English Records on Bunce Families

[Copy of message posted to Genforum on November 18, 1998.]

I’m a descendant of Peter (1772-1844) and Rhoda (LOOMIS) (1782-1852) BUNCE of Berkshire Co., MA and later of Barrington, Yates Co., NY. The only information I know about the English ancestors of Thomas BUNCE (1612-1683), an original proprietor of Hartford, CT, is from the book entitled, Walter Palmer of Charlestown and Rehoboth, Massachusetts and Stonington, Connecticut, a 400-year (1585-1985) Family History, compiled by Doris Palmer Buys. The author of the book hired a genealogist to research records in England about the BUNCE family, as she was a descendant of the sister of Thomas BUNCE, Katherine (BUNCE) CLARKE to whom he left some money in his will. She quoted the report of this genealo­gist in her book as follows:

29 Sept 1983

“Herewith some results on the BUNCE case which could prove very interesting. I have examined all the printed parish registers and marriage licenses in the first instance and enclose the results.

“Berry’s Kentish Genealogies (1830’s) has a pedigree of BUNCE on pp. 378-79 headed with EDWARD BUNCE of Malmesbury who lived near Canterbury at the time of Henry VIII. His son and heir is given as JOHN BUNCE of Ottrinden (Otterden) Kent, the lines descending through Otterden, Boughton Malherbe and London.

“The pedigree based on the Visitation Records is ‘wanting’ but will provide a reasonable background to build upon. One of this family moved to Deal, I am not sure which, and gave rise to a family there who became the celebrated clergymen at St. Stephen’s Hackington. I might add that there are no stray THOMAS BUNCEs on the pedigree chart but there is a ‘spare’ KATHERINE BUNCE.

“STEPHEN BUNCE of Boughton, Malberg died 1634, buried at St. Clement Danes, will 1635, married ANN, dau. of ARTHUR BARNHAM, son and heir of NICHOLAS BARNHAM sergeant at law. They had

1. MATTHEW BUNCE, eldest son m. ANN, dau of RICH(ARD) LANE of Warwick;
2. JAMES BUNCE, second son.
3. STEPHEN BUNCE, third son.
4. RICHARD BUNCE, fourth son.
5. JANE BUNCE, eldest dau, m. Sir JOHN ROBERTS of Cranbrook and the city of Canterbury knight 1685.
6. ANN BUNCE, second dau., m. JOHN UPTON of Faversham.
7. ELIZABETH BUNCE, third dau. m. SAMUEL SMITH attorney at law.
8. KATHERINE BUNCE, fourth dau.

Duncan Harrington”

The author of the book goes on to say that the third page of Mr. Harrington’s report included records from the Diocese of Canterbury 1568-1660, two volumes by Joseph Meadows Cowper, a list of 26 marriages were given with either the bride or groom having the surname of BUNCE, but no man was named Thomas, and no woman was named Katherine.

The third page of the report contained entries taken from the F.W. Tyler Collection relating to the parish of Stalisfield (taken from Bishop’s Transcripts):

“13 Feb 1585/86 Martha, dau of Thomas Bunce bap.
13 May 1590 Elizabeth, dau of Thomas Bunce bap.
30 Sep 1593 Thomazin, dau of Thomas Bunce bap.
21 Dec 1595 Thomas, son of Thomas Bunce bap.
6 Apr 1602 Mary, dau of Thomas Bunce bap.
2 Feb 1607/8 Thomas Bunce, householder buried”

Parish Registers of St. Paul Canterbury 1562-1800 by J.M. Cowper (1893).

“9 Jan 1648/9 Thomas BUNCE and Elizabeth KINGSFORD married.”

Canterbury Cathedral 1564-1878 by Robert Hovenden, Harleian Society (1878)

"19 Jan 1636/37 Thomas BUNCE and Sarah ELSETER married.

“Thomas BUNCE of Hartford married one Sarah ______ but thus far no record of her family; is it not possible they were married before they reached New England and that the above is a record of their marri­age? The historians in this country cannot agree on the earliest date Thomas BUNCE was positively known to be here; the dates vary from 1632 to 1639. The large county map of Kent reveals that ‘Otterden Place’ and Stalisfield Green practically join each other and are west of Canterbury a distance; Seabrook on the other hand is straight south of Centerbury a greater distance and is on the coast, on the English Channel and south of Dover and Folkestone.”

Doris Buys ended her discussion of Mr. Harrington's re­port by saying that the work had to be discontinued, because the Kent County Archives Office was scheduled to be closed for a year due to renovations, and she was not in a position to pay for having other research done in church archives.

The following is a chart obtained by the author of the Walter Palmer book which she said another Clarke descendant had found in a manuscript, author unknown, at the Connect­icut Historical Society that starts with Richard BUNCE of Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England, b.ca. 1520, who moved to Otterden, Kent County:

RICHARD BUNCE b. ca. 1520, m. ca. 1544, removed from Malmesbury to Kent; had one known child:

1. EDWARD BUNCE b. ca. 1545 m. ca. 1565 KATHAREN ________ ; 3 children:

   1. JOHN b. ca. 1565 m. _____; 2 known children:
      1. JAMES b. ca. 1585 m. Elizabeth RAYNER, had 11 children:
         1. Stephen, b. ca. 1605
         2. James, Jr., b. ca. 1606
         3. Elizabeth, b. ca. 1608
         4. Katheran b. ca. 1610
         5. Thomas, b. ca. 1612
         6. Simon, b. 1614
         7. Richard, b. 1616
         8. John, b. 1617
         9. Matthew, b. 1619
         10. Ann, b. 1621
         11. Margaret, b. 1623

      2. JOHN b. ca. 1587

   2. KATHAREN, b. ca. 1567; m. ca. 1585 John PORDAGE of Rodmersham, England.

   3. RICHARD b. ca. 1569

“This draft of a pedigree assumes the above KATHAREN and THOMAS were the two who emigrated to Hartford, KATHAREN marrying WILLIAM CLARKE and THOMAS marrying SARAH BULL (b. 1625 England); and also that the brother JOHN died in Hartford in 1665.”

The author of the Palmer book goes on to say she did some further research through the LDS Church records, trying to find the book referred to in Mr. Harrington’s report. The fol­lowing chart was found in County Genealogies, Pedigrees of the Families in the County of Kent (London 1830) by William Berry, pp. 378-79:

“EDWARD BUNCE’s dau is CATHERINE (not KATHAREN) and his wife’s name is not included; his son, JOHN, had a son named:

1. JAMES of Ottrinden m. Elizabeth dau of Mat. RAYNER, ob. 1606, bur. at Ottrinden. They had 7 not 11 children:
   1. SIMON
   2. RICHARD
   3. MATTHEW
   4. ANN
   5. MARGARET
   6. STEPHEN, d. 1634, m. Ann BARNHAM, 8 children:
      1. Matthew
      2. James
      3. Stephen
      4. Richard, 4th son
      5. Jane, 1st dau.
      6. Ann, 2d dau.
      7. Elizabeth 3rd dau.
      8. Katherine, 4th dau.

   7. JAMES

   “The above pedigree from [source cited above] does not include a son THOMAS born 1612 and a daughter KATHAREN born ca. 1610 for the couple JAMES and ELIZABETH (RAYNER) BUNCE! The authority for those two being included in the Connecticut manuscript is miss­ing, and therefore, it must be assumed the published works of William Berry are correct. It is noted in the following generation, STEPHEN and ANN (BARNHAM) BUNCE did have a daughter they named KATHERINE but that family has no son named THOMAS. It would appear plausible that the THOMAS and KATHERINE BUNCE of Hartford belonged to this family but additional research will have to be undertaken to prove it, and learn just where they fit in.

   “This seems to be just one more incidence of a family history being found in this country which, when compared with the original pub­lished books in England, does not prove to be accurate.”

I have not heard of any other record on the English origins of Thomas BUNCE of Hartford. Also I have been unable to prove that my family descends from Thomas BUNCE, but circumstantial evidence points to that conclusion. I recently had some brief email correspondence with a man with the BUNCE surname who had been born in England and had seen my web site. He said he had been told that the BUNCE family was from Wiltshire, England.

[See also Otterden Online, which is near Faversham, Kent, England and Photos of Bunce Court at Otterden, Kent County, England, as well as GENUKI (Genealogy for Great Britain) and GENUKI Wiltshire Church Records and Indexes; Kent, England Surnames - Main Listing Page]