The FRENCH Family of Assington, Suffolk, England, Bures Saint Mary, Suffolk, England and Ipswich, Essex, MA Send comments and corrections to anneb0704@yahoo.co.uk
 

William Warren m. Katherine Unknown
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JACOB FRENCH (d. 1615) of Assington and Bures Saint Mary
Susan Warren
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THOMAS FRENCH (bp. 1584 - 1639) of Assington and Ipswich m. Susan Riddlesdale
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ALICE FRENCH (bp. 1610 - 1666), wife of Thomas Howlett 1


Generation 1

JACOB FRENCH of Assington and Bures Saint Mary (d. 1615)

Parents: Unknown

Jacob French was buried on 11 Nov 1615 in Assington. [Ref] He married Susan Warren on 27 Sep 1579 in Bures Saint Mary. [Ref]

Susan was probably the granddaughter, or less likely the daughter, of William and Katherine Warren of Bures Saint Mary. William died before 26 Sep 1554, when administration of his estate was granted to his widow. Katherine died between 31 Jul 1567, when she signed her will, and Jan 1570/1, when it was proved. [Ref]

Children of Jacob French and Susan Warren:

  1. William French was baptised on 27 Sep 1579 in Bures Saint Mary. [Ref]
  2. Jacob French was baptised on 12 Aug 1582 in Bures Saint Mary. [Ref]
  3. Thomas French was baptised on 11 Oct 1584 in Bures Saint Mary. He died in 1639. He married Susan Riddlesdale.
  4. Elizabeth French was baptised on 27 Feb 1586/7 in Assington. [Ref]
  5. John French (probably) was baptised on 27 Mar 1596 in Assington. [Ref] He had a daughter who was buried at Assington. [Ref]
  6. Robert French was baptised on 25 Jun 1600 in Assington. [Ref]
  7. Susan French was buried on 1 Aug 1613 in Assington. [[Ref]

Generation 2

THOMAS FRENCH (bp. 1584 - 1639) of Assington and Ipswich

Parents: Jacob French and Susan Warren

Thomas French was baptised on 11 Oct 1584 in Bures Saint Mary. [Ref] He died in 1639. [Ref] He married Susan Riddlesdale on 5 Sep 1608 in Assington. [Ref]

In about 1637 Thomas and Susan followed their son Thomas, Jr. and three daughters to New England and settled in Ipswich. [Ref]

Nathaniel Rogers, vicar of Assington, came to New England 17 Nov. 1636, and was pastor at Ipswich until his death in 1665. [Ref][Ref]

Linzee [Ref] provides the following:

Letter of Thomas Gostlin to John Winthrop Jr. Loving Cosen . . . but for carpenters I could get none, nor husbandmen, such as weare fit for you, but as for maydes and a girle I could haue sent you enoug yf my brother Downing would haue payed for the passage, & therefore I haue sent you but one, because at this time I am shortned for mony, and Mr. Peerse would be payed downe, & would haue no lesse than fiue pound a passenger besydes 2s 6d for the surgion, wch I left wth yr vncle Downinge for him. She is one of the goodman Frenches daughters of Assington. I haue sent 2 of them, one for yr father, and the other for you. Yr father must take his choyse. The eldest must serve for 3 yeeres, & the youngest 4 . . . I praye let them be delt as well wth all as any of the same quallity. Groton this 11 June 1633.

Children of Thomas French and Susan Riddlesdale:

  1. Ens. Thomas French was baptised on 27 Nov 1608 in Assington. [Ref] He died on 8 Aug 1680 in Ipswich. [Ref][Ref] He married Mary Unknown. [Ref] She died on 6 May 1681 in Ipswich. [Ref][Ref]
    Thomas was a freeman on 6 Nov 1632. [Ref] He was a member of the First Church in Boston in 1632. [Ref] He was dismissed to the church in Ipswich on 27 (11) 1638. [Ref] He was a tailor. [Ref]
  2. Alice French was baptised on 9 Apr 1610 in Assington. She died on 26 Jun 1666 in Ipswich. She married Ens. Thomas Howlett 1.
  3. Dorcas French was baptised on 31 Jul 1614 in Assington. [Ref] She died on 30 Dec 1697 in Roxbury. [Ref] She married first Christopher Peake. [Ref] She married second as his thrid wife Griffen Crafts. [Ref]
    Dorcas and her sister Susan followed their two older siblings to New England in 1633. [Ref]
  4. Susan French was baptised on 22 Apr 1616 in Assington. [Ref] She [or possibly Dorcas] may have been a servant of John Winthrop, Jr. [Ref] There is no other record of her in New England. [Ref]
  5. Margaret French was baptised on 12 Mar 1619/20 in Assington. [Ref] She was buried on 25 Nov 1635 in Assington. [Ref]
  6. John French was baptised on 26 May 1622 in Assington. [Ref] He is on a 19 Dec 1648 list of residents of Ipswich who paid a tax to pay Maj. Daniel Denison (brother of Capt. George Denison) to be their leader. [Ref]
  7. Mary French was baptised on 16 Jan 1624/5 in Assington. [Ref] She was alive in 1674, when her husband died. [Ref] She married George Smith of Ipswich about 1644. [Ref] He died in 1674 in Ipswich. [Ref]

Generation 3

ALICE FRENCH (bp. 1610 - 1666)

Parents: Thomas French and Susan Riddlesdale

Alice French was baptised on 9 Apr 1610 in Assington. [Ref] She died on 26 Jun 1666 in Ipswich. [Ref] She married Ens. Thomas Howlett 1 by about 1637. [Ref]

Alice came to New England with her brother Thomas by 1632. [Ref] She was a member of the First Church in Boston in 1632, as was her future husband. [Ref]

References

Church Records

Dunnell, H. G., comp., "List of Members of the Old Church, Topsfield," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 16, 1862, 213 - 215.

No author, Boston Church Records, New England Historic Genealogical Society, online database, Boston, 2002.

Encyclopedias

Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. Vol. 1-3. Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995.

Family Genealogies

Hayward, Mrs. Carle, "Thomas Smith, Wheelwright of Ipswich, Mass., and some of his descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 110, 1965, 202.

Linzee, John William, The History of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles, Privately Published, Boston 1913.

Threfall, John B., "Thomas French of Assington, Suffolk, England and Ipswich, Massachusetts, New England Historical and Genealogical Register 142, 1988, 250-252.

Public Records

Paige, Lucius, R., "List of Freemen, " New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 3, 1849, 89-96, 187-194, 239-246, 345-352.

Wait, Luther, trans., "Ipswich Proceedings," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 2, 1848, 50-53.

Walters, Henry, "Genealogical Gleanings in England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 41, 1887, 160-188.

Vital Records

Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850. Online Database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 2001-2007.