French Family Association

Mara French, P.O. Box 1109, Sutter Creek, CA 95685-1109. 209-267-0649
marafrench@mindspring.com

England Charts of the Surname French

Last updated by Mara French on 4/8/08. Send corrections or additions to Mara French.

Are you compiling the ancestry of your French family on the web?

If you are, email marafrench@mindspring.com to have it linked from this page.

We suggest you use any computer software with GEDCOM format, preferably Family Tree Maker, and it should be able to create an index. Best server for storing your files is rootsweb.com.

We request that you add in all names of French ancestors and descendants (all French brothers), not just the line you're working on. This would help all descendants of that line, not just one family.

Document all sources. This is the most important part.

British History Records on the Surname French

Please note that only a few charts have links to the actual chart. More links to come.

England Charts of Emigrants Only

Numbers on these charts relate to the America descendants numbered charts but are prefixed with an "E" for England.

Chart #E1. Thomas French, 1584

From Bures St. Mary and Assington, Suffolk, Co., England, emigrated to Ipswich, MA in 1630

Chart #E2. William French, 1605

William was b. ca. 1605 most likely in Halstead, Essex Co., England and emigrated in 1635 to Billerica. MA.

Chart #E3. John French, 1610

John was b. ca. 1610 near Halstead, Essex Co., England and emigrated ca. 1637 to Cambridge, MA.

Chart #E4. Edward French, 1598

Edward was b. ca. 1598 in Suffolk County, England and emigrated to Salisbury, MA.

Chart #E5. John French, 1612

John was b. ca. 1612 in Dorset County, England and emigrated in the late 1630s to Dorchester and Braintree, MA.

Chart #E6, Richard French, 1626

Richard was b. 1626 in Coggeshall, Essex Co., England, and emigrated to Cambridge, MA.

Chart #E7. Stephen French and his sister Mary, ca. 1601

Stephen and Mary’s father, Richard, was b. ca. 1575 and married Judith Adams. Stephen emigrated in 1630 and was the first person with the surname French to arrive in America. His home was in Misterton, Somerset Co., England.

Chart #E11. Samuel French, 1500s – 1600s

A long line of Frenches in Saxmundham, Kelsale, Knodishall, and Lowestoft, Suffolk Co., England moved to Bradford Abbas and South Perrott, Dorset Co. and emigrated to Stratford, CT.

Chart #E20. Thomas French, 1600s

Thomas was born in the 1600s in Nether Heyford, Northamptonshire, England, and emigrated to New Jersey.

Chart #E31, Henry French, 1755

Henry was born in Lesbury, Northumberland, England and emigrated to Shenandoah Co., WV and later to Mercer Co., KY.

Chart #E131. Philip French, 1697

Philip was born in the Saxmundham, Kelsdale, Knodishall, Lowestoft areas of Suffolk County, England, and emigrated to New York.

Non-Emigrant England Charts

These charts were researched because they are of French families who lived in the same town or area as the emigrants mentioned above. They could be related in one way or another to the emigrants mentioned above.

Chart #EA. William French of Gosfield, Essex Co., England. Also of Greenstreet, Halstead, and the Leete, Essex Co., England.

William was b. ca. 1553 and m. Ellen Scotte on 26 Jul 1573 in Gosfield, Essex Co., England. William could have been the brother of Jacob (Chart #E1) and Christopher (Chart #EC).

Chart #EB. Thomas French of Arkesden, Great Bardfield (Muche Bardfeild), Wethersfield, and Stanstead Hall in Halstead, Essex County, England.

Thomas was b. ca. 1504 and m. Elizabeth ca. 1529, and died 28 Jul 1551 in Arkesden. This is the line that most researchers have connected to William French who emigrated to Billerica, MA. However, the William of this family died in London in 1621. This line was combined erroneously with Chart #2 in Mary Queal Beyer's book.

Chart #EC. Christopher French of Halstead, Gosfield, and Great Maplestead, Essex Co. England.

Christopher was b. ca. 1560 and d. 26 Aug 1616 in Halstead. His will was proved 17 Jun 1617 in Gosfield, Essex Co., England. Christopher could have been the brother of Jacob (Chart #E1) and William (Chart #EA).

Chart #ED. Robert and John French of Sible Hedingham, Essex Co., England.

Sible Hedingham is about 3 miles north of Halstead, Essex Co. Robert was b. ca. 1555. John was b. ca. 1557.

Chart #EE. Edward French of Pershore, Worcestershire, England.

This French family married into the George Mason family of Pershore. The George Masons (and the George Washingtons from nearby) emigrated to Virginia. This French line has not yet been connected to the U.S. Chart #36; however, the Masons and Washingtons mentioned in this chart are the same as those mentioned in Chart #36.

Chart #EF. Richard, John, and Robert French, Terling, Essex, England

Richard, John, and Robert French were born and raised children in Terling, but they were not necessarily brothers, but they were heads of household. 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 Richard’s close ties in Cambridge, MA. It has been written that William was either Richard’s uncle or brother, but in this case, the connection would be William’s wife’s (Elizabeth French) brother’s 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. The names that appear in the Terling lines are: George, Thomas, Hugh, John, Awdry, Rebecca, Edward, John, Robert, Richard, Mary, Jane, Elizabeth, and Elinor.

Internet England Charts Not Connected to the FFA

Dominick French and his son William, b. ca. 1540 in Mylcombe, Oxon, England, contact: Arthur French. William had 8 children: Agnes, Alyce, Robert, Thomas, Elisabeth, Francis, Susan, and Rychard. They were all born in Mylcombe, Oxon. Of these children, Robert m. Ursula Stranke and had 4 children born in South Newington, Oxon. They lived in South Newington for several generations at least until the 1700s. Robert’s brother Thomas m. Elisabeth Greene and also moved to South Newington. Robert’s brother Francis m. Christian and also moved to South Newington. Most of the family (300+ Frenches) remained in Oxon and did not immigrate to America.

Higher Scarsick Cottage in Treneglos, n. Boscastle, Cornwall, England, a working dairy and sheep farm which has been farmed by Heather French and her ancestors since the early 1920’s.