French Family
Association
Mara French, P.O. Box 1109, Sutter Creek, CA 95685-1109. 209-267-0649 marafrench@mindspring.com
Chart
#EF, Richard, John, and Robert French
of Terling, Essex Co, England
This chart updated by Mara French on 2/21/08. Return to FFA
Home Page.
The Parish Church of
All Saints Terling,
Essex, England
stands alone on the village green and although it
has a large spire
it can be hard to find depending on the direction you
approach Terling. The church records at Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, date
back to 1538. The ancient Village of Terling is mentioned in the Domesday book
and
a church was established in the early 11th century. No French buried in the
graveyard as per list on Website.
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1999, 2007 by Mara French. All
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Contact Information: Please send any corrections or
additions to Mara French.
French Family Ancestry in England
When I
researched papers at the Chelmsford, Essex, England Record Office (ERO) for
Terling, I found baptisms only to 1604, marriages to 1654, and deaths to 1668.
The three heads of household families below are only those from pre-1650 when
most of the Puritans sailed for America.
All
connections made here are from the Terling only. The transcripts I looked at
were translated by a professional researcher, Peter Nutt, from the Old English
script. The early church records during the 1500s in Terling list three main
French males (Richard, John, and Robert) and their children. These three males
may be brothers, but no further facts are known.
Terling
is southwest of Coggeshall where Richard French of Chart #6 was born. According
to the DNA tests, Group 3 shows a family connection between Richard French of
Chart #6 and Edward French of Chart #4. You will note these two names appear in
the same family below under Robert French. Robert French also has another
possible connection to William French, Chart #2. His daughter, Mary, had an
illegitimate daughter named Elizabeth French who was born 30 Oct 1603 and who
might have married William French of Billerica. This would account for William
and RichardŐs close ties in Cambridge, MA. It has been written that William was
either RichardŐs uncle or brother, but in this case, the connection would be
WilliamŐs wifeŐs (Elizabeth French) brotherŐs son Richard French. That explains
why the DNA is not the same, but that there is a family connection, but on the
female side. It is still possible that this Elizabeth French married a Godfrey
or a Symmes before she married William French. You can see how close Terling is
to Greenstead Green or Halstead. Note that the Immigration Records for
Elizabeth list her as being 32 years old in 1635 when she immigrated;
therefore, she was born in 1603.
The
names that appear in the Terling lines are: George, Thomas, Hugh, John, Awdry,
Rebecca, Edward, John, Robert, Richard, Mary, Jane, Elizabeth, and Elinor.
I have
never been to Terling, but IŐve been to Coggeshall several times. This chart is
mainly to study the Terling Frenches and it will be kept as such.
Richard French
Richard
French, b. ca. 1520 or earlier, d. 9 Sep 1569, m. Jane who d. 26 Apr 1582, a
widow. He made his will in 1565.
Children,
all listed as children of Richard French
George
French, b. 3 May 1541.
Thomas
French, b. 26 Jul 1544, d. 8 Nov 1545, age 1.
Hugh
French, b. 22 Feb 1547, d. 22 Oct 1551, age 4.
John
French, b. 23 Mar 1550. This John had son Robert, b. 12 Jan 1584, m. Ann Ahdals
on 1 Jul 1613.
John French
John
French, b. ca. 1540 or earlier, m. Avelyn Hant on 19 May 1560 who d. 3 Sep 1569
with son.
All born
as children of John, only daughter Rebecca lived to adulthood. (End of this
French line).
Awdry
French, b. 2 Feb 1561, d. 14 Apr 1561.
Rebecca
French, b. 17 Mar 1562.
Edward
French, b. 14 Feb 1564, d. 15 Dec 1568, age 4
John
French, son of John, d. 6 Apr 1567, at a very young age.
French
unk, b. 3 Sep 1569, d. 3 Sep 1569, died during childbirth.
Robert French
Robert
French, b. ca. 1550 or earlier, d. 31 Oct 1616, m. Alice Walker on 11 May 1572
who d. 13 Oct 1605.
All born
as children of Robert
Mary
French, b. 26 Oct 1572, MaryŐs dau Elizabeth French, b. 30 Oct 1603, baseborn.
(In other words, illegitimate.) Could this Elizabeth have married William
French of Billerica, MA, Chart #2? That would account for William and RichardŐs
close ties in Cambridge.
Jane
French, b. 1 Jan 1575, d. 26 Mar 1628, unmarried.
Elinor
French, b. 2 Feb 1577, m. James Cardell on 25 Apr 1603.
Richard
French, b. 7 Feb 1580
RichardŐs
children:
Richard
French, b. 29 Dec 1597, could be the father of Richard French of Chart #E6,
born 1626. He could have moved to Coggeshall and married Elizabeth Fuller. See
future Chart #E6.
Edward
French, son of Richard, d. 30 Jul 1666 of the plague. This appears not to be
Edward French, Chart #4, because he died in Salisbury, MA on 28 Dec 1674. See
future Chart #E4.
Maps
These
superly-detailed historical Ordnance Survey maps date back to between 1860 and
1910, and are available for every town in England and Wales.
Zoom in
on this satellite map of England to
visually see the approximation of Terling to Coggeshall.
Bibliography
Numbers
in square brackets [ ] are bibliography notations. FFA stands for French Family
Association Library Number.
[1] All
records from the Chelmsford Record Office in Chelmsford, Essex Co., England,
and research done under the guidance of Peter Nutt.
[2] Jim
Weber, jim.weber@nwintl.com, 2006
[3]
Nancy, nmcfarl@racc2000.com
Records
Unconnected
French of Terling: Lydia French, b. ca. 1630, m. Edward Mott on 27 Mar 1654.
The
following two emails show that this line is Chart #E6.
From: "Nancy" <nmcfarl@racc2000.com>
Subject: [FRENCH] Fw: Re: French Family
Association
Date: Thu, 25 Jan
2007 23:01:15 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
To: french@rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: [FRENCH] French Family Association
Hello,
I am
also descended from this French line of Richard B. Abt. 1567 in Terling, Essex
England. I actually have 2 French lines but am at a dead end on one. But but
here is my Richard French line:
Richard
FRENCH B. ABT. 1567 Terling, Essex, England
Richard
FRENCH B. 29 Dec 1597 Terling, Essex, England
M.
Elizabeth FULLER B. 19 Jan 1606
Richard
FRENCH B. ABT. 1627 Coggeshall, Essex, England
M.
Martha DANFORTH B. ABT. 1629 Framington, Plomesgate, Suffolk, England
Joseph
FRENCH (Lt.) B. 1649 Marshfield, Plymouth Co. MA
M.
Elizabeth KNIGHT B. 18 Oct 1655 Newbury, Essex Co. MA
Jonathan
FRENCH B. 8 May 1690 Bedford, MA
M.
Elizabeth ? B. ?
John
FRENCH B. 27 May 1727 Woburn, Middlesex Co. MA
M. Mary
WHITCOMB B. 19 Jun 1730 Lancaster Worcester Co. MA
Mary
"Molly" FRENCH B. 12 Jul 1750 Hollis, NH
M.
Thomas WHITE, JR. B. 19 May 1746 Scituate, Plymouth Co. MA
(He is
a descendant of William White, a Mayflower passenger)
From
there the line "daughters out" but then joins back up with another
French line that continues down to my grandmother who was a French. Confusing
sometimes! It took me awhile to figure it out but it's clear when you have it
on a chart. Does anyone else have this same line that goes this way to the
Whites?
Nancy,
Northern Michigan
----------------------
Interesting,
my earliest FRENCH ancestor was Richard B. ABT. 1567 in Terling, Essex England,
married unknown woman, only known child was Richard (2) b. 29 Dec 1597 in
Terling, Essex, d. ABT. 1670 in Coggeshall, Essex, married Elizabeth FULLER (19
Jan 1606-07 in Coggeshall, Essex, d. ABT. 1627 In Coggeshall), they had a son Richard
(3) b. ABT. 1627 in Coggeshall, Essex, d. 14 Dec 1688 in Marshfield, Plymouth
Co. Mass., married (1) Martha DANFORTH (b. ABT. 1629, d. ABT. 1659 in
Billerica, Middlesex Co. Mass.), They had two children, Joseph in 1649 &
Samuel 13 Jul 1653, and when Martha Died, he married 2nd, Martha BEARE no
children known, and so on. If memory serves me correctly, I descend from Sgt.
Samuel, son of Richard (3) and Martha DANFORTH, who is my 6th great
grandfather, or so it is currently written.
Don
French, Southern California
From
Mara French: Don, John and Elizabeth were children from the second marriage.
More later when I complete chart #E6.