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George Giddings (bp. 1609–1675), son of John Giddings and Joan Purrier
Jane Lawrence (bp. 1614–1680), daughter of Thomas Lawrence and Joanna Antrobus
George Giddings, the son of John Giddings and Joan Purrier, was baptized on 24 September 1609 in Clapham, Bedfordshire. [1] He died on 1 June 1675 in Ipswich. [2] He married Jane Lawrence, on 20 February 1633/4 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire. [1]
Jane, the daughter of Thomas and Joanna (Antrobus) Lawrence, was baptized on 18 December 1614 in St. Albans [3] She died on 2 March 1680 in Ipswich. [3]
The English Origins of George Giddings
From Greene [3], who provides more detail, including transcripts of wills.
Michael Gidding, husbandman, was probably born in 1550/60. He was buried on 2 April 1615 in Oakley, county Bedford, England. He married Catherine ___. She was buried on 14 February 1625 in Oakley.
Children of Michael and Catherine Gidding:
i. Henry Gidding was born say 1580. He was buried on 18 March 1616/7 in Oakley. He married Elizabeth Russell on 15 October 1604 in Oakley. She probably married second Henry Lane on 22 January 1623/4. ii. Joan Gidding married William Savage on 21 May 1604 in Clapham. iii. John Gidding was born say 1584. iv. Robert Gidding v. William Gidding vi. James Gidding vii. Elizabeth Gidding was buried on 30 December 1630 in Oakley. She undoubtedly lived with John's widow Joan Purrier and her second husband Robert Phage. viii. Richard Gidding was born say 1595. He married Mary Whitman on 22 June 1620 in Clapham. She was probably buried on 21 April 1660.
Thomas Purrier, husbandman of Clapham, died between 22 February 1622/[3?], when he made his will, and 28 April 1629, when it was proved. He married Isabel ___ as her second husband on 16 January 1586 in Oakley. She was buried on 13 December 1621 (recorded in Clapham). She probably married first John Tilbrooke.
Child of Thomas Purrier and Isabel ___
i. Joan Purrier was baptized on 1 May 1588 in Oakley.
John Gidding was born say 1584. He was buried on 19 February 1619/20 in Oakley. He married Joan Purrier on 20 January 1607/8. Joan married second Robert Phage.
Children of John Gidding and Joan Purrier:
i. George Gidding was baptized on 24 September 1609; ii. Mary Gidding was baptized on 2 February 1611/2. She was buried on 19 October 1625; iii. Martha Gidding was baptized on 14 August 1614. It is unlikely that she married John Proctor, Sr.; iv. Rebeca Gidding was baptized on 10 October 1619.
Children of Joan Purrier and Robert Phage;
i. Thomas Phage was baptized on 18 October 1621; ii. William Phage was baptized on 30 October 1625 and buried the next day.
George deposed that he was about 40 in March 1659. He deposed that he was about 59 in March 1667. [4, 2: 142; 3: 396]
George and Jane came to New England in 1635 on the Planter. George, age 25, and Jane, age 20, enrolled in London on 2 April 1635 as passengers on the Planter. [1]
George was a freeman on 7 September 1638. [1]
Goodman George was one of seven men chosen "for the Town's business for six months" in Ipswich in 1639. In 1642 he was on on a committee consisting of the two magistrates, and the elders, Mr. Giles Firman and George. They were to prepare for the next meeting of freemen and to say how much revenue they thought was needed and how to raise it. [5, 57]
Goodman George Giddings was on the committee for Ipswich on 13 May 1640. [6, 1: 295]
George was a deputy to the Massachusetts Bay General Court twelve times between 2 June 1641 (where his called "Mr. Geo Gettings") and 15 May 1672. [1]
George was appointed to a committee to determine the bounds between Salisbury and Pantucket [Haverhill] in June 1641. [6, 1: 319]
George was a grand juryman at the December 1641, November 1645, September 1652, September 1656, September 1659, September 1670, and March 1671 courts at Ipswich. [4, 1: 37, 86, 260; 2: 1, 168; 4: 278, 326] He was on the trial jury at the September 1647, March 1648, September 1650, September 1658, and September 1669 courts at Ipswich. [4, 1: 124, 161, 197; 2: 111; 4: 175]
John Withe was committed to George at the March 1650 court. [4, 1: 188]
In May 1655, Mr. Joseph Metcalf and Mr. George Giddings were appointed to a committee to inquire after gratuities given to the colony by well wishers in England. George was also appointed to a committee to consider and carry on the completion of a bridge in Lynn. [6, 4: 223, 230] In October 1656 George was appointed to a committee to settle the bounds between Salisbury and Hampton. [6, 4: 282]
On 18 June 1658, the town voted that George Giddings, Henry Bennett, and John Gage should view the way to Castle Neck and decide which part the town should mend and which part Mr. Epps should mend. [4, 6: 406]
George Giddings and Mr. Joseph Jewitt were appointed administrators of the estate of [his wife's stepfather] Mr. John Tuttle at the March 1659 court. [4, 2: 15]
George was granted land between Haffields and Wilderness Hill in 1660. [5, 69]
Inventory of the estate of George Giddings was taken on 19 June 1676. It included books and amounted to £1m021-12-06. Administration was granted to his widow Jane on 27 June 1676. An agreement to the divide the estate was a allowed on 26 September 1676. The estate was given to his five sons Thomas, John, James, Samuel, and Joseph. Thomas was to receive a double portion. Jane was given the movables and allowed the use of the house and household stuff for life. George's three daughters, Rebecca, Abigail, and Mary, were to be given fifty pounds each. [4, 6: 207][7]
The November 1683 court heard testimony of George's son Samuel. Samuel said that on a hot day in Ipswich, he and Mr. Jonathan Wade fell into conversation under the shade of a tree. In the course of wondering about his own estate, Jonathan asked Samuel how he and his brothers had agreed upon their father's estate when he did not leave a will. Samuel said they agreed shortly and the court confirmed it. [4, 9: 123]
Samuel Pierce and his wife Mary, the daughter of George Giddings of Ipswich, sued Thomas, John, James, Samuel, and Joseph Giddings, all of Ipswich, for procuring an agreement about George's estate without Mary's consent. The March 1685 court nonsuited their case and they appealed. [4, 9: 440–1]
John Giddings, age 21, referred to his Uncle Martine and his grandmother Tuttle in a March 1659 deposition. [4, 2: 143]
Thomas Giddings, age about 23, refereed to when his grandmother Jane lived in Ipswich before she went to London and to his uncle John Tuttle and aunt Hannah Tuttle at the March 1659 court. [4, 2: 171–4]
George and John Giddings signed a 24 November 1668 petition asking for clemency for Benjamin Marshall, their neighbor at Chebaco, accused of slanderous and threatening speeches against the court and some of the magistrates. [4, 4: 77]
Robert Cross deposed that we was with Mr. George Gidding, merchant Booshop, and old Goodman Lord about ten or eleven years ago when they laid out the highway between Ipswich and Gloucester. [4, 6: 112]
Children of George Giddings and Jane Lawrence:
i. Thomas Giddings was born about 1636. He died before 28 July 1681. He married Mary Goodhue on 23 February 1668 in Ipswich. [2] Mary was the the daughter of Thomas Goodhue. [1] He married [second?] Elizabeth ___, probably before March 1678. Elizabeth, widow, married [second?] James Choate, Jr., widower, on 19 May 1690 in Ipswich. [2]
Thomas was the great-great-great-grandfather of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) [8]
Thomas Giddings m. Mary Goodhue
Mary Giddings m. Thomas Manning
John Manning m. Ruth Potter
Richard Manning m. Miriam Lord
Elizabeth Clarke Manning m. Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathanial Hawthorne, Jr.
Thomas deposed that he was about 33 at the September 1671 court, about 34 at the March 1672 court, and about 37 at the September 1673 court. [4, 4: 422; 5: 13, 228] As he was the eldest son, he was probably older.
The town of Ipswich voted Thomas the right to commanage in 1674. [5, 70]
The March 1678 court fined Thomas and his wife for fornication before marriage. [4, 6: 425]
Thomas died intestate. On 28 July 1681, administration on his estate was granted to Deacon William Goodhue and Thomas's widow. [4, 8: 101]
On 5 March 1693/4 Sarah Herrick, the former wife of John Giddings, recalled that Thomas owed her husband 16 shillings, which was paid by his widow Elizabeth in 1683. [9]
Thomas's widow Elizabeth is referred to as Elizabeth Choate on 16 May 1694 in Thomas's estate papers. [9]
ii. John Giddings was born about 1637. He married Sarah Alcock.
iii. James Giddings was born about 1641. He married Elizabeth, the daughter of John Andrews, before March 1670. [1]
James deposed that he was 27 on 19 November 1668. [4, 4: 69] James and Elizabeth, his wife, testified at the March 1670 court. [4, 4: 218]
James was on the grandjury in March 1686. [4, 9: 576]
iv. Samuel Giddings was born say 1644. He married Hannah Martin on 4 October 1671 in Ipswich. [2]
Samuel deposed that he was about 25 at the March 1670 court and about 39 at the November 1683 court. [4, 4: 218; 9:123]
Samuel was the Ipswich marshall's deputy on 4 March 1671/2. [4, 5: 11] He was on the trial jury in September 1685. [4, 9: 519]
Samuel was one of those who signed a petition on behalf of the Proctors, charge with witchcraft in 1692. [5, 291]
v. Joseph Giddings was born say 1647. He died before 10 December 1690. He married Susanna Ring on 20 July 1671 in Ipswich. [2] Susanna was born about 1649.
Joseph was the great-great-great-great-grandfather of William Howard Taft [10]
Joseph Giddings m. Susanna Ring
Susanna Gidding m. William Torrey
Joseph Torrey m. Deborah Holbrook
William Torrey m. Anna Davenport
Samuel Davenport Torrey m. Susan Holman Waters
Louisa Maria Torrey m. Alfonso Taft
William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States
Joseph was presented at the March 1667 court in Ipswich: [4, 3: 399]
Stephen Crose, William Andrews and Joseph Gidding, for their great misdemeanors of pulling up bridges at the windmill, were committed to prison until the next lecture day, and after the lecture to be brought forth by the marshal and constables, to sit one hour in the stocks, then to be carried back to prison until they pay a fine of 3li. each. They were also bound to good behavior.
Joseph had a right to commonage in Ipswich on 13 February 1678. [5, 95] He took the freeman's oath in March 1683. [4, 8: 16]
Susanna deposed that she was about 34 in March 1684. [4, 9: 207]
Joseph was on the trial jury in September 1684. [4, 9: 311]
Inventory on the estate of Joseph of Chebacco was taken on 10 December 1690. It amounted to £206-12-08 and included books. His widow presented it at court on 31 March 1691. His son Joseph posted bond on 16 April 1697. [9]
vi. Rebecca Giddings was born say 1648. She was alive on 26 September 1676, but there is no further record of her. [1]
vii. Abigail Giddings was born about 1650, based on the date of her marriage. She married Samuel Dutch on 12 February 1673 in Ipswich. [2] Samuel was the son of Robert Dutch. [1]
viii. Mary Giddings married Samuel Pierce of Ipswich before March 1685. [4, 9: 400–1] She married second William, the son of William Hubbard, in 1694. [1]
References:
1. "Great Migration, 1634–1635, G–H," digitized book, originally published as Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration to New England, 1634–1635, Volume III, G–H (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003), 52–56
2. Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, 2 vols. (Salem: Essex Institute, 1910), vol. 1 (births), 564–5, vol. 2 (marriages) 181–4, (deaths), 156–8.
3. David L. Greene, "The English Origin of George Giddings of Ipswich, Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 135 (1981): 274–86.
4. George Francis Dow, ed., and Harriet S. Tapley, trans., Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 9 vols., digitized books, Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu).
5. Thomas Franklin Waters, Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Ipswich: Ipswich Historical Society, 1905).
6. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay, vol. 1, 1628–1641, vol. 2, 1642–1649, vol. 3, 1644–1657, vol. 4 , 1650–1660, vol. 5, 1661–1674, vol. 6, 1674–1686 (Boston: William White, 1853, 1854).
7. "Essex County, MA: Early Probate Records, 1635–1681," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, vol. 3: 63–64.
8. Gary Boyd Roberts, "Notable Kin," NEHGS NEXUS 6(3–4): 110–1.
9. Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638–1881," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org., 10867 (Thomas), 10853 (Joseph).
10. Clarence Almon Torrey, "Some Ancestral Lines of President William Howard Taft, The American Genealogist 22 (1945): 205–10.
28-Apr-2023