Thomas French

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422. Thomas French (bp. 1584–bef. 1639)

Thomas French, the son of Jacob and Susan (Warren) French was baptized on 11 October 1584 at Bures Saint Mary, Suffolk. [1, 159] He died before 1639 in Ipswich. [2, 412] He married Susan Riddlesdale on 5 Sepember 1608 in St. Edmunds church, Assington, ASuffolk. [2, 412]

423. Susan Riddlesdale (bp. 1584–1658)

Susan Riddlesdale, the daughter of John and Dorcas Riddlesdale, was baptized on 20 April 1584 in Boxford. [1, 159] She died in August 1658 in Ipswich. [2, 412]

English Ancestry of Thomas French

JACOB FRENCH was buried on 11 November 1615 at St. Edmunds. [2, 413] He married SUSAN WARREN on 27 September 1579 at Bures Saint Mary. [1, 161] Susan was the daughter or granddaughter of William and Katherine Warren of Bures Saint Mary. [1, 161]

Children of Jacob French: The first three baptized at Bures Saint Mary; Elizabeth, John and Robert were baptized in Assington. There may have been other children whose records do not survive. [1, 163]

i. William French was baptized on 25 July 1580.

ii. Jacob French was baptized on 12 August 1582.

iii. Thomas French was baptized on 11 October 1584.

iv. Elizabeth French was baptized on 27 February 1586/7.

v. John French was probably baptized on 27 March 1596.

vi. Susan Fench was buried on 1 August 1613 at St. Edmunds. [2, 413]

vii. Robert French was baptized on 25 June 1600.

Thomas and Susan arrived in New England with their younger children Anne, John and Mary after the arrivals of their four oldest children. [3]

Children of Thomas French and Susan Riddlesdale: All baptized in St. Edmunds church [2, 412]

i. Ensign Thomas Frence was baptized on 27 November 1608. He and he died on 8 August 1680. [3] He married Mary Unknown by 1632 and she died on 6 May 1681 in Ipswich. [3]

Thomas and his sister Alice came to New England in 1632. [3]

Thomas was a tailor. He was a freeman on 6 November 1632. He was a soldier in the Pequot War. He was appointed ensign on 18 May 1644 in Ipswich. [3]

In a letter dated 14 March 1632 at Groton, John Bluett asked John Winthrop, Jr. to remember him to "my schollers Thomas French and John Clark." [3]

ii. Alice French was baptized on 9 April 1610. She died on 26 June 1666. She married Thomas Howlett.

iii. Dorcas French was baptized on 31 July 1614. She died on 30 December 1697 in Roxbury. [2, 425] She married first Christopher Peakes on 3 January 1636 in Roxbury. [2, 425] He died on 22 May 1666 in Roxbury. [2, 425] She married second as his third wife Griffin Crafts. [2, 425]

Dorcas and her sister Susan came to New ENgland in 1633. [3] Dorcas was a maid servant to John Winthrop the elder and she was admitted to the church in Boston on 10 August 1634. [2, 417]

iv. Susan French was baptized on 22 April 1616.

v. Anne French was baptized on 15 March 1617/8.

vi. Margaret French was baptized on 12 March 1619/20. She was buried on 25 November 1635 at St. Edmunds. [2, 412]

vii. John French was baptized on 26 May 1622. He died on 1 February 1697 in Northampton. [2, 426] He married Freedom Kinglsey about 1651. [2, 426] Freedom, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Kingsley, was born about 1630 in England and died on 26 July 1689 in Northampton. [2, 426]

viii. Mary French was baptized on 6 January 1624/5. She married George Smith about 1644. [2, 429] He died on 15 December 1674 in Ipswich. [2, 429]

The English Ancestry of Susan Riddlesdale [1, 315–20]

JASPER RIDDLESDALE of Boxford, county Suffolk, husbandman, was probably born about 1490 and he married a woman named Elizabeth. He died near the end of August 1552; Elizabeth died the following year. He hadsisters named Agnes, Christine Egle and Margery Skott.

Jasper was a churchwarden of Boxford in 1542/3 and 1547/8. He helped to organize a church social gathering in 1544. His eleven children were probably all born in Boxford.

i. Henry Riddlesdale was probably the oldest child.

ii Thomas Riddlesdale was probably born about 1522. He perhaps married Joan Unknown and died before 1567. The widow Joan Riddlesdale married the widower Launcelott Mayor on 5 October 1567 in Boxford.

iii. Robert Riddlesdale

iv. Peter Riddlesdale was living and married in 1552.

v. Grace Riddlesdale was probably the daughter who married Richard Keble before August 1552.

vi. Elizabeth Riddlesdale was probably the daughter who married Rhomas Ryvet, perhaps about September 1552.

vii. Jane Riddlesdale and her sister Amy were perhaps twins.

viii. Amy Riddlesdale

ix. Richard Riddlesdale was born after 1532.

x. John Riddlesdale was perhaps born about 1536. He was buried on 5 December 1614 in Groton. He married Elizabeth Patten on 29 November 1562 in Boxford.

xi William Riddlesdale was probably the youngest child. He married Joan Johnson on 2 November 1561 in Polstead.

HENRY RIDDLESDALE of Boxford, yeoman, was probably born about 1520/1528 and he was buried on 25 June 1591 in Boxford. He had a wife Joan who survived him.

Henry was a churchwarden in 1562 and he helped organize a church social gathering in 1560. His children were baptized in Boxford.

i. Robert Riddlesdale was born perhas 1554/5/ He was living in 1591.

ii. John Riddlesdale

iii. Thomas Riddlesdale was baptized on 2 June 1560. He was buried on 7 February 1588/9. He married Susan, the daughter of John Bronde, on 1 September 1584 in Boxford. Susan was baptized on 23 January 1560/1. She married second Richard Wendall on 30 January 1593/4.

iv. Joan Riddlesdale was baptized on 23 October 1562. She married Richard, the son of Richard Walton, on 30 August 1582 in Boxford. Richard was baptized on 8 April 1561.

v. Julyan Riddlesdale was baptized on 10 December 1564. She married John Stanbye on 13 June 1587.

vi. Henry Riddlesdale was baptized on 6 March 1566. He married Bridget, the daughter of Symond and Alyce Smythe, on 5 September 1592 in Boxford. Bridget was baptized on 20 April 1572.

vii. Richard Riddlesdale was baptized on 13 August 1570. He died in 1610. He married Rose Brand on 17 September 1593 in Groton.

JOHN RIDDLESDALE was baptized on 26 September 1557 in Boxford and buried on 4 June 1629 in Assington. He married Dorcas Unknown about 1583, probably in Assington. She was buried on 24 September 624.

i. Susan Riddlesdale

ii. Richard Riddlesdale was probably born about 1586 and was buried on 6 November 1610 in Assington. He was apparently unmarried.

iii. Thomas Riddlesdale was living in 1591.

iv. Joan Riddlesdale was probably born in 1590. She married Richard Mather on 11 October 1610 in Assington. She and her sister Dorcas may have been twins; they had a double weding..

v. Dorcas Riddlesdale was probably born about 1590 and was buried on 15 December 1610 in Assington. She married Thomas Dynes, a yeoman of Assington, on 11 October 1610 in Assington.

vi. Edward Riddlesdale was probably born abut 1592. He was buried on 9 February 1630/1 in Assington. He married Mary Unknown. She married second as his second wife John Wyatt on 27 June 1632 in Assington. They went to New England and settled in Ipswich.

vii. John Riddlesdale was perhaps born in 1594/8 in Assington and was buried on 10 December 1602 in Assington.

viii. Sarah Riddlesdale was baptized on 2 March 1599/1600 in Assington. She married Mark Gryme on 30 May 1620 in Assington.

Endnotes:

1. John Brooks Threlfall, Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England and Their Origins (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2008).

2. John William Linzee, The History of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles of Roxbury, Mass. ... (Boston: privately printed, 1918).

3. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Vols. I–III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors, 703–5.

Revised 09-Feb-2020