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The Edgerton Database |
The Tentative
Ancestry of Richard Edgerton The parentage of Richard Edgerton remains uncertain. The tentative ancestry presented here is provided by Brian G. Edgerton, of Idaho Falls, ID, as compiled from the joint research of himself, L. Welch Pogue, Robert C. Edgerton, Duncan W. Harrington, Michael J. Edgerton, and Sally Edgerton Adam (among others). First Generation The documented roots of the Egerden family of Wye,
County Kent, England go back to the early part of the sixteenth century. Rychard
Egerden was born there in the hamlet of Brook, Ashford Parish say
1519. He is said to have had two
siblings, a brother William, and a sister Godlyffe. The former may have been the “Willyam Egerdon”, whose son
Willyam was christened at the Wye Parish Church on February 28, 1540/1 [see
Church of England: Wye Parish Registers; FHL #1836327, item #13 – hereafter cited as WPR]. The sister, Godlyffe Egerden, was married
to John Allin at the Wye Parish Church on September 23, 1548 [WPR]. A number of other Egerdens were mentioned
in the subsequent parish records of Wye and Brook, however their connection
to the direct line presented here has not been determined. It would appear that members of the family
resided throughout the parish of Wye, as well as in the neighboring villages
of Brook, Brabourne and Faversham. There are indications, though unconfirmed, that
the Egerden family may have resided in Wye for three or four generations at
this time. Records obtained by Duncan
Harrington of Harrington Research Services (Folkestone, County Kent, England)
noted the name of “Richard Egerden” in reference to a rental of the Manor of
Wye circa 1452-54. This Richard may
have been a grandfather or other paternal relation of Rychard Egerden. There is no record of Rychard Egerden’s wife, and
only one son has currently been traced:
Rychard Egerden died three months prior to his son’s birth. He was buried at the Wye Parish Church on March
7, 1538/9, the parish record reading:
“Rychard Egerton was buryed ye vii day of marche 1538” [WPR].
(Note: Surrounding entries on
this page, together with the posthumous birth of Rychard’s son in May or June
of 1539, make it certain that the year recorded as “1538” represented
old-style dating.) There is no
further mention in the Wye Parish Registers of Rychard’s widow. It is very probable that she was remarried
sometime shortly after Rychard’s death.
Unfortunately, marriage records for the Wye Parish Church did not
commence until the year 1545, thus post-dating any probable remarriage. Second Generation Richard2
Egerden
was the only known son of Rychard1 Egerden. He was christened at the Parish Church in Wye
on June 5, 1539, the parish record reading:
“Richard Egerden the Son of Rychard was baptized on the fyth day of
June Ano [1539]” [WPR]. Richard was a
tanner by trade and resided in the village of Brook throughout his life. The parish of Brook was formed from the
larger parish of Wye in the 1560’s.
Thus, while Richard was christened at the Wye Parish Church, all
subsequent records of his family are found in the registers of the Brook
Parish Church [see Brook Parish Registers; Bishops Transcripts, Volume 30;
FHL #1751592, item #5 – hereafter cited as BPR]. Richard was listed as a “Sideman” in the Brook Parish Register
under the year 1581 [BPR, pg. 16]. Richard Egerden was married twice. By his first wife, Tamson (Thomasine), he
is known to have had at least four children (possibly others who died
young):
The burial of Richard’s first wife was recorded in
the Brook Parish Registers as follows:
“Tamson Egerdon the wiffe of Richard Egerdon was buried the 6th day of
September 1604” [BPR, pg. 38]. On the
same page of the parish register was entered Richard’s remarriage, that
is: “Richard Egerden and Elizabeth
Wiggent were married the 9th day of April 1605” [BPR, pg. 38]. Richard and his second wife had two
children – twins:
Richard Egerden died in the village of Brook in December
1609, and was buried at the Brook Parish Church on December 31st of that year
[BPR, pg. 43]. He left a Last Will and Testament,
dated October 28, 1609, which was proved on January 18th of the following
year [see Canterbury Probate Records. Archdeaconry Court: Register of Wills.
Vol. 56, 1605 – 1618; pp. 354 – 358, FHL #0188954]. A subsequent codicil to the will was dated December 25, 1609,
thus placing Richard’s death sometime between then and December 31st when he
was buried, as aforementioned.
Richard’s will mentioned his wife, “Elizabeth Egerden”, and five
surviving children, “Michaell Egerden my soone”, “my daughter Joane nowe
William Higgensons wyfe”, “Ffrancis Egerden my youngest daughter”, “Gregorye
Egerden my eldest soone”, and “William Egerden my youngest soone”, as well as
two grandsons, “Richard Egerden soone of the saide Gregorye” and “John
Egerden my soone Gregoryes second soone”.
Also mentioned in the will was a “Thomasine Beers”, but her
relationship (if any) to the Egerden family is not known. According to Duncan Harrington, there was
“quite a family squabble” over Richard’s will. Third Generation Gregory3
Egerden, son
of Richard Egerden and his first wife, Tamson, was born in Brook, County Kent
probably in September or October 1571.
He was christened at the Brook Parish Church on October 8, 1571 [BPR, pg. 6]. Gregory
lived in the village of Brook his entire life, and like his father, followed
the tanner’s trade. Gregory was
active in the Brook Parish Church and served both as a “Sideman” (1598) and a
churchwarden (1600, 1602) [BPR, pp. 31, 34, 35]. Gregory’s marriage was recorded in the Brook Parish Registers
as follows: “Gregorie Egerdon and
Elisabeth [---]don were married the third day of februarye 1596” [BPR, pg.
28]. Unfortunately, a blot
obliterates much of Elizabeth’s surname.
(The first letter appears to be an “E” or a “C” and the last three
letters are clearly “don”; three or four letters in between are entirely
illegible.) Gregory and Elizabeth Egerden had five known
children:
Gregory Egerden died in the village of Brook,
County Kent in August of 1618, and was buried there on August 16th of that
year [BPR, pg. 51]. He left a Last
Will and Testament, dated August 15, 1618, which was proved on September 5,
1618 [see Canterbury Probate Records. Archdeaconry Court: Register of Wills.
Vol. 56, 1605 – 1618; pp. 73 – 74, FHL #0188954]. Gregory’s will mentioned the following heirs: “Elizabeth my wyfe”, “my soone Richard
Egerden”, “my soone John Egerden”, “Elizabeth Egerden my daughter”, and “Jane
my daughter”. No record has been
found of the burial of Gregory’s wife, Elizabeth. Fourth
Generation Richard4
Egerden,
son of Gregory and Elizabeth Egerden, was born in the village of Brook, and
was christened at the Brook Parish Church on August 21, 1597 [BPR, pg. 29].
Richard resided in Brook, and was married on January 11, 1618/9, to
Ellen Strood [see Bishop’s Transcripts; Saint Mary Northgate, Canterbury,
England]. Ellen’s parentage has not
been ascertained. She may have been
related to James Stroode, who had a number of children christened at the
Brook Parish Church in the 1580’s and 1590’s [BPR, pp. 17, 21, 26]. Richard and Ellen Egerden had two children:
“Ellen, wife of Richard Egerden” was buried at
Brook, Ashford Parish on February 20, 1625/6. Richard was remarried on September 23, 1627 at Ashford Parish
to Mrs. Joan Harlocke (aka. “Hearlock”), a widow. Richard Egerden died sometime prior to January 14, 1640/1, when
his widow, “Joan Egerden”, was remarried at Ashford parish to Nicholas
Edgoare (or “Edgererr”), of Orleston parish. Fifth Generation Richard5
Egerden,
son of Richard and Ellen (Strood) Egerden, was born in the village of Brook, County
Kent and was christened at the Brook Parish Church on November 22, 1622 [BPR, pg. 56]. Richard’s mother died when he was very
young (three years old), and his father died prior to January 1640/1. There is no further record of this Richard
Egerden in the Brook parish registers, and it is suspected that he was the
Richard Edgerton “of Ashford Parish, Kent” who later emigrated to America and
became the progenitor of the Connecticut Edgerton family. There is a growing amount of
circumstantial evidence to support this theory; however, to date no direct
documention of such has been found.
For further details on this possible connection, see the biography of Richard Edgerton of Norwich,
Connecticut. |