholas de Sheldon, knight granted the use of lands in Sheldon to have for the term of the Bishop’s life. If the bishop should die in less than 10 years the said lands and advowson would remain with the bishop’s executors to the end of 10 years. With Henry’s assent Nicholas de Scheldon’s wife Lady Joan, “late the wife of Sir Nicholas Sheldon 10l yearly for her life from said lands.” This is dated 21 Oct Edward III which I believe to be an error. There are a couple of other recitations all bearing the same date. The final one is a enrollment of release by Henry to the said bishop for life of his right in the manor of Sheldon and in the advowson of the church; granting the bishop the reversion of all lands of the manor pertaining to Henry after the death of the tenants excepting lands that Robert and Thomas de Scheldon, brothers of Nicholas de Sheldon and Walter de Freynes hold in the manor. We have it that Henry de Scheldon dies without heirs and the estate passes out of Sheldon hands.

Nicholas and Joane de Scheldon had a son Henry de Scheldon, and Henry and wife Beatrice failed to produce heirs; at their death the Manor of Scheldon passed to others. However, the  aforementioned brothers of Nicholas: Robert and Thomas carried the lines forward. They would have been entitled to the arms of their father Anselm, but that is lost to history.

In our next chapter we will explore the records of Robert and Thomas de Sheldon, as well as a Agnes, a John and a William de Sheldon all living in and around Sheldon and Birmingham during this same time period as Nicholas. Since we know Nicholas’ line ended with his son we must look to the others for the continuance of the line.

Kelly Wheaton © 2022 All Rights Reserved.

As I wrote previously we gophered deep down on the early settlers of Windsor Connecticut who came with Rev Ephraim HUIT / HEWITT in our gopher network. Please note the HUIT or HUET is the spelling that occurs in America but in England it is more commonly HEWITT. This is the list we came up with as those likely to have come with Rev HUIT and possible English connections [updated below] :

• Rev Ephraim HUIT bc 1597 prob Warwickshire. Definitely at Knowle and then Wroxall
• Daniel CLARK  said to be of Wroxil. We find a Daniel Clarke bpt 1608/9 at Wolston, Warcs.
• John BISSELL bc 1590 & alleged brother Thomas 1589. We find John BYSSEL bpt 16 Nov 1590 Sheldon, Warcs. son of William and one Thomas BYSSELL bpt 24 Feb 1588/89 son of John
• John DRAKE Known to have married at Hampton in Arden, Warcs. to Lettice SHAXSPEARE 25 Jun 1615
• Francis GRISWOLD bpt 10 Jan 1605 at Wootton Wawen, Warcs; son of Clement
• Edward GRISWOLD bpt 26 Jul 1607 at Wootton Wawen, Warcs; Son of George
• John MASON b before 1605 We find a John Mason bpt 21 Oct 1607 at Ladbroke son of Thomas & Joice (John did not have a Thomas or Joyce)
• George PHILIPS bc 1592 NO ISSUE We find George bpt 29 Dec 1583 at Eastham, Warcs. son of Nicholas PHILLIPS
• John PORTER bc 1610 We find bpt 13 Dec 1612 John Porter at Sutton Coldfield son of John PORTER of Kingstown
• Isaac SHELDON bc 1610 We find no baptisms for an Isaac SHELDON in this time frame anywhere in England.
• John TAYLOR bc 1605 uncertain he died at sea abt 1645. There are many possibilities for John in Warcs. But an interesting one is John TALOR bpt 6 Nov 1604 at Whichford, son of William
• William TILTON bc 1586 we find bpt 15 feb 1586 at Wolston, Warcs son of John. William we know had sons Peter, Abraham, Samuel and Daniel. We also find a bpt for a Peter 2 Apr 1620 at Wolston son of William

However, when dealing with such Networking we can’t rest on our original tunneling. We need to challenge each connection to either strengthen it, replace it or eliminate it. I thought we would drill down and clean up the above list. Then add our list from the Network of John SHELDON of Newport and Kingstown, Rhode Island. The Bolded names of people with proven origins

• Starting with Daniel CLARK. Further research finds he was born 1621 In Tarvin, Cheshire son of Sabbath CLARK. In June 1639, at age 16, Daniel and possibly his sister left England with their uncle, Rev. Ephraim HUIT and his wife Isabel OVERTON (their aunt, their mother’s sister.)
• John & Thomas BISSELL said to be brothers and we find a better match than the one originally found. John BISSELL son of Thomas bpt 19 Nov 1617 at Solihull and Thomas BISSELL son of Thomas bpt 31 May 1613 at Solihull. It’s only 7 miles from Solihull to Wroxall and they are brothers, so this makes good sense.
• John DRAKE married 25 Jun 1615 at Hampton in Arden, Warcs. to Lettice SHAXSPEARE 5 children baptized there between 1616-1624
• Francis GRISWOLD bpt 10 Jan 1605 at Wootton Wawen, Warcs; son of Clement and his cousin Edward GRISWOLD bpt 26 Jul 1607 at Wootton Wawen, Warcs; Son of George. Wootton Wawen is about 8 miles from Wroxall. This is solid previously proven information. These two are cousins. Arriving with Rev. HUIT and is documented first hand.
• John MASON because of his military service he must have been born before 1605 which leaves a couple of new possibilities John son of William bpt 21 Mar 1590 Barcheston ; or John son of John bpt 6 Oct 1594 Salford Priors. John’s daughter Israel MASON marries John BISSELL Junior in Windsor (so there is that reinforcement of the network). Barcheston has a very strong association with SHELDON as it’s the home of the SHELDON Tapestries and is about 23 miles from Wroxall. Salford Priors is about 20 miles away.
• George PHILIPS we find a better match closer to Wroxal: Georg PHILIPS bpt 10 May 1606 at Wyken, son or Richard. About 15 miles away.
• John PORTER turns out to be the son of another John PORTER bpt 9 Feb 1622 in Felsted, Essex, England so off our list.
• John TAYLOR to the possibilities we have John TALOR bpt 6 Nov 1604 at Whichford, son of William; but also of note is John Taylor bpt 10 Jan 1600 at Snitterfield, son of John; Or John Taylor bpt 6 Jun 1606 at Stratford on Avon, son of Ralph. Snitterfield is quite close to Wootton Wawen and only 9 miles to Wroxall. Stratford a bit further at about 13 miles. And Whichford is about 7 miles from Barcheston.
• William TILTON bpt 15 feb 1586 at Wolston, Warcs son of John. William TILTON of Windsor had sons: Peter, Abraham, Samuel and Daniel. We find a bpt for a Peter 2 Apr 1620 at Wolston son of William. So this looks very solid. Wolston of this period also had many HEWITTs so I am of the mind that this may have been a family & friends connection. We have a Richard HEWITT bpt 6 Sep 1578 son of Thomas in Wolston. Also in nearby parishes of Church Lawford and Brinklow are many HEWITTs. No Ephraim HEWITT anywhere–but my bet is in the general vicinity of Wolston.

Of the above list CLARK, MASON & TAYLOR are common names. We have proven the CLARK connection is familial. The MASON & TAYLOR, remain for now circumstantial possibilities. So we end up with HUIT, BISSELL, DRAKE, GRISWOLD and TILTON as solid.

Here is a curious piece about Rev HUET and GRISWOLD and an investor William WHITING.

Although highly speculative there was a William Whyting in Bedford, Bedfordshire bpt 26 Jul 1590, son of Oliver. I checked alumni of Cambridge thinking there may have been a benefactor there but found none suitable. Yes, I am skipping over the Isaac SHELDON connection for now.

Switching to the settlers of Newport and later Kingstown with a nod to those with Warwickshire (or nearby) connections. We are looking at these because this is where John SHELDON settled and we know John and Issac SHELDON are closely related due to YDNA testing. This is quite a bit more challenging than the Windsor group. The time frame is later (1639 vs 1650’s). There is no single group coming at a specific time and some are second generation Americans. I am looking for connections with any of the folks above. These could be familial, geographic, religious or business related. Just a note on process. I am concentrating on the early settlers of Kingstown and those who were associated with John SHELDON in Newport. I am specifically looking at the Midland counties of England to see if there are any other families with connections there.

As I have noted in previous blog posts the more unusual names are the most helpful because they give us a smaller pool of possibilities. Surnames that are well researched are also helpful in our sifting process. Although be careful not to accept the research of others, especially that with scanty evidence. Try to keep an open mind because as you saw in the transformation of my first list. New evidence can change conclusions.

• William ALMEY b1601–says in deposition son of Christopher Almy of South Kilworth, co. Leicester, gentleman. 35 miles from Wroxall but only 15 from Wolston.
• Robert AUSTEN bc 1600-1635 probably closer to the upper figure based on the births of children. There are many possibilities but if we link to near Warwickshire we get Robert ASTON Bpt 11 Oct 1613 Birmingham, Warcs, son of John ; Robert ASTON bpt 24 Mar 1611 at Alcester son of John; Robert ASTON bpt 1 Nov 1631 Salford Priors, son of Robert. The last one is most interesting as the age is about right AND the possible connection with MASON of Salford Priors above.
• James BADCOCK born about 1612, as on 18 Jan 1670, he gave a testimony “calling his age 58 years, his son James 29 and his son John 26 years. There are no James BADECOCK or BABCOCK in all of England during the time frame. There are 3 bpt for Anna, Sara & Thomas in Radford Semele, Warcs. to Thomas BADCOCKE 1610-1619. None of his children by those names. About 10 miles from Wroxall. This name is found in 1460 in Whitacre about 15 miles north of Wroxall.
• George GARDENER bc 1615 about 40 possibilities in England. In Warwickshire just one George GARDNER bpt 3 Nov 1611 Stratford on Avon, son of John.
• Edward INMAN bc 1620 there are about 8 possibilities among them Edward INMAN bpt 25 Aug 1616 at Wootton Wawen (Henley) son of William
• John KENYON bc 1620 John KENON bpt 27 Dec 1618 at Fillongley son of William.
• Richard KNIGHT bc 1610-1620 many possibilities throughout England interesting one is RIchard KNIGHT bpt 6 Sep 1629 at Hampton in Arden son or Robert.
• Thomas MUMFORD bc 1625-1630 many possibilities throughout England tow of note Thomas MUMFORD bpt 13 Oct 1627 Birmingham St Martin, Warcs, son of Thomas; Thomas bpt 16 Feb 1633 Ladbroke, Warcs. son of Ephraim. The later 20 miles from Wroxall.
• Edmund WESTON Bpt 1 June 1606 Shustoke Warcs. By vicar John ROBYNSON. He settled in Roxbury, MA his grandson Jonathan born in Kingstown c 1706. 16 miles from Wroxall.

So of the list above only two can solidly be placed in the area of Wroxall William ALMEY of South Killworth and Edmund WESTON of Shustoke. Of all the early settlers in New England we can add a few with solid connections ot the area:

• Robert COLLES Bpt 1 Apr 1599 Robert COLES of Robert in Brinklow, Warcs. (2 miles from Wolston). He md 2nd Mary HAWKHURST dau of Sampson HAWKHURST Vicar of Nuneaton, Warcs; first settled First in Roxbury MA and ended up in Warwick, RI
• William COPP bpt 9 Nov 1589 William COPPE son of Thomas Hatton, Warcs settled in Boston, MA
• John EATON bpt 26 Dec 1590 Hatton, Warcs. settled in Haverhill, MA
• Edmund HAWES bpt 15 Oct 1612 Edmund HAWES son of Edmund of Solihull, Warwcs. Settled in Yarmouth, MA
• Thomas HUIT (HEWITT) Thomas (alleged Bro of Ephraim) bpt 19 Apr 1607 Thomas HUET of Thomas at Grandborough 20 miles from Wroxall and just 10 miles from Wolston.. He and a son settled at Stonington, Ct both died at sea.
• Thomas WELLES, Gov. bpt. 10 July 1594 Tidmington, Warcs. Thomas WELLES Son of Robert of Stourton, Shipston & Whichford on Stours, Warcs.

All in all a sound dozen that we can establish in Warwickshire or thereabouts and another ten possibles. So let us look at possibilities for Isaac SHELDON of Windsor, CT and John SHELDON of Kingstown, RI. We estimate a birth of Isaac before 1610. And A birth for John between 1610-1630 but most likely between 1620-1630. As previously mentioned there is no match for an Isaac SHELDON anywhere in England during this time frame, however we believe he came with Rev HUIT and we know the parish registers for Wroxall are missing from 1595 until June of 1634. So if John or Isaac were from Wroxall there is no record for them. If they were Catholic there would not be baptismal records. Which leaves us with just a couple of other possibilities in the vicinity of Wroxall:

• John SHELDON bpt 6 Mar 1611 Wootton Wawen son of John
• John Sheldon bpt 21 May 1615 Wootton Wawen son of Johannes
• John SHELDON married 28 Jul 1624 to Jone SHAXSPEAR Rowington Noteworthy that this couple simply vanishes–no births for children.
• John SHELDON buried 2 Apr 1616 in Birmingham
• John SHELDON buried May 1639 Solihull

So perhaps it is helpful to plot our knowns and possibilities on a map. Red are known SHELDON places. Dark BLUE Windsor Connections. Turquoise Blue Kingstown or other connections and finally Yellow for speculative connections.

There is one more John SHELDON who was baptised in the appropriate time frame. That is John SHELDON bpt 21 Jul 1622 at Broadway. I can find nothing more on this John. And as mentioned in an earlier post there is a connection between the SHELDONs of Broadway and a Robert GRISWOLD of Rowington. Robert GRISWOLD was a servant of a SHELDON of Broadway when he was arrested and later hung for being unwilling to denounce his Catholic faith.

The very real possibility is that John of Kingstown was the son or cousin of Isaac SHELDON who came with Rev. HUIT and that Isaac Sr was baptized in Wroxall and is among the missing 40 years of parish registers. So for now we have established where they HUIT/HEWITs were from, where some of his associates were from and a strong concentration of families in a 25 mile radius of Wroxall. And a curious cluster with a center in Barcheston with a 5 mile radius that includes one very prominent transplant to Connecticut: Thomas WELLES, Governor of Connecticut . bpt. 10 July 1594 Tidmington, Warcs. son of Robert of Shipston. This is a very small hamlet likely with no more than 100 villagers. It is less than 1 mile from the slightly larger village of Barcheston of SHELDON Tapestry fame.

Please not a possible hotspot is Wooton Wawen where we have SHELDON, GRISWOLD and possibly TAYLOR & INMAN.

Maybe not a solution to our quest, but perhaps a bit closer than when we started. I also must add that The GRISWOLDs are my kin and thus indulge me on a little more about them. Matthew Griswold (1620-1698) and his nephew George Griswold (1633-1704) became skilled masons and gravestone carvers. Scholars disagree as to which Huit carved the oldest gravestone in Connecticut. And who would that be for? Ah thank you for asking– that would be for the Rev Ephraim HUIT. Please read more here. I hope I have made my point that friends and family can lead you farther to understanding where someone comes from than you might have guessed.

Addendum

In the 7th edition of Ancestral Roots, the following opinion of Douglas Richardson regarding John Drake was reported:"He believes that this John Drake came to New England with the Rev. Ephraim Hewett of the adjacent parish of Wroxall, co. Warwick, along with the Griswold and Bissell families."
Source: Weis, Frederick Lewis, "Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists," 7th Edition, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1992. Pp. 197-198.

Kelly Wheaton Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved.

[Posted first at WheatonWood.org under the title “More Gophering for SHELDON Origin Clues’]

We’ve had it wrong. Genealogists who go off on tangents who hop from this to that chasing rabbits back to their dens, we have the wrong metaphor. I have both hares and gophers in my backyard so I am surprised I did not figure this out earlier. But here goes…you know the drill you are looking for anything you can find on great-great-granny Emeline Jones and before you know it you are looking at her brother’s, Civil War pension file (he died in the Civil War), which reminds you, that you need to look for that Revolutionary War record for another ancestor. Then while you are at it before long, you are looking up historic maps of the area to see how close they lived to the battlefield, when you realize there’s a diary about a neighbor to your ancestors who wrote about the battle and off you go searching for a copy… and so forth and so on.

This method of research has been dubbed by my friend, George Sheldon, as Kelly’s rabbit hole Genealogy. But yesterday I had to correct him. It really is the gopher method. And the metaphor is perfect. You “go for” one thing and end up with lots of things you weren’t even looking for. You dig, and dig and dig and sometimes run in to stones and even a brick wall or concrete foundation and you just keep digging. Did you know a gopher can move up to 2 1/2 tons of soil a year? I am pretty sure I visit at least 5,000 web pages this year alone, if not this month.

Well I want to tell you about some heavy digging I did this past week. I started off working on my last blog post about the Fleur de lis, but that got me thinking very far afield. Asking “why” is all the enticement a gopher needs to start digging. But the why did John Shelden choose a Fleur de Lis embellished initials for a sheep brand in Colonial America was not a simple rabbit hole it led to a network of intertwined passageways back in time. And where did I end up? Two very interesting records. First, The register of the guild of Knowle in the county of Warwick, 1451-1535. Look at the beautiful pages of the illuminated manuscript here. And this is a black and white version of one of the pages :

So you might be wondering why would she be looking in the 1400-1500’s record of the town of Knowle? Because I can is the short answer. But before I truly answer the question I must share with you my research question. My question is a deceptively simple one: Where did the two early SHELDONs in America come from in England? This question has been asked hundreds of times in the past three hundred plus years and still there has been no answer. The best research was accomplished by E.Hortense Sheldon in her treatise Sheldon’s Prior to 1700 published in 1961. I have worked on this question in earnest with Dale SHELDON over the past 6 years including two research trips to England together.

A gopher can dig 6 feet deep and have a network of tunnels covering 200 to 2,000 square feet. That’s more than 1/5 of an acre and in my yard it’s closer to 1/2 acre overall. That’s because gophers are social animals. They move in, they bring their friends and family.

Again a perfect metaphor. We are researching the origins of two SHELDON men whose DNA has revealed they are closely related. One is an Isaac SHELDON who appears to have come to Windsor, Connecticut in 1639. The other is a John SHELDON who first appears in Newport RI in 1652 and ends up in Kingstown, Rhode Island. We do not know the exact relationship of the two men, they could be father and son or cousins but we know they share the same YDNA signature. To date the SHELDON DNA Project has sponsored a dozen YDNA kits for those with recent English ancestry and to date not a single one has matched the descendants of Isaac and John (of which 41 have tested and they all match each other). So where does one turn?

My answer to that question was two-fold. First, I decided to focus on all the early settlers of Windsor, Connecticut. And also of Kingstown, Rhode Island with a nod to early associates of John SHELDEN there and in Newport, Rhode Island (but I am not including them in this post). So what did I do? I worked backwards from these founders first sifting through to find any that either were from Warwickshire, England or did not have a place of origin identified or the identification was sketchy at best. And that’s what led to one Reverend Ephraim HUIT (HEWITT) who came to Windsor in 1639. And he is incredibly important because he arrives in Windsor about the same time that Isaac SHELDON shows up in the records and some have Isaac as being a part of a contingent who came from England with HUITT. The others arriving about this time in Windsor came from Dorchester, Massachusetts. By looking at the origins of these early settlers I can place them in two groups. Those who likely came with Rev. Huit and those that came from Dorchester. (The Dorchester group have origins in Somerset, Devon and Dorset , England.)

And second was to work forward from the records back in England. We are lucky that we know a bit about Rev. HUIT from the historical record. He studied at Cambridge and matriculated in 1611. He married Isabel OVERTON the 22nd of April, 1622 at Tarvin, Cheshire, England. It has been estimated he was born about 1592 but this is based on current age at graduation. During this time frame he might have been between 14-16 at graduation, so an estimate would more like be 1593-1597. Based on his marriage date of 1622 this might have been closer to 1597. He was first a curate at Knowle and then a Chaplain at Wroxall. He ran afoul of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury with his Puritan teachings and ends up robbed of his livelihood, he immigrates to America.

So where would one look for records of Wroxall? Well perhaps in the Records of Wroxall Abbey and Manor, Warwickshire John William Ryland London 1903. And we can find many things there but of note is the lack of parish registers between 1604-1641, except for one critical page from 1634. Please note: “Sarah Huitt the daughter of Ephraim Huit & Isabel his wife bapt. at Wroxall August the 10 1634.” It does not get any better than that! ALso note there is a GRESWOLD (aka GRISWOLD) on the page.

So my list of early settlers of Windsor filtering out those that came with the Dorchester group looks like this:

• Rev Ephraim HUIT bc 1597 prob Warwickshire. Definitely at Knowle and then Wroxall
• Daniel CLARK b 1639 said to be of Wroxil. We find a Daniel Clarke bpt 1608/9 at Wolston, Warcs.
• John BISSELL bc 1590 & alleged brother Thomas 1589. We find John BYSSEL bpt 16 Nov 1590 Sheldon, Warcs. ao of William and one Thomas BYSSELL bpt 24 Feb 1588/89 son of John
• John DRAKE Known to have married at Hampton in Arden, Warcs. to Lettice SHAXSPEARE 25 Jun 1615. Lettice was 1st cousin to the famous bard, William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon.
• Francis GRISWOLD bpt 10 Jan 1605 at Wootton Wawen, Warcs; son of Clement
• Edward GRISWOLD bpt 26 Jul 1607 at Wootton Wawen, Warcs; Son of George
• John MASON bc 1605 We find a John Mason bpt 21 Oct 1607 at Ladbroke son of Thomas & Joice (he did not have a Thomas or Joyce)
• George PHILIPS bc 1592 NO ISSUE We find George bpt 29 Dec 1583 at Eastham, Warcs. son of Nicholas PHILLIPS
• John PORTER bc 1610 We find bpt 13 Dec 1612 John Porter at Sutton Coldfield son of John PORTER
• Isaac SHELDON bc 1610 We find no baptisms for an Isaac SHELDON in this time frame anywhere in England.
• John TAYLOR bc 1605 uncertain he died at sea abt 1645. There are many possibilities for John in Warcs. But an interesting one is John TALOR bpt 6 Nov 1604 at Whichford, son of William
• William TILTON bc 1586 we find bpt 15 feb 1586 at Wolston, Warcs son of John. William we know had sons Peter, Abraham, Samuel and Daniel. We also find a bpt for a Peter 2 Apr 1620 at Wolston son of William

Twelve men. Of those, seven are solidly from Warwickshire: HUITT, CLARKE, BISSELL, DRAKE, GRISWOLD & TILTON And four are a bit more speculative: MASON, PHILIPS, PORTER & SHELDON.

Which leads me back to The register of the guild of Knowle in the county of Warwick, 1451-1535. and the early Visitations of Warwickshire. Why you may be asking. To see how long these families had been in the area. All twelve surnames are represented in the Guild of Knowle. All are very well represented except Tilton that has only one mention. The Guild of Knowle covered a very large geographic area which included parts of Worcestershire. These guilds often had a religious affiliation, provided for the poor and were a network of clergy, gentry, craftsmen and merchants. It was a fraternal association that fostered relationships be they personal or business. So they are an excellent way to find families before parish registers are to be found. And unlike the Visitation books they include the merchant and craftsperson classes.

There’s of course more to this story but here’s several RESEARCH POINTS

• When you can’t find something about your ancestor look at who his friends and associates are, track every last one down looking for clues
• Chase down every lead—every gopher hole
• Pay attention to surnames that pop up frequently when you are looking at your own
• Work backwards and forwards in time
• Don’t be persuaded by someone else’s sloppy research or speculations—they may be wrong (this is certainly the case with Ephraim Huit whose family goes back in Warwickshire for many centuries and is not of Cheshire as some speculate.)

When we are working in the 17th century backwards the records are often missing or incomplete so we have to search for every tidbit we can. That means unearthing lots of dirt hoping for a few diamonds in the rough. To be continued…

Kelly Wheaton Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved.

First published at WheatonWood.com

You just never know what mysteries you will be presented with in your research and how sometimes there is very little to be found about them. Such is the case of John SHELDEN’s [John of Kingstown] sheep brand as registered in South Kingstown, Rhode Island in 1705. You might think why does it matter—and perhaps it doesn’t. However John SHELDEN and his origins are a long standing conundrum—so faced with such a dearth of information one (at least this one) has a tendency to follow any possible lead.

Before further exploring John SHELDEN’s brand, I want to point out the Brand above his, is for a James PERRY which may seem curious as his brand has a S imposed on a P. I suspect that this is because his father Samuel PERRY of Sandwich, MA would have been required to have a “S” for Sandwich and added the “P” and when James moved to South KINGSTOWN he took his father’s brand with him. This would not have been unusual as brands tended to be hereditary or passed through families.

Below is the brand of John Sheldon: “John Shelden his Marke is A slit in the Right Eare And A Crop on the Left Eare and A Afore Gad in the Same Eare his brandes JS on the Neare Buttuck”. When a J was used on other brands they also didn’t have the hook and did have a line through the center, but only John’s is topped with a fleur-de-lis.

ON BRANDING

It is claimed that on February 5, 1644, Connecticut enacted the first branding law in the colonies. The act called for livestock owners to ear-mark or brand their cattle, sheep, and swine that were over 6 months of age by May 1, 1644, and to register their marks in the town book. Livestock owners would be fined if found in violation “thirty-four cents a head,” with half allocated to the complainer and the other half to the town treasury. Earlier on the 7th of June 1637 the New Plymouth Court, pg 118 “It is also agreed by the bench that all that have not brought in their eare marks of their cattle betwixt this and the next court shall be fyned in default thereof at the descretion of the bench.” In 1658 a copy of Plymouth Colony Laws appears in the Rehoboth Book of Law’s and it proscribes “the Markes for horses for Distinctions of the Townes ffor Plymouth a P on the neer buttocke, ffor Duxburrow a D on the nere buttocke” and so forth…. Rehoboth Book of Laws pg 84. May 7 1662 Massachusetts records Vol 112, pg 138 General Court Order Approving proposed brand mark and referring the Selectmen to the Law for the ordering and raising of tax in each town. Kingstown records sheep brands beginning in July of 1696. As livestock became more prevalent in an area the need for branding or ear marking obviously became more necessary.

BACKGROUND

The John SHELDEN of the brand above is the son of John SHELDEN Sr. bc 1630, who died between 1697 and August of 1704 when his son John Jr wrote his will [at South Kingstown, RI] and mentioned his “late father”. What we know of the Eldest John SHELDEN is actually not very much. The first evidence is 13 October 1652 when John SHELDON [Sr.] and Richard Knight witness a covenant between Peter EASTON and Henry STEVENS, both of Newport, RI. So we can first place him in America is in 1652. When and wherefore he came from is a long standing question. That little Fleur de Lis, just another in an endless list of possible clues as to his origins.

MEANING of the FLEUR de LIS

A possible list of associations

• Symbol of the Virgin Mary
• Symbol of Purity
• Symbol of the Holy Trinity
• Symbol of Catholicism in Protestant England
• Symbol of French Royalty
• Heraldic Symbol
• Makers Mark Symbol

I cannot shake the idea that the fleur- de-lis was used on the sheep brand of John SHELDEN for a reason and not because it was just a random symbol that he liked. The intricacy and skill at executing such a brand was beyond any of the others recorded. As a mark is a “symbol” of the owner it suggests in of itself a specific meaning and almost all the marks contained the initials of their owner. So why the fleur- de-lis?

WAS THERE A CATHOLIC CONNECTION?

We know that prior to the reformation under King Henry VIII all of England was Catholic. And afterward except for the brief period under his daughter Mary I “Bloody Mary” (1553-1558) Catholicism in England was either persecuted or barely tolerated. Then came James IV of Scotland who became a Catholic in 1670 and the King of England as James II in 1685-1688. [The date of the brand registration is 1705.] We know that the SHELDONs of Beoley and Broadway were devout Catholics. We know that a Robert GRISSOLD (GRESWOLD), son of John and Isabel GRISSOLD of Rownington, Warwickshire became a martyr to his faith in 1603 when he and a Catholic priest by the name of John SUGAR were arrested. John Sugar had been ministering to Catholics in the area [on foot] and had been saying mass at Baddesley Clinton. More about Baddesley Clinton shortly. At this time Robert GRISSOLD was described as a husbandman and servant to a Mr SHELDON of Broadway. Both John SUGAR and Robert GRISSOLD were sentenced to death. Robert GRISSOLD was given the opportunity to renounce his faith, but he would not and was hung, a slightly better fate than John Sugar who was hung and quartered. Robert GRISSOLD was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987. Mr SHELDON of Broadway was likely William SHELDON, Lord of the Manor, who died in 1626. Broadway and Rowington lie a good 25 miles apart so an interesting association that a servant to Mr SHELDON of Broadway should be living in Rowington and attending to the priest John SUGAR. William SHELDON’s wealth came in large part from his uncle Ralph SHELDON.

The monks of Pershore owned the parish of Broadway for hundreds of years. In 1533 a disagreement between the Abbot of Pershore and his tenant farmers ensued. Ralph SHELDON was a representative of the tenants to the then Abbot John STONYWELL. They seemed to have had a long standing civil, if not contentious relationship. Three years later with King Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries Ralph SHELDON became the first lessee and later the land owner of much of the Catholic church’s previous land holdings through Pershore Abbey. In 1539 leases of 80 years each were granted by the Abbot of Pershore to Ralph SHELDON for the Manors at Abberton and Broadway.

When Ralph SHELDON wrote his will 28 March 1545 he wrote “oure souveraigne Lord Henry the eight by the Grace of God, King of Englande, Fraunce and Irelande as Defender of the Faith and in the Church of Inglonde and also of Irelande in erth the Supreme Head” and that he bequeaths his “soull unto Almightie God and our Lady Saint Mary and to all the Holy Company”, and he directed that “every priest that shall be at my dirge and mass to have 12d, And every clerk that can sing to have 4d, and to other that cannot sing 2d. I will that a priest shall sing for me, my father and mother, my brother William and Baldwin Heath and Agnes Heath’s souls and all expired souls, Immediately after my decease five years in our Lady Chapel at Beoley or Abberton at the discretion of my wife and William Sheldon my son.” December 25 1570. His remains lie at the Lady Chapel [now known as the SHELDON Chapel] at Beoley and the latin marble ledger reads in part:

“To God, the best and greatest

This marble covers the body of William Sheldon, esquire, whose flame aroused by death returned to Heaven and there amid its kindred stars it burns and shines. He, devoted to his aged father, faithful to an unhappy King, loyal to the religion of his sires, succeeded late in life to a rich estate. Suddenly deprived of it on account of his inviolable loyalty to his King, he never mourned for it, but with equanimity bore its loss during his life. He pleased God by his uprightness; his contemporaries by his courtesy; the poor by his generosity; the world by his goodness.“

 

Of further note is a meeting that occured in Broadway in June 1644 when King Charles I rode through to Worcester to secure the Royalist garrison. He travelled back through Broadway en route to his base at Oxford and spent the night at the home of Mr SAVAGE, a Royalist supporter. [Mr Savage’s daughter Ann married William SHELDON’s son William about 1619.] In May 1645 King Charles I again was in Broadway and spent the night at the “Lygon Arms” where he met with William SHELDON, the Lord of the Manor. There was a pronounced connection between the gentry of Worcestershire and Warwickshire and the Catholic Church that may have been as much political as ecclesiastical, as seen above. It was not always easy to discern what side one was on and could have dire consequences if not on the correct side.

Due to DNA evidence we know that Isaac SHELDON of Windsor, Connecticut and John SHELDEN of Newport and Kingstown, Rhode Island are closely related and possibly father and son. We highly suspect that Isaac SHELDON immigrated in 1639 with Rev Ephraim HUITT, [perhaps with two sons Isaac Jr and John, both born in England]. Rev Ephraim HUITT was a curate at Knowle and later settled at Wroxhall [booth in Warwickshire] as rector in 1626. In 1638 he incurred the displeasure of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury [appointed by King Charles I]. In 1638 Laud commented in a report on Huit: “He hath taken upon him to keep fasts in his Parish by his own appointment and hath contemned (reject with disdain) the decent ceremonies commended by the Church. My Lord the Bishop of Worcester proceeds against him and intends to either reform or punish him.” This likely precipitating his immigration to the American colonies where he joined the Rev. John WAREHAM in Windsor, Connecticut. The HUITT family can be found in the Register for the Guild of St Anne for Knowle [Knowle, Warwickshire, England 1451-1541] as early as 1460. The SHELDONs can be found in the same register in 1486.

Wroxhall is the location of the former Benedictine Abbey and Priory. Just 5 miles to the north is Knowle. where we find the Guild of St Anne of which many prominent families of the area were members. The Guild was a religious & charitable association founded in 1413.  At its peak it had over 3,000 members, including senior clergymen and local gentry including the LUCY’s of Charlecote, the FERRER’s of Baddesley Clinton, the FETHERSTONE’s of Packwood, and the THROCKMORTON’s of Coughton.   Walter Cook founded in 1416 the College of Knowle, a religious institution providing a communal life for its resident priests.  Both the Guild and College were dissolved at the Reformation in 1547 and their property confiscated. The second Guild register (1451-1535) survived and is kept at the Birmingham Reference Library.  Here we find “Willffi Sheldon et vi eius de Beley” in 1486[transWilliam Sheldon and his wife of Beoley.] Then in 1514 “Thomas Sheldon of Warwick,” in 1520 “Richard Sheldon & catryn.”

BADDESLEY CLINTON

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Returning to Baddesley Clinton the manor originally belonged to the BROME family but at the time of GRISSOLD’s arrest it would have passed from Nicholas BROME to his daughter, Constania, who married Sir Edward FERRERs. The FERRERs were Catholic recusants and there were three priest holes [hiding places] at Baddesley Clinton. One off the Moat Room, one leading into a ceiling space and a third in an old privy. 

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• 

From the Reformation forward most Catholics considered it too risky to keep records. The earliest extant non-London Catholic register is a priest’s notebook for Baddesley Clinton which begins in 1657, but for most places registers do not begin until the late 1700’s. Looking closely at the map you can see that Wroxall lies in the province of Wroxall Abbey which was a Nunnery but further back there was a Benedictine Priory of St Leonard going back to 1135.

Here is a window from Baddesley Clinton showing the FERRER arms halved with that of the HEXSTALL. Notice anything interesting?

So putting these things together we have these curiosities:

• Ralph SHELDON of Broadway benefits from the Dissolution of the monasteries gaining lands at Broadway and
• Ferrer’s families
• Mr [William] SHELDON of Broadway’s servant Robert GRISSOLD of Rowington is arrested and hung in 1603 for being unwilling to renounce his Catholic faith and his association with the priest John Sugar who was conducting mass at Baddesley Clinton. [Distance from Broadway to Rowington about 26 miles–somewhat a curious connection]
• Rev. Ephraim HUITT of Knowle and then Wroxall emigrates to America in 1639 after being condemned by William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury
• Isaac SHELDON who appears in the Windsor records in 1640 may have come with Rev. HUITT. others that “appear” to have come with him from Warwickshire are Edward GRISWOLD, John BISSEL, Daniel CLARK, Peter TILTON & perhaps John PORTER
• William SHELDON of Broadway meets with King Charles I in 1645 at the Lygon Arms which has a “Fleur de Lys over its entrance
• Earliest extant Catholic records outside of London are for Baddesley Clinton beginning in 1657
• John SHELDEN of Newport is arrested for drunkenness and talking badly of the Lord Protector (Lord Oliver Cromwell–persecutor of Catholics) January 6, 1657.
• 1705 a Fleur-de-lis adorns the brand of John SHELDEN of South Kingstown, Rhode Island

So at this point we cannot say for certain the meaning of the Fleur de Lys of the SHELDEN brand found in South Kingstown, but one thing we can see are there are some strong Catholic connections and we have lots more to come on early founders of South Kingstown and Windsor Connecticut.

Further References

Hallmarks, Touchmarks and Guilds

Silversmith Jeremiah Dummer of Newbury MA used a heart with his initials inside and a fleur de lys

Guildford-Saybrook Chests commonly used Rose, thistle and Fleur de Lis.

Colonial clay pipes were often stamped with a Fleur de lis

EUROPEAN CLAY PIPE MARKS FROM 17TH CENTURY ONONDAGA IROQUOIS SITES

Hallmarks on Gold and Silver Plate

Thanks to Dale SHELDON who did all the driving on our previous research trips to England and his help with this research. This will also appear as a static page over on my website Wheatonwood.com

 

Kelly Wheaton Copyright 2021. All Right Reserved.