The Ancestry of Thomas Stanton who migrated to North America in 1635

[Anchor425]

I am trying to determine the English origin of one Thomas Stanton who migrated from England to North America in 1635 sailing in "Bonaventure" at the recorded age of 20 yrs.   He settled in Connecticut where, at Hartford in 1637, he married Anna Lord who had 10 or so children.  Thomas died in 1677.   There are at least two schools of thought in regard to the ancestry of Thomas.

One is that Thomas was born in Wolverton, Warwickshire, a son of Thomas Stanton and Katherine Washington, with years of birth varying from one family historian to another, but mostly between 1914 and 1917.  An online search using findmypast.com.au reveals only one such event:

Last name   First name   Born   Died   Event   Record set                                           Location    
Stanton   Thomas   —   —   1617       England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975   Wolverton, Warwickshire, England

Another school of thought (promoted inter alia by Robert J. Stanton) is that Thomas was born in 1613 in Longstowe, Cambridgeshire, being a son of William Stanton.   A search of Cambridgeshire Baptisms using findmypast.com.au reveals the following:

First name(s)   Last name   Birth year   Baptism year   Father's first name   Mother's first name   Baptism place    
Thomas           Stanton   1613           1613                    William   —   Longstowe

[Paco]

There is quite a lot of information for Thomas Stanton on line. If you type in Thomas Stanton Wolverton Hall Warwickshire it will bring this all up for you. He seems  to have been quite famous in his time, and there is one document that states it took 40 years to sort out probate for his land.
regards.

[Anchor425]

Hi Paco
My interest is in trying to find evidence of the origin of the Thomas Stanton who married Anna Lord in Hartford, CT in 1637.   My wife's ancestors include a Stanton of Barbados, who may have originated in Hartford. 
I am aware there is a lot to be found online re the Thomas Stanton of Wolverton who married Katherine Washington and whose ancestors can be traced back to the time of William the Conqueror, but the question is whether or not it was his son who migrated to CT.   Perhaps his son Thomas studied at Oxford and remained in England, while the Thomas Stanton of Hartford was a son of William Stanton of Longstowe.
Traditionally, it seems that the Wolverton origin was in favour (and it is, no doubt, common practice to copy someone else's family tree regardless of lack of evidence)  but more recently, the Longstowe origin has had some support, in particular from Robert J. Stanton who published a book which may contain the evidence I am seeking but unfortunately I cant afford to buy his book.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Kevin

[Ruskie]

I think the only way you will be able to discover the origins of your Thomas Stanton is if you can find a clue at your end. It sounds like yourself and other researchers have exhausted all possibilities, in which case this might be your brick wall.

I'm sure you realise that just because you find two possible Thomas Stantons born around the right time in England, does not mean that there weren't others that there are no written records of. You are looking at the time when record keeping would have been a bit haphazard, and even if records were kept, they may be missing, destroyed, or not transcribed or put online. Some parishes did not commence record keeping until after this time. There is also a possibility that the surname has changed or varied over the years - Staunton, Staton etc etc.

You obviously know his date and place and means of arrival in America. Is there anything in those records that may help you?

Frustrating for you but unless you have some indication of place of origin, finding Thomas's birth in England (if he was born in England) is just going to be guesswork. It would be interesting to read the book by Robert Stanton, though just because a work is published does not mean he is correct in what he says.  Some people cite old published works to prove connections, however the Victorian genealogists liked to try to connect to royalty and the upper classes, so many works of fiction were produced in that quest.
 

Good luck. I hope you find him. 

[Anchor425]

A year has gone by and I don't think the above issue has been resolved. Indeed, it might be irrevelant if the Indian Interpreter, Thomas Stanton of Stonington, CT is not the 9th great grandfather of my wife, Liz, so I would like to try another tack, by starting from the Barbadian end.
 
Does anyone have any knowledge of descendants of Thomas Stanton (cir 1613-1677) who carried out trade for the family in Barbados and who may have settled there?  I am fairly certain Liz is a descendant of Rev. Richard Austin (1770-1851) and his wife Sarah Stanton (1767 -?1794) who were born in Barbados.  Sarah's forbears in turn may be Wiltshire Stanton (1739-cir 1779), Dr. Daniel Stanton (?1683-1760), Richard Stanton, Daniel David Stanton (cir 1648-cir 1684) and the above Thomas.    However, the connection to the Indian Interpreter Thomas Stanton of Stonington is questionable.

Richard's link in the chain of descendants of Thomas Stanton Sen, a co-founder of Hartford & then Stonington, CT is uncertain.  In his will of Oct 24, 1677, Thomas Stanton Sen of Stonington, CT specifically names his wife and 10 children, including a son Daniel who, no doubt, was the "overseas partner" with his brothers in trade with Barbados and who settled there about the time of Thomas's death.  As far as I am aware, Daniel does not name a son Richard in his will, presumed to be that of a Darrel Stanton made on June 1, 1681.  In his will of June 25, 1750, Richard Stanton of the parish of St George, Barbados specifically names his children including a Daniel, as well as three grandchildren. While I am confident that, in this tree, Daniel I is the son of Thomas Sen, and that Daniel II is a son of Richard, the evidence that Daniel I had a son Richard is weak.  If this Richard is not a son of Daniel I, who is his father?  Were there more than one Daniel Stanton in Barbados in the second half of the 17th century?

My wife's father is distantly related to Sir Harold Bruce Gardiner Austin, OBE (1877-1943) who was born in Barbados and was the first captain of the West Indies cricket team.  In 1988, his contribution to cricket representing Barbados and the WI was celebrated by the issue of a 75c Barbadian stamp, one of a series of five released to commemorate the Barbados Diamond Jubilee of Cricket.   

It would be nice to find someone with knowledge of these Stanton and Austin families in Barbados.

[woodentop]

Try this
https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/austin/1094/

[Anchor425]

Thanks woodentop
I have put the following post on that site in response to the last post there of two years ago:
I found your post as a result of a response to one of mine on RootsChat in an endeavour to find the origins of Colonel Thomas Austin of Barbados and Thomas Stanton, a founder of Stonington, CT, in the belief that the two families intermarried in Barbados. There are various theories as to the origin of each but I don't think anyone has yet found any substantial evidence in support.
I expect you are a descendant of The Hon. William Austin (a son of the Colonel and Mary William) and Mehetabel Piercy.
My wife, Elizabeth is a descendant of the Colonel and Mary Barker, through the Rev. Richard Barker Austin and Sarah Stanton, then Rev Wiltshire Stanton Austin. Like you, she has ancestors in the clergy. Her great great grandfather, Richard Charles Austin migrated to the Colony of Victoria in 1860.
(name) (Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia).

[Anchor425]

Greetings
My wife, Liz and I are to visit Barbados from 10 to 18 July 2020 and, while in Bridgetown, hope to find more information on these Austin and Stanton families from the Barbados Museum and Historical Society.  Of course, we would be delighted to meet any descendants of these families in Barbados, before we go on to the USA to attend the reunion of the Thomas Stanton Society in Stonington, CT, at the end of July.
Anchor425

[woodentop]

Brilliant!