Hello,
My 10GGf Richard Newton was likely born in Essex or Suffolk and I'm trying to track down sources.
Here's his particulars:
Born: 1605-1612, somewhere in East Anglia.
Married: Anna Loker of Bures St. Mary, Suffolk (church is on the Suffolk side but the Lokers lived on the Essex side of Bures) in Aug of 1636.
Child: Anne Newton born October 1637 in Bures St. Mary.
Emigrated: To New England in 1639 with the Lokers, his wife, and one daughter. Lokers, Newtons, and Parmenters from this area all settled in Sudbury Massachusetts (and later Marlborough).
Died: in 1701 in Massachusetts.
He's very well researched from over here in the states, but the big thing is unknown date and location of birth. For well over a hundred years, he's been tied back to the King of Nerds over there and it's ruined all the research.
I don't think he was born in Colsterworth, Lincolnshire with 7 or 8 siblings and a family farm only to take the A1 to the A14 177km down to Bures St. Mary and pick out some random lady to marry. I'm guessing that he's more local to the area where he was married and had a child. But who knows maybe was it common for English farmers to walk 35 hours away from their birth home to get married?
No, I think he's local. I'm checking the online archives in Essex and Suffolk (the search for Suffolk is horrible). There's a number of Richard Newtons (quite a few) in Essex. I'm leaning towards a couple of John Newton's who "might" be his father. I have their Wills ready to purchase a subscription and try trace him that way.
My questions are:
Is it OK to assume he's local? Were farming types mobile in the early 1600's?
There's Newton's that are "husbandman" a few that are "labourer" and a number that were "yeoman" that I found wills online in Essex. In Richard's will in America, he calls himself a "husbandman" so I assume that's what his father and family would be as well? Was there movement up and down the class structure in England? Can I assume and focus on Newton's from the same background?
My assumptions for search.
1. That he was born between 1605-1615 (married in 1836).
2. He's from around the area of the Lokers of Bures St. Mary.
3. He's likely not firstborn (as your tradition back then was that first born get the land, right?).
I'm sorry this is a lot, but I've done so much tail chasing on this. It'd be nice to get some fresh eyes with local insight and knowledge.
Any assistance will be greatly appreciated!
Cory Newton
