Part 6.2 The Winthrop Fleet The Great Migration - Mayflower and Puritan Immigrants



The Winthrop Fleet


The Winthrop Fleet was a group of 11 ships led by John Winthrop which carried about 1,000 Puritans plus livestock and provisions from England to New England over the summer of 1630, during the period of the Great Migration.

The Puritan population in England had been growing for several years leading up to this time. The Puritans disagreed with the practices of the Church of England, whose rituals they viewed as superstitions. An associated political movement attempted over many years to modify religious practice in England to conform to their views. King James I wished to suppress this growing rebellious movement.

 Nevertheless, the Puritans eventually gained a majority in Parliament. James' son Charles came into direct conflict with Parliament, and viewed them as a threat to his authority. He temporarily dissolved parliament in 1626, and again the next year, before dissolving parliament permanently in March 1629.  The King's imposition of Personal Rule gave many Puritans a sense of hopelessness regarding their future in that country, and many prepared to leave it permanently for life in New England.
Motivated by these political events, a wealthy group of leaders obtained a Royal Charter in March 1629 for a colony at Massachusetts Bay.

A fleet of five ships had departed a month previously for New England that included approximately 300 colonists, led by Francis Higginson. However, the colony leaders and the bulk of the colonists remained in England for the time being, to plan more thoroughly for the success of the new colony. Later that year, the group who remained in England elected John Winthrop to be Governor of the Fleet and the Colony. Over the ensuing winter, the leaders recruited a large group of Puritan families, representing all manner of skilled labour, to ensure a robust colony.

The initial group (Arbella and her three escorts) departed Yarmouth, Isle of Wight on April 8, the remainder following in two or three weeks.

Seven hundred men, women, and children were distributed among the ships of the fleet. The voyage itself was rather uneventful, the direction and speed of the wind being the main topic in Winthrop's journal, as it affected how much progress was made each day. There were a few days of severe weather, and every day was cold. The children were cold and bored, and there is a description of a game played with a rope that helped with both problems. Many were sick during the voyage.

The Winthrop Fleet was a well-planned and financed expedition that formed the nucleus of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. However they were not the first settlers of the area. There was an existing settlement at Salem, started in about 1626, populated by a few hundred Puritans, most of whom had arrived in 1629, and who were governed by John Endicott. Winthrop superseded Endicott as Governor of the Colony upon his arrival in 1630.

The flow of Puritans to New England continued for another ten years, during a period known as the Great Migration.





Richardsons from Hertfordshire




SOME EARLY EMIGRANTS FROM HERTS, ENGLAND.

As early as 1628, religious disturbances were frequent in the county of Hertfordshire. The feeling is plainly shown in the incident of affixing, on the church door at Hemel Hampstead, a place seven miles west of St. Albans, the letter against forms of worship, etc., mentioned in the Register, ante,
Vol. 55, page 298.

In 1627, Charles Chauncey, afterwards President of Harvard College, became Vicar of Ware, twelve miles east of St. Albans, where he was soon involved with the authorities by his preachings, and was charged by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 10 Apr., 1630, with " omission of the Athanasius Creed, the Lesson from the Old Testament, the Litany, the surplice, the cross in Baptism and the Exhortation in Matrimony."

His speeches were in praise of the Puritans, and disparagement of the church's authority ; in anticipation of changes between church and state, and of his assertions " that some families were preparing to go to New England."

Chauncey made answer to his accusers, and proceedings were stopped till 23 June, 1634, when he was again summoned — having been for a year or more at Marston St. Lawrence, Northamptonshire — and his trial before the High Commission was continued.

At Lambeth Palace, 19 Nov., 1635, he was found guilty of opposing the setting up of a rail, with a kneeling bench affixed, about the communion table in the church at Ware, where he had returned to preach. He pleaded that there was a rail at Marston St. Lawrence, and some twenty church- wardens and parishioners testified to this fact ; besides, seven clergymen witnessed to his being a diligent student of theology. Several of the clergy complained of his mode of preaching and administering the communion, also that strangers from other parishes frequented his Sunday afternoon meetings at Marston.

11 Feb., 1635-6, he made his submission, in regard to his visit to Ware, to the High Court. Under date of 12 June, 1637, Dr. Samuel Clark wrote of him, to Sir John Lamb, an official of the Archdeacon of Buckingham, " Mr. Chauncey, whom you lately corrected in the High Commission, mends like sour ale in summer. He held a fast on Wednesday last, and, as I am informed, he with another preached some six or eight hours. The whole tribe of God flocked thither, some threescore from Northampton ; the Lord Say with his lady, honoured them with their presence. The end was, as I am told, to join in prayer that God would deliver his servants from persecution." This prayer was answered in the case of Chauncey, and many others, by their emigration to New England in the winter of 1637.

We have alluded to the religious excitement at Hemel Hampstead, and the probability that Rev. Robert Fordham was responsible for giving the town of Hempstead, Long Island, its name, and applying the name of Littleworth, which is a village two miles from Bedford, Herts, to a locality on Long Island, situated, as I am informed by Mr. William Wallace Tooker, the local authority, between Water Mill Post office and Southampton Village. Littleworth was frequently mentioned in old records, but is now seldom heard.

It was at Sacomb, four miles north-west from Ware, that Philip Fordham, father of Rev. Robert Fordham, lived. The latter was born in 1603, was admitted to Cains College, Cambridge, 3 July, 1622, at the age of nineteen, matriculated 1623, and received his degree of B.A. in 1625, and M.A. in 1629. It is likely that Robert Fordham was active in the religious excitement attendant on the incident at Hemel Hampstead in 1628, and the events in which Chauncey was prominent in Herts, as it was not till 1640 that he came to New England, and was at Sudbury. (See Register, Vol. 2, p. 163.)

Religious persecution was not the only factor in driving the people of Herts to other parts. It was necessary, in 1632 and succeeding years, for the justices of the peace for the county to take measures for the relief of the poor, the country being over-populated, and it was with difficulty that the poor obtained employment and food.

It was, however, the ship money tax, first designed in June, 1634, and to which I have alluded in other communications to the Register, that in the succeeding four years was a cause for the emigration to New England of many of the people in Herts.

In 1637 it was reported by the tax collector that Thomas Welsh, of Bishop Stortford, had gone to New England. The town is about ten miles east of Ware, and Welsh appeared at Milford, Conn., in 1639.

Richard Miles, of Wormley, was reported as " gone into New England." He appeared in Milford in 1639. Wormley is six miles south of Ware.

William Fowler of Powlett, Stevenage, was taxed for his lands in Potter's Fields, and to avoid the tax he fled, and was in Milford in 1639. Stevenage is ten miles north-west of Ware, and seven miles from Sacomb. Edmund Tapps, of Bennington, went to New England, and appeared with the others at Milford in 1639. Bennington is eight miles north-west of Ware.

From Royston, sixteen miles north of Ware, Richard Parker went to New England, and one of the name appears in Boston in 1638.

Eight miles north of Ware is West Mill, a parish with a station on a branch railway terminating at Buntingford.

Francis Wyman, of West Mill, made his will, 15 Sept., 1658, which was proved 14 Feb., following. In it he left bequests to his two sons, Francis and .John Wyman, " which are beyond the seas." (See Register, Vol. 43, p. 56.) The sons were in Woburn in 1640.

Of Richardson items in the records, there are :

Thomas Richardson of Standon and Katherine Duxford of West mill were married 24 Aug. 1590.

Elizabeth daughter to Thomas Richardson baptized 13 Jan. 1593.
John son to Thomas Richardson baptized 7 Nov. 1596.
James, ' sonne of Thomas Richardson baptized 6 Apr. 1600.
Samuel y sonne of Thomas Richardson baptized 22 Dec. 1602 [or 1604],
Margaret ye daughter of Thomas Richardson baptized 19 April 1607.
Thomas ye sonne of Thomas Richardson baptized 3 July 1608.

Catherine the wife of Thomas Richardson buryed the x*** of March 1631.
Thomas Richardson was buriyed the viii daye of January 1633.

It would naturally be supposed that the will of Thomas Richardson would be found in the Commissary Court of Essex and Hertfordshire, but the Archdeaconry Court of Huntingdon, or that portion in the Hitchin Registry, had jurisdiction over part of Hertfordshire, and included 77 parishes.

The three brothers, Ezekiel, Samuel and Thomas Richardson, are known as such by the will of Ezekiel, who names the other two as his brothers.



Ezekiel, evidently the oldest, was the first to come to New England, and was a planter in Charlestown in 1630. His departure previous to the making of the will, perhaps against his father's wishes, or possibly having received his share of his father's small estate, may account for the name of
Ezekiel not appearing in the will. His baptism is not found at "West Mill, as are the baptisms of Samuel and Thomas.

Ezekiel probably came with Winthrop, he and his wife becoming members of the Charlestown church, 27 Aug., 1630.

Thomas Richardson, baptized at West mill, 3 July, 1608, had wife Mary, who joined the Charlestown church, 21 Feb., 1635-6, and he joined, 18 Feb., 1637-8.

Samuel presented the will of his father for probate  Ilitchin, England, 31 July, 1634. He had previously married ; and had baptized, at West Mill, a son Samuel, 3 July, 1633, and a daughter Elizabeth, 22 May, 1635.


Samuel Richardson's name does not appear in the Tithe Book of West Mill after 1635. Against Over Green, where he (and also his father, Thomas) lived, is written " none." It was, therefore, after that date he and his brother Thomas sailed for New England, with their families ; and we find, on 1 July, 1636, the brothers were on a committee to lay out lots of land in Charlestown, for hay.

There is no record of the birth or baptism of a daughter Elizabeth to Samuel in Woburn, but the will of his wife Joanna, in 1666, mentions a daughter Elizabeth, who was probably the one baptized at West Mill, 22 May, 1635.

Doubtless the register of the parish of Standon, which is but a few miles south of West Mill, would, if it existed, give further particulars of the Richardsons, or at least of Thomas who married in 1590 ; but the earliest entry to be found is 1671. Braughing, just east of West Mill, has a register which begins in 1563, but it gives no items of the Richardson name. Great and Little Hormead, north-east of West Mill, was the home of some of the Wymans in the past, but there are no traces of the Richardsons there. Just east of this locality is the border of Essex, and there are many of the name in that county, though the name is common in all the counties of England. From Nazing, Essex, about ten miles
from West Mill, came John Eliot, the apostle, and many of the settlers of Roxbury, Mass[1].



7GU Thomas Richardson was the son of Thomas Richardson. 
Katherine Duxford was the daughter of John Duxford.  In all likelihood the family lived in Duxford, as in the English language, surnames were only introduced in the 16th century, and people were often known as de Duxford - ie from Duxford.  She was the daughter of
7GU  John Duxford 1545  and Katherine Morris. 1545 - 1631
Thomas Richardson Came over in the fleet with Gov. Winthrop in 1630 (in the Arabella) and settled first at Charlestown and then at Woburn where he was one of the founders of the church.
Freeman May 2, 1638,
Removed to Woburn, 1640.
Proprietor. Town officer.
Wife Mary admitted to church 12-21-1635. Died Aug. 28, 1651


Capt Josiah Richardson

Ezekiel Richardson dies in Woburn. He must have been a relatively young man, probably under 45, per estimate of Vinton. His oldest child, Phebe, had been baptized only 15 years earlier. His widow, left with seven children, remarried Henry Brooks four years later, in 1651.


A quote from one of the many biographies of the Richardson brothers says, "Ezekiel, Samuel, and Thomas Richardson, brothers, were the emigrant ancestors of a family remarkable for their numbers, their widely scattered homes, their virtue, and their intelligence. At least nine of their descendants bearing their name have been deacons in the church they assisted to organize... (and) a large number have been officers of churches elsewhere - in Winchester, and, far and wide, in the United States..... In the secular professions, also, many of this familiar old Woburn name have been found, and some of them have achieved a high and most honourable position. Old Woburn has, from the beginning, been largely indebted to the successive generations of this excellent family." The Three Richardsons, The Winchester Record, Vol II, No. 2, March, 1886, Pg 199.



The Welch Family


There are some sad facts within this story, but unfortunately History is just a compilation of a lot of often sad events.

It is often interesting to discover some facts about a person, of which they may never have had any knowledge.  In 1850 Elizabeth Carner decribed, in the Census return that she was born in Ireland.

Now given the search is to find those Irish ancestors, this may have been a clue. In fact, not only was she born in Ireland, but so was her daughter Margret.

Perhaps she was, but others have attributed Elizabeth Goldberg as born in Massachusetts, in 1776 the daughter of Norweigan parents.  Her father shown as Arne Olsson Goldberg Soerboel born 1727 in Norway and dying 1777 in Norway and her mother was Birgit Jakobsdatter Skar 1745 - 1801, in Norway.

Goldberg is a Jewish or German name. If she was born in Massachusetts, in 1776, who raised for in order for her father to live in Norway and die the following year?


Elizabeth married Felix Karner.  His family were German, and so perhaps there it is more likely that her parents were German immigrants.  Could this be Elisabeta? or was she born in Ireland.  

Unfortunately there is no proof of birth records in America.


However, her husband's family records are a little more complete.

Felix Carner was the son of Nicholas Karner 1727 - 1777 and Mary Amway Welch 1740 - 1778.
Nicholas was the brother of Mary Karner who married Captain Michael Loomis. 

Nicholas was baptised in the Dutch Reform Church in 1727.  The name was recorded as Kerner.




The marriage register from Sheffield Massachusetts, shows the marriages of the different Karner children to other families within this family history.



4GU Nicholas Karner married Mary Welch.  Mary was the daughter of

5GU  Thomas Welch 1714 - 1790 and Judith Mackee 1715 - 1753
Judith Mackee was the daughter of

6GU Ebenezar McKee (Keys) 1680 - 1731 and Susannah Caddy 1690 - 1775


Ebenezar was the son of
7GU  Daniel McKee (McKay) 1630 - 1726 and Sarah Wilson 1648
Daniel McKee was the son of
8GU  James McKee from Larg in Kircudbright in Scotland, 1605 - 1670 and Agnes Cragneil 1598 - 1677 from Cumloden in Scotland    (No records to prove this)
Sarah Wilson was the daughter of
8GU Jacob Wilson born 1617 in Halifax Yorkshire
Susannah Cady was the daughter of
7GU   Nicholas Cady 1663 - 1724 and Patience Ridland 1667 - 1728  The family were in Preston Connecticut.   
Nicholas Cady was the son of

8GU  Nicholas Cady and Judith Knapp..  Nicholas was a surveyor in Groton
Patience was the daughter of
8GU  Barnabas Davis and Patience James

Barnabas Davis and Patience James married July 1, 1625 in Tewksbury, Gloucestershire, England. Tewksbury is about 100 miles west of London.

Samuel Davis, Sr. was born in 1630 in England.
Barnabas first came from England in July, 1635, in the ship Blessing.

Patience Davis Ridland was born on December 21, 1636. Barnabas Davis was born about 1638. The family immigrated to America in June, 1639. They settled in Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, where Barnabas was employed by John and William Woodcock to handle their affairs. He owned Lovell's Island and considerable other property in Charleston.
Nathaniel Davis was born in 1642 in Charlestown.
Barnabus was granted two acres on Lovells Island on August 11, 1643.
Hopewell Davis was born in 1644. James Davis was born about 1650.
Barnabas died in Charlestown in 1685 and Patience followed in 1690[1].




The Welch Family

Philip Welch became well known in history for perhaps the wrong reason.  When Oliver Cromwell was looting England, he didn't stop there.  Cromwell issued instructions to round up young boys in the area of Cork, in order to send them to the West Indies as workers.  His opinion of the Irish was that they were "meaningless people".

Was it successful?  Yes, and when recently researching my Isaacson family, a record was revealed showing his clear instructions.  At the time, I was unsure whether to include it in my story or not.
But it did happened, and my own step great grandmother was such a person.  The Merchants of Galway, were granted lands in Barbados by King James for the purpose of growing sugar.  The English had taken a liking to sugar, and it was a profitable crop.  The family granted the lands, took with them to Barbados, their own Irish workers.  The family letters have been digitised, and can be read.  Too often, a request was sent back to Ireland, to "send some more".

It was no surprise then to read that the seventh great grandfather, Phillip Welsh was the victim of this sort of treatment.

5GG  Thomas Welsh was the son of
6GG  Thomas Welsh 1691 - 1774  and Ann Edwards  1683 - 1748
Thomas Welsh was the son of

7GG  Philip Welch 1643 - 1700 and Hannah Haggett 1643 - 1691
7GG Philip Welch 1643 - 1700 was the son of  
8GG     Phillip Welsh 1612 - 1662   and Mary Venture  (Vench)

Eleven-year-old Philip Welch was kidnapped from his own bed in 1654, by order of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England. He and another Irish lad, William Downing, were loaded onto the ship Goodfellow, which by then was already bursting at the seams with Irish women and children destined for slavery in New England.

Eleven-year-old Philip Welch was kidnapped from his own bed in 1654, by order of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England. He and another Irish lad, William Downing, were loaded onto the ship Goodfellow, which by then was already bursting at the seams with Irish women and children destined for slavery in New England.

Captain George Dell of Salem, Massachusetts set sail for Boston with his human cargo in such haste that some provisions for the voyage were left behind in Ireland. When the Goodfellow arrived in Boston, Philip and William were sold to Samuel Symonds of Ipswich in exchange for quantities of corn and live cattle. The Bill of Sale, dated May 10, 1654, stipulated that the boys would serve their new master until they reached the age of majority.

Samuel Symonds was a man great influence in 17th century New England. He was one of the commissioners appointed to collect signatures of submission to Massachusetts in the colonial villages of Maine and would eventually become Deputy Governor of the commonwealth. Samuel, his sons William and Harlakenden, and his son in-law Daniel Epps, owned huge parcels of land in what is today Lyman, Wells and Kennebunk. Several of Samuel’s children resided in Wells for many years.
The Symonds family treated Philip Welch and William Downing relatively well — for slaves, that is. They attended church with the family and occasionally dined with them, though their portions were always considerably smaller than those served to the Symonds children. Mrs. Symonds was even known to show protective affection for the slave boys, but they had to work very hard for their keep. In 1661, they alone were expected to look after the cattle, maintain the fencing and tend 10 acres of Indian corn on the Symonds family farm. That was the year that Philip and William began to rebel.
The following details were preserved in the Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts.

One Sabbath day evening in March, with plowing and planting foremost in his mind, Philip came into the parlour and asked Mrs. Symonds just who would be expected to do all the springtime work. Displeased with her answer he announced that after seven years of service to the family, he and William would work for them no more unless new terms were struck.

William Downing concurred that they had worked for free long enough and both boys reiterated their demands to Samuel Symonds. They knew of other stolen Irish children sent to Barbados who had been released from slavery after just four years. “If you will free us,” said Philip, “and pay us as other men we will plant your corn and mend your fences but we will not work with you upon the same terms as before.”

When one of the servant girls chastised the lads for troubling their master, Mrs. Symonds was heard to say, “let them alone; now they are speaking let them speak their own minds.” Samuel Symonds was not as tolerant of their protests as his wife. “You must work for me still, unless you run away,” he said, leaving no room for further discussion.

The following morning a constable arrived to arrest the boys. Philip Welch softened slightly at the prospect of incarceration and agreed to serve out his time if his master would promise to give him as good a portion of food as any of his children. Even the constable encouraged Symonds to reconsider his strict stance, but the master wouldn’t budge an inch. He filed charges against both slaves and held his ground.

Indentured servitude was common in colonial New England. People would agree to work for a certain amount of time in exchange for passage to America. Even children, not yet old enough to enter into such an agreement were often indentured by a parent or guardian for money or land. This had not been the case with Philip Welch, William Downing, or hundreds of thousands of Irish Catholics and Scots kidnapped and sold in the West Indies, Virginia and Boston. They were referred to by the court as slaves because the servitude had never been by agreement.

There had been some question as to the legality of Samuel Symonds’ Bill of Sale for the boys, even in 1654. Extra assurances were requested from Captain Dell before the document was signed, but since then, ownership had not been questioned.

Samuel Symonds claimed that his time spent at court and the loss of his only male slaves would leave his cattle, fence and family destitute; that the bargain made between George Dell, the shipmaster, and himself was still in force. He also argued that since Philip was so young he felt compelled to keep him longer, that he might further prepare him to go out in the world and manage a family of his own.
The jury decided that if the Bill of Sale from Captain Dell was deemed illegal, the boys would be set free, but if it was found to be legal they would be required to serve the Symonds family until May 10, 1663. Not surprisingly, the document belonging to Samuel Symonds, former Court Assistant of the Colony and future Deputy Governor of the Commonwealth, was found valid. The slaves served out their time.

Philip Welch married Hannah Haggett of Ipswich and the couple had at least eight children. Philip Welch Jr. settled in York, Maine in a small remote colony near Mount Agamenticus.

Old News columnist Sharon Cummins is a historical research professional in southern Maine. She can be contacted at www.someoldnews.com.

The stories of Irish Slavery today, are unacceptable, but it was history.  People don't realise you cannot change history, only one's perception of it.

Philip lived with his parents outside of Cork., in Kinsales.



This rather interesting Chat session is there for all to see!  Obviously someone was not crediting another family member for the research.

But the dialogue between them is a prime example of how people have assumed so much when tracing family history.  There are no Irish birth certificates.  At best there may be some Bishops Transcripts.  After the 1860's births had to be registered.   It is quite clear also, that "A" does not have a very good understanding of the historical events of the time. 

https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland/cork/kinsale/message-board/welch

I am looking for any information on my family.  I have traced my family back to the early 1600's.  I have traced back to "Philip Welch"  to possibly Kinsale, Cork County.  He was 12 years old when he was kidnapped  and brought to America to be an indentured servant.  From my understanding the last could also have been Walsh as in Ireland they are pronounced the same.

Before that in the year 1100 it was Waleys. You need to appologize to your brother as you did not do the research back to Philip Welch. He did. and it was not cork as that is in the south and he came from the north of Irland. along the shoreline.

Answer B

It was probably under the contract of September 14, 1653, to supply "three hundred men (of the Irish
nation) above twelve years of age and under fifty, to be found in the country within twenty miles of Cork, Youghal, Kinsale, Waterford and Wexford, to transport them into New England," that Dell's shipload was obtained"

"Philip Welch was born about 1643 and was kidnapped and put on Mr. George Dill's ship "Goodfellow". The ship sailed from Kinsale, County Cork in 1654. No ship's log has been found and Mr. Dill died in 1655. His hometown was Rivertown.
This contract was made pursuant to an order of the Council of State, Sept. 6, 1653, upon petition of David Sellick of Boston N. E. merchant, for license to the Ships “Goodfellow” of Boston, George Dalle, Master, and “Providence” of London, Thomas Swanley, Master, to pass to New England and Virginia, where they intend to carry 400 Irish children ; which was granted on security that they sail to Ireland within two months and transport 400 Irish children to those parts, though the advice of Edward Winslow (then in London) was first asked with regard to the facts in said Sellick's petition. On Oct. 28, 1653, the vessels were licensed to proceed.
(Calendar of State Papers, America and West Indies, 1574- 1660, pp. 407, 408, 410)."
Answer A

Other than heresay what proof do you have that he was from county Kinsale or Baltimore? Land records or church birth records? anything? If someone has traced him to one of those places they should quote the record to support it.  Do you have a copy of anything that supports Kinsale or Baltimore  as his home port or that he or Edward ...His real Irish name before it was changed to Philip, came from either of those places.

Just saying it doesn't make it so. There were a lot of Walshes in those areas in that time period. That is why they were targeted. They were sympathetic to Irland and the English didn't like it when they fought against them. Most of the Walshes that owned land in the early 1600s had their land taken and given to English soldiers in the mid 1600s, They were the political disodents of the day.

 Which is why they were targeted first. Edward was 11 years old when he was taken, so he probably knew little of the reasons why he was taken, other than the ships deree that he had heard about.all the stuff you posted so far come directly from the book Philip of Ipswich

Answer B

If you alone were the one to trace my family back to Ireland then you should know that there are no birth or death records that predate the 1800's as they all burned in a fire at the national archives.   After spending a considerable amount of time while I was Ireland speaking to  someone at the archives and others around all over Ireland. 

It is well known that the men and children that were kidnapped during that time period were mainly catholic.  The catholic population was banned to the southwest/western parts of Ireland by the English as it was a barren land and it was felt that they could not survive there.  I spent a while speaking to the Priest in Kinsale and he verified this information and knew of the story of the young boys being kidnapped. Most were from the Kinsale/Baltimore area as these were the most populated areas at the time where as they were the last sailing ports before heading to America.   Since there are no written records I posted a message on this site to see if anyone in Ireland could  assist me with any more information not to be belittled by my so called family that think that they alone have done all the WORK of finding my family.  .  Until someone can prove different, I will tend to believe the others in my bloodline that have done extensive research and those that I spoke with in Ireland that seemed to really know what they were talking about.  So my suggestion is that you go spend some time in the country and see if you can come up with anything different. Until then you do your research and I will do mine.

Answer A

My issue was with you saying and thinking that you traced your family back to Philip. You did not. I did. with the proof that your supposed to have to prove it true and not just heresay. Your comment about there not being any records after 1800 is just not true. If you had taken just one minute to look at the Geneology that I did you would have seen that I had actual copies of death certificates and other records that are confirmation records. National archive is NOT the only place that records are kept. Just because you've been to Irland doesn't make you an expert by any means. You've already got a bunch of errors in your research...assumptions! that can't or haven't been confirmed. thats what makes it hard for people that do it right. Its not confirmed because someone says it! 
I don't concider you family anyway...you and your sisters made that clear when you decided to go to Irland all together and not invite their only other sibling. That made it real clear.

Answer B
Well maybe you need to get clue because its spelled "Ireland" not irland.  Do you need a dictionary?  I've never considered (correct spelling)   you family either.   So don't worry about it.  I haven't considered Jeff my brother in a very long time.  He has always treated us all like shit why would the 4 of want to spend OUR vacation with someone like that?     You two belong together.  

Looking at the the book you gave me I don't see any records (birth certificates/death certificates) that came from IRELAND back in the 1600's.  So you must have withheld information from the rest of us.  The earliest birth record in my book is from my Great Grandfather George.  
If you have copies of records from Ireland I know at least 10 other descendents from  Phillips other lines that would love to have these documents because you seem to be the only one in the entire world  that has them.  Oh and his Father's name was Phillip Welch Sr, and his mother's name was Mary.  Phillip SR died at the age of 70 in 1682.  I never said I was and expert that's why I am utilizing the WEB to try and get more information from someone that may have any records.

Answer A

So how could his fathers name be Philip Sr if Jrs name was Edward when he left Ireland? its just heresay until you can prove it with a record. Its quite presumptous to think I wouldn't have more than what I put in the book I gave you..I spent years doing the geneology of course I have more.
Philip was the name given to him by Samual his slave owner. I have read a lot on line about this and seen others assume the same and also print it as fact and then be proven wrong.

Answer B

In 1612 PHILIP WELCH (SR.) was born in Northern Ireland. PHILIP’s parents are unknown.
1638 (before 16 September): MARRIAGE OF PHILIP (SR.) AND MARY (maiden name unknown)
Before 16 September 1638 PHILIP (SR.) married Mary (maiden name unknown) – probably in Northern Ireland. PHILIP (SR.) and Mary had at least one child:
  1. PHILIP (JR.) (b. 16 September 1638)
1649 (about): SON KIDNAPPED

Philip (Jr.) was barely eleven years of age when he was snatched from his bed in a quiet seaside home, rushed in the darkness along a road and forcibly carried on board a waiting vessel (George Dill’s ship Goodfellow) where other young youths in similar plight were already imprisoned. The master of the ship continued his nefarious kidnapping until the countryside awakened to the knowledge of his infamous deeds and arose in wrath. The master, fleeing from their just and righteous anger, set said so hurriedly that he was forces to leave some of his provisions and precious water casks behind him.
1682: DEATH OF PHILIP (SR.)

PHILIP (JR.) Welch is Edward Welch (his first name was changed by Samuel Symonds  by Alexander McMillan Welch 1947, p.15-16. The William Byrd Press, Inc., Richmond, Virginia. 929.2 Welch 1947, Allen County Library, Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Are you afraid to share all the information?   Why in hell would withhold information when there are  many people that are searching for it..  If you have documents  from Ireland that no one else has ever discovered  that supports different information you should stop being so selfish and  do the right thing and share it.   If you don't share it then they don't exist..    So until you are willing to share  Philip or  Edward's,   if thats what you claim, birth certificate from Ireland it doesn't exist..   Most people would be willing to share their work so others would be privy to their family history after all isn't that why one looks into their ancestory?  To see where one comes from and connect with other family members.usually is the goal.  If  only one person in the world has that info, and isn't willing to share where it came from  that is just downright selfish.   

The churches and national archives in Ireland are begging for Irish descendants to provide them with documents so they can piece their history together.    So stand up and do the right thing and at least provide them with their lost documents if you indeed are withholding them.   End of Chat


This was included to demonstrate the ignorance there is about people researching genealogy, and unwilling to accept facts!

So who was the one who prospered from this?  The greedy ship owners, who made money out of selling young children as workers.

Is it any wonder that these people, when given the chance, stood up and protested by fighting the British in War?

Irish indentured servants were Irish people who became indentured servants in territories under the control of the British Empire, such as the Caribbean (particularly Barbados, Jamaica and the Leeward Islands), British North America and later Australia.

Indentures agreed to provide up to seven years of labour in return for passage to the New World and food, housing, and shelter during their indenture. At the end of this period, their masters were legally required to grant them "freedom dues," in the form of either land or capital.
Those transported unwillingly were not indentures. They were political prisoners, vagrants, or people who had been defined as "undesirable" by the English state. Penal transportation of Irish people was at its height during the 17th century, during the Cromwellian conquest and settlement of Ireland. During this period, thousands of Irish people were sent to the Caribbean, or "Barbadosed", against their will.



The article below by Liam Hogan is published in response to The Irish Slave Trade – The Forgotten “White” Slaves By John Martin, March 17, 2015. Minor edits by Global Research. 

Author’s Note: The numbers game is a depressing one and every life is significant and of equal importance. Unfortunately the “Irish slaves” meme exaggerates and fabricates to such an egregious extent that a basic corrective is necessary.


(This is part four of my series debunking/contextualising the meme. See Part OnePart TwoPart Three and Part Five)“The Irish Slave Trade” Globalresearch.ca article claims that

PART IV
James I sold 30,000 Irish prisoners as slaves to the New World. His Proclamation of 1625 required Irish political prisoners be sent overseas and sold to English settlers in the West Indies. [edit by GR, James I]

This Proclamation of 1625 which supposedly stated that “Irish political prisoners” were to be sold as servants to English colonists in the New World does not appear to exist. Charles I did issue A proclamation for settling the Plantation of Virginia (13 May 1625) but it does not mention anything about transportation or banishment. There is a much earlier proclamation by James I (17 September 1603) which was For the Due and Speedy Execution of the Statue against Rogues, Vagabonds, Idle, and Dissolute Persons. This renewed an older Elizabethan law that criminalised repeated vagabondage and “idleness” in 1597.

The Privy Council named “New-found Land, the East and West Indies, France, Germanie, and the Low-Countries, or any of them” as the location for banishment. These ideological attempts to “correct” poverty (through subjugation and forced labour) partly explain the disproportionately high level of forced transportations from Ireland to the American colonies in the wake of the Cromwellian war.
“From 1641 to 1652 [the] English [sold] 300,000 [Irish people] as slaves.”

To put this into context, the total migration from Ireland to the West Indies for the entire 17th century is estimated to have been around 50,000 people and the total migration from Ireland to British North America and the West Indies is estimated to have been circa 165,000 between 1630 and 1775. (See Bielenberg, The Irish Diaspora, p. 216)

If this is the case, where on earth is the meme getting the unequivocal and impossible 300,000 forced deportations from Ireland over a ten year period? This number being nearly double the estimated total migration from Ireland to the Americas over 145 years?

Cromwellian era forced deportations from Ireland to the British West Indies did not begin in earnest until May 1653 and the total number forcibly deported during the Cromwellian era is roughly estimated by scholars (Corish, Watson, Akenson, et al) to have been around 10-12,000 people.

The paucity of records ensures that we will never know the exact number. Kerby Miller (Emigrants and Exiles, 143), Robin Blackburn (The Making of New World Slavery, 247) and Matthew C. Reilly (“Poor Whites” of Barbados, 6) estimate that “several thousand” were banished. These estimates are educated guesses based on contemporary population figures for the islands, allowing for a high mortality rate, pre-existing Irish populations and concurrent voluntary emigration. The “300,000 Irish slaves” claim is a spectacular exaggeration.

There is no scholarship or even logic behind this number. It appears that the meme has taken the guesstimate on the blurb on the back cover of White Cargo (by Jordan and Walsh) and applied it to the Cromwellian era forced transportations from Ireland. Keep in mind that this appropriated guesstimate refers to all the indentured servants and convicts who were transplanted to the British American colonies from Britain and Ireland over a 200 year period.

White Cargo, p. 15
During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England.

Another massively exaggerated claim which does harm to the historical record of the officially sanctioned transportations and illicit kidnapping that did occur. The most infamous case involved David Selleck, a prominent tobacco merchant from Boston, New England. On the 6 September 1653 a warrant was awarded to Selleck (after he had petitioned for it) to transport 400 Irish children into New England and Virginia. The transport ships were listed as the Goodfellow and the Providence.
These children were presumably earmarked by the Puritans as either orphans or from destitute families who (thanks in no small part to the brutal military tactics of the invading force) had no means to provide for themselves, as on the 11 October 1653 Alderman Tichborne was ordered by the council to draft an Act for transportation of poor Irish children to England and the plantations. What occurred was very different to this initial plan. Profit appears to have been the primary motive; concealed in this instance beneath the veneer of “public service.” The two ships were anchored in Kinsale and despite the initial warrant to transport children they instead sought out adolescents and adults.
…250 Irish women, above the age of 12 and under the age of 45, and also 300 men above the age of 12 and under the age of 50 years…

The specific age restrictions indicates that Selleck (and his partner Mr. Leader) wanted a “cargo” which would fetch a good price for them in the colonies. The authorisation granted was essentially the legalised kidnapping of the poor (25 Oct 1653)

Robert Dunlop, Ireland under the commonwealth; being a selection of documents relating to the government of Ireland from 1651 to 1659, Volume II (1913), 374–375They were subsequently sold against their will as indentured servants off theProvidence at Rappahannock, Virginia (for a cargo of tobacco) and off theGoodfellow at New England. Seven years later, some of the victims of these press gangs appeared before the Salem Quarterly Court in Massachusetts (27 June 1661).

Samuel Symonds brought a complaint against his servants William Downing and Andrew Welch stating that they refused to work for him any longer.* Symonds had purchased Welsh and Downing from George Dell, then the Master of the Goodfellow, on 10 May 1654.

The agreement between Dell and Symonds was for nine years of service. Welch and Downing were not party to (or consented to) these terms and they were under the impression that seven years was the standard term for English servants in Barbados. Symonds won the case and the court ordered Welch and Downing to work for nearly two more years before they could be free. Their testimonies along with other court depositions are invaluable evidence of the reprehensible methods used to fill some of these transport vessels.

Andrew Welch and William Downing     (Should be Phillip)

We were brought out of or owne Country, contrary to our owne wills & minds, & sold here unto Mr Symonds, by ye master of the Ship, Mr Dill, but what Agreement was made betweene Mr Symonds & ye Said master, was neuer Acted by our Consent or knowledge, yet notwithstanding we haue indeauored to do him ye best seruice wee Could these seuen Compleat yeeres.


John King

…Divers others were stollen in Ireland, by some of ye English soldiers, in ye night out of theyr beds & brought to Mr Dills ship, where the boate lay ready to receaue them, & in the way as they went, some others they tooke with them against their Consents, & brought them aboard ye said ship, where there were divers others of their Country men, weeping and Crying, because they were stollen from theyr frends..


John Downing

William Downing and Phillip Welch, with several of their countrymen, were taken up and stolen by the ship master or some one whom he hired. The Ship-master, George Dill, was fain to go away and leave his water and much of his provisions behind for fear the country would have taken them from him…[…]…he knew that he and three or four others of his townsmen were taken up by force; that he did not know the two parties in question, but they said in the ship that they were stolen and brought by force.

Such methods of kidnapping eventually attracted the attention of the Council who enacted a range of measures to inspect ships before they departed from Irish ports. One report (6 July 1655) warned the Commissioners that

…under the colour of some later orders from this Board for transporting rogues and vagrants to Barbados, several Irish and others are surreptitiously apprehended and forcibly put on board a ship in this harbour of Dublin, bound for that island, who are not comprehended as vagrants or idlers.
Cromwell’s policy of transportation of vagrants from Ireland was abandoned on 4 March 1657. It was abolished because it was being abused to such an extent by merchants and their agents. It is also interesting that these kidnappers did not discriminate between Irish or English victims.

The cancellation order reads as follows

…having received many complaints of the abuse of some orders granted to several persons to carry away idle and vagabond persons to the West Indies, who… employ persons to delude and deceive poor people by false pretences, either by getting them aboard the ships or in other by-places into their power, and forcing them away, the person so employed having so much a-piece for they so delude, and for the money’s sake have enticed and forced women from their husbands and children from their parents, who maintained them at school, and that they have not only dealt so with the Irish but also with the English [the Council now] do think fit and order that all Orders, granted to any person whatsoever (being now in force) to take up and carry idle and vagabond persons as aforesaid, be henceforth made null and void.
In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia.
Sigh. Where did the other 248,000 go?
This exaggerated figure of around 52,000 has lineage. It can be traced back to Sean O’Callaghan’s To Hell or Barbados. O’Callaghan incorrectly attributes this number to Aubrey Gwynn. But he either misread Gwynn or has deliberately mislead the reader because Gwynn took a guess at 16,000 sent to the West Indies and his total estimate of 50,000 includes the 34,000 that left Ireland for the continent. Despite this basic error the figure of 50,000 has remained on the blurb of this book since its publication over fifteen years ago.

Another 30,000 Irish men and women were also transported and sold to the highest bidder.

A random 30,000 people fabricated to make it seem like the authors know what they are talking about?

In 1656, Cromwell ordered that 2000 Irish children be taken to Jamaica and sold as slaves to English settlers.

The only vaguely accurate statement in the entire article. It was 1655 and it was Henry Cromwell (then Major General of the Parliamentarian army in Ireland) who made the suggestion, not his father Oliver. In the absence of any further evidence, historians are almost certain that this scheme did not proceed. That being said, it should be noted that it was seriously discussed by Cromwell and Secretary Thurloe over a prolonged period. The plan was for 1000 boys and 1000 girls, aged between 12 and 14, to be sent to Jamaica from Kinsale and Galway. Cromwell admitted to Secretary Thurloe that force would have to be used capture the 1000 girls, but that it was “for their own good.”

Did you know that more Irish slaves were sold in the 17th century than black slaves?

This line is from another iteration of the “Irish slaves” meme. It was posted on YourNewsWire.com by Royce Christyn.  


Phillip Welsh not only was able to begin a new life in America, but did he also bring with him the DeGraw Irish heritage.



The Birch Family


Ann Edwards was the daughter of

7GG  Thomas Edwards 1647 - 1698 and Marie Birch  1651 - 1701
 (Lots of difference in this researched line)

8GG   Marie Birch was the daughter of

8GG  Thomas Birch of Manchester 1588 - 1657 and either Bathsheba Stamford or Carlson Shroder.
Thomas Birch was the son of

9GG  George Birch 1562 - and Ann Bamford  1538 - 1610
Ann Bamford is the daughter of Ann Rich and John Bamford 1525 - 1600 Ann Rich appears to be another of the offspring of Sir Richard Rich by unknown mistress.

George Birch was the son of
10GG  Thomas Birch 1540 - 1613 and Elizabeth Chetham

Thomas married as his second wife, the mother of his daughter in law.  As you do!

Elizabeth Chetham was the daughter of
11GG  Thomas Chetham 1489 - 1546 and Elizabeth Hopwood  1501

The Birch Family of Rusholme

The Birch family are best remembered for Birch Hall and Birchfields Park in Rusholme. Birch Hall was the family's property. The Birches sided with the Parliamentarian faction in the English Civil War and were principal agents in securing Manchester against the Earl of Derby. In 1689 John Birch, of Birch Hall, Manchester, was the High Sheriff of Lancashire.

It’s in the records of the early part of the 13th century, that Matheus Hathersage, a lord of the manor of Withington in Lancashire, conveyed the hamlet known as Hindley Birches in Lancashire to Matthew de Birches, for his service during the Crusades. The de Birches family was also given “rights of pasturage in the lord’s woods, and grinding corn hopper free at any of the lord’s mills within the manor” for a payment of 18 pence twice a year.

The land in Hindley Birches was passed from father to son in the Birch family for over 20 generations, sustaining the family and also expanding, as land was contributed to the family estate by advantageous marriages.

As with most families, most of even the more accomplished members became less well-known and then forgotten by the general public as years passed. There were some exceptions, such as William de Birches, who during the early part of the Hundred Years War in 1356 fought at the battle of Poitiers. When Henry V invaded France in 1415, Ralph Birche, William's grandson, went with the king’s army, and at the battle of Agincourt, was rewarded by the king himself with the grant of three fleurs-de-lis for the Birch coat of arms. More than a century later, the Rev. William Birch gained fame of a different sort – as chaplain to the young King Edward VI, and then during the reign of Elizabeth, as Warden of the College of Christ in Manchester.
During the mid-17th century, several of the family gained fame or infamy during the English Civil War, supporting the Parliamentary side.
The Birch family of Hindley preserved records and traditions about these and others of their family, and in the 20th century there was a family member who was interested in genealogy: John William Birch (1942-2008). In a project which must have lasted a good part of his life, John William compiled the family’s records, supplementing them with far-ranging research which he began at the British Museum, studying early family progenitors in the Saxon Chronicles, and finding records of Birches connected to the family through the years, to the present day. He condensed it all into The Birch Chronicles, which he published in 2002.

As he noted in his introduction, “No records are usually found of younger sons of families, unless of higher rank and with large possessions. They usually, if not sailors, soldiers or yeomen, followed some trade… or became doctors or lawyers, and their children often dropped into humbler positions in life.” So John William Birch began tracing the descendants of younger sons of the Birch family, and during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, he found industrial development “induced many younger sons to seek their fortunes in other counties,” where “farms and plots were bequeathed to younger sons… ranked as yeomen, and their younger sons entered trades… hence we find descent easier to trace in rural districts.” And he found the later Birch branches not only in many counties of England, but also in Ireland, France, India, Australia, Canada, the West Indies, Argentina, Sri-Lanka, New Zealand, Russia, and South Africa.

And also America, where a younger brother of the heir to the family estates at that time, the several times great-uncle of author John William Birch, was the first of his family to migrate to the New World. Thomas Birch (1588-1657) was one of the earliest settlers of Dorchester, Massachusetts. For those who are sceptical of Thomas’s lineage and connection to the family of Birch Hall, Rusholme, Manchester, please see the story in this gallery, “Proof of Connection to Manchester Family,” which tells of the 1657 letter from Thomas’s son Joseph to his uncle Edmund in Manchester (direct ancestor of John William Birch, whose family preserved the letter), and another document, a 1644 bill of sale for Thomas Birch. If only these “frail and delicate” documents, which could not be “photostated” because of possible damage, could now be photographed!

I’m very thankful to John William Birch for all his efforts in finding and sharing accurate information, and making it often entertaining, and I’m sorry that he didn’t live to promote further this wonderful book.


THE BIRCH CHRONICLES. A thousand years of unbroken Birch History
Now available to purchase. A limited edition of 50 copies only, the price is £30 or $46 (including post and package) send your remittance to:
John William Birch.
The Birches,
166 Lutterworth Road,
Blaby,
Leicester.
LE8 4DP.
UK


The Haggett Family


Hannah Haggett the 7th great grandmother was the daughter of

8GU  Henry Haggett 1594 - 1677 and Ann Pinder  1621 - 1690

Henry Haggett lived in Salem and Wenham. The historian John Brooks Threfall writes in "Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England and their Origins" (1990) that Henry Haggett, servant to John Ludwell, left Southampton, England, in late April, 1638, aboard the 200-ton ship Confidence and was next reported in 1642 at Wenham where he was the town cowkeeper. He and Rice Edwards appeared in court at Salem on 1 March 1647/8, where they were admonished for fighting, but "there were no blows given; they only struggled together, and never having been before the court for a similar offence, were to pay only witness fees and costs."

The following November Henry Haggett's wife was fined "for wishing the curse of God on Rice Edwards and that fire might come down from heaven and consume his house, as it did Goodwife Ingersoll's barn.

Henry Haggett was the son of
9GU  Edmond Hackett 1574 - 1628

Ann Pinder was the daughter of
9GU Henry Pinder 1577 - 1662  and Mary Rogers 1582 - 1647

also spelled Pindor) born in England, probably about 1586, married (1st) in England, MARY ROGERS, born 1582, who died in New England.

He married (2nd) before 1655, Elizabeth ( L Andrews, widow of Robert Andrews; she died in Ipswich May 29, 1671. In the parish register of the Church of St. Mary the Great, Cambridge, England, is found the following (TAG 52:175): 22 May 1614 HENRY PINDER and MARY ROGERS, man Ied; 6 Aug 1615 Frances, daughter of Henry Pinder, ...
Mary Rogers was the daughter of

10GU  George Rogers 1556 - 1620 and Susan Locket 1560 - 1597 of Cambridge England   George Rogers was NOT the son of Sir Edward Rogers  (Another family lineage that needed a lot of research)

Susan Locket was the daughter of
11GU  Ralph Locket 1535 - 1600 and Mary Masy 1541



Martha was a granddaughter of John Pinder, or Pynder, "a Soldier in ye Countrie's Service,'.' one of Major Dennison's subscribers in King Phillip's war, serving in Captain Henchman's and Captain Brattle's companies during that stormy period. She was the great-granddaughter of Henry Pinder, who with wife Mary, in the year 1635, embarked from London in ship '.Susan and Ellen," for America. Henry above was of the old English family of Pynder, of Lincoln county, England, and his 







[1] http://www.anamericanfamilyhistory.com/Davis%20Family/DavisBarnabasPatience.html









[1] https://archive.org/stream/richardsonsofwes00watk/richardsonsofwes00watk_djvu.txt








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