Guilielmi [William] Hotchkiss

Personal and Family Information

Guilielmi was born about 1594, the son of John Hotchkiss and Elizabeth Gravenor. The place is not known.

He died about JAN 1638 in England.

His wife was Margaretae. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their seven known children were Guilielmi [William] (c1616-?), Josefa (c1619-?), Jocosa (c1620-?), Edward (c1620-?), Joannes (c1622-c1637), Thomas (c1626-1671) and George (c1635-1674).

Pedigree Chart (3 generations)

Events

Multimedia

Guiliemi Hot...

Guiliemi inv...

Notes

Note 1

!Source: archive.org Shropshire Registers Wroxeter

Anno 1637 [1638]

Guiliemus Hotchkis [senior erased] sepultus fuit Januarij tricesimo.

Note: double year.

!Source: www.findmypast.co.uk Record Transcription: Shropshire Burials

First name[s] Guilielmus

Last name Hotchkis

Birth year -

Death year 1637

Death date ? ? 1637

Burial year 1637

Burial date ? Jan 1637 <<< Julian date

Burial place Wroxeter

Denomination Anglican

County Shropshire

Archive refererence P318/A/1/1

Page 12

Register type Composite

Register date range 1618-1680

Record set Shropshire Burials

Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records

Subcategory Parish Burials

Collections from Great Britain, England

Note: Julian calendar year starts March 25 while Gregorian starts January 1.

!Source: www.findmypast.co.uk Record Transcription: England Deaths & Burials 1538-1991

First name[s] Guilielmus

Last name Hotchkis

Gender Male

Marital status -

Occupation -

Event year 1637

Birth year -

Age at death -

Burial year 1637

Burial date 30 Jan 1637

Burial place Wroxeter, Shropshire, England

Place Wroxeter

County Shropshire

Country England

Record set England Deaths & Burials 1538-1991

Category Birth, Marriage & Death [Parish Registers]

Subcategory Parish Burials

Collections from England, Great Britain

!Source: www.findmypast.co.uk Staffordshire, Dioceses Of Lichfield And Coventry Wills And Probate 1521-1860

First name Wm

Series description Registered wills and original wills, administrations and inventories, 1494-1860, and, act books, 1532-1638 for Diocese of Lichfield Episcopal Consistory Court

Last name Hodgkis

Piece description Calendar of wills and admons.

Year 1637

Piece surname range A-L

Will year 1637-38

Piece year range 1494-1650

Parish Wroxeter

Record set Staffordshire, Dioceses Of Lichfield And Coventry Wills And Probate 1521-1860

Place Wroxeter, Shropshire, England

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

County Shropshire

Subcategory Wills & Probate

Country England

Collections from England, Great Britain

Transcriptions © Findmypast 2015

!Source: www.findmypast.co.uk Staffordshire, Dioceses Of Lichfield And Coventry Wills And Probate 1521-1860

First name William

Country England

Last name Hodgkis

Series description Registered wills and original wills, administrations and inventories, 1494-1860, and, act books, 1532-1638 for Diocese of Lichfield Episcopal Consistory Court

Year 1637

Piece description Original wills, administrations, inventories

Will year 1637

Piece surname range H

Probate year 1637-38

Piece year range 1638-1639

Inventory year ?

Record set Staffordshire, Dioceses Of Lichfield And Coventry Wills And Probate 1521-1860

Parish Wroxeter

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

Place Wroxeter, Shropshire, England

Subcategory Wills & Probate

County Shropshire

Collections from England, Great Britain

Note: Julian calendar year starts March 25 while Gregorian starts January 1.

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From the image, this is a list of belongings and their values. Some items are listed as being located in:

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“Chamber over the house” - bedding? and bible?

and in

“Rogers Parlor” - featherbed, ffrykes?, booffe bequethed sons.

Then there are references to first, second, third and forth pages, with values, so there must have been more to the list.

181 4 8

The total value was given as one hundred three score fifteen pounds four Shillings eight pence in the judgement of

Thomas Dukesbir?, William Raynor, John Cooke?, William Parkor

1 pound = 20 shillings

1 shilling = 12 pence

!Source: www.findmypast.co.uk Staffordshire, Dioceses Of Lichfield And Coventry Wills And Probate 1521-1860

First name Willimi

Series description Registered wills and original wills, administrations and inventories, 1494-1860, and, act books, 1532-1638 for Diocese of Lichfield Episcopal Consistory Court

Last name Hodgkis

Piece description Act books, v. 14; v. 15.

Year 1637

Piece surname range -

Probate year 1637

Piece year range 1625-1627;1635-1638

Parish Wroxeter

Record set Staffordshire, Dioceses Of Lichfield And Coventry Wills And Probate 1521-1860

Place Wroxeter, Shropshire, England

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

County Shropshire

Subcategory Wills & Probate

Country England

Collections from England, Great Britain

Transcriptions © Findmypast 2015

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[see image]

Latin text transcribed by Rex Hotchkiss:

Confirmed  William Hodgkiss nupro  erem conixit proch Wroxeter betrothed betrothed

pro Margareta Hodgkiss Relictam et being Exorator in dio by factum nominat in forma wife with glory be to god. Johann Surender

alterno exorator in gods testament. ecxasperait amis exeous dio R  

in se sasosipere in propriat sua persona ponifus sem tard et senuard

        Coinfa fuit. Concepidem Margareta pro Edwarerd

        Johhannis et Thomas Hodgkiss fabroq zralia. et ironwright.

        eighth beforim dio immorital exiten bann administras

        bonori et person ad dios portar, Wilameorim, juniori Hakis.

        Jacosa faraucome proearit Relicta et Josefa e penser.

        Wellington in North Salop Sericolam.

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Latin translated to English by Rex Hotchkiss:

Confirmed William Hodgkiss was married to his wife near Wroxeter betrothed

for Margaret Hodgkiss Left and being Executor in God by deed

names in the form wife with glory be to god. John Surender

alternate interlocutor in gods testament. He was exasperated by the love of God R

in his own person he was slow and old

        It was a shame. I conceived Margaret for Edward

        John and Thomas Hodgkiss, blacksmith and ironwright.

        Eighth before God, you manage the immortal exiten bann

        to bring good men and persons to the gods, Wilameorim, the younger Hakis.

        Jacosa was left behind and Josefa was left behind.

        Wellington in North Salop County.

!Notes: From an email I wrote on who was the father of Thomas

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This was published on the hotchkiss group on yahoogroups.com and is from a conversation with Jennifer Berger on 2 Sep 2017

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Well, I can tell you that I’m the one who pulled the name “Grayette" out of the handwritten and almost impossible to read Much Wenlock Parish records of Thomas [abt. 1626] and Mary’s son Thomas [1646]. The writing was in such bad shape that it could also have been Davies, but it looked more like “Grayette”. This line went on in Madeley after that.

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Would you please tell me why you know that Thomas father was Roger?

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First, let’s go over the birthdate for Thomas which I gave as about 1626. His wife Mary’s is a bit easier, as her children were spread from 1646 to 1671, if she were born in about 1628, that would make her children born when she was from 18 to 43. I think we can say we have her birth year fairly close. Now Thomas couldn’t have been much younger than Mary, but he could possibly have been a few years older. Remembering that he died in 1671 leaving his wife pregnant, I would say from 1618 to 1628, would most likely take in the possibilities. For just a quick scan, looking at ancestry.com and eliminating duplicates, there are about 8 possible Thomas's.

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Madeley’s Parish records fade into existence in 1638, even though the town existed since the 8th century. Much Wenlock grew up around a monastery founded in 680AD and actually once included much of what is now Madeley. In the 12th century the original monastery was replaced by a Cluniac priory, established by Roger de Montgomerie [Marcher Lord] after the Norman conquest, but the manor of Madeley belonged to the church of Wenlock, and passed to the Crown in 1540. Thus Wenlock Church records were a likely predecessor to Madeley Church records. The two towns are now about 8 miles apart. I mention all of this in order to point out that prior to the train and the automobile, travel was by horse, wagon or foot, unless you could use ships along the coast. A good horse on level terrain can make about 40 miles per day, pulling a wagon about 20, but 15 to 30 miles per day is a realistic amount if you aren’t pushing. I say this to note that it was not realistic to think that people regularly traveled far from their homes in those days. In fact there were laws that made it difficult to be in towns where you didn’t live or have business, with punishments such as being both publicly whipped and jailed. Thus if 2 records say Thomas and Mary Hotchkiss had a child within the woman’s child bearing years and in the same town or nearby towns which they might frequent, and there is nothing indicating there were 2 such couples, it is reasonable to assume it was likely the same family.

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Now to look for a birth record for Thomas [abt. 1626] we need to remember the distance factor. Acton Burnell [for Roger] is about 8.7 miles on the other side of Much Wenlock, so might be a reasonable location. Now Leebotwood for Thomas [abt. 1626 with parents Roger and Elizabeth] is another 5.5 miles further [or 14.3 miles from Much Wenlock]. This might be a reasonable distance.

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Now the question becomes, do we either have more evidence than just the baptism records [like a will or something], or are we far enough from those other 7 Thomas Hotchkiss births, that we might be able to assume this was the correct one just by location? Those possible locations, parents, baptism years and distance from Much Wenlock are:

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1621 Norbury,Shropshire,England Thomas & Dorothy 23.1 mi

1625 Leebotwood, Shropshire, England Roger & Elizabeth 14.3 mi

1625 St. Chad's, Shropshire, England Richard & Elizabeth 14.4 mi

1626 St. Chad's, Shropshire, England Richard & ? 14.4 mi

1626 High Ercall,Shropshire,England Richard & Beatrice 15.4 mi

1626 Wroxeter, Shropshire, England Guilielmi & Margaret 8.1 mi

1628 Bishops Castle,Shropshire,England Richard & Elizabeth 25.5 mi

1628 Baschurch,Shropshire,England Vincet & Mary 23.9 mi

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I would say, based on this, we could probably drop the high and low years, which are all over 20 miles away, cutting it to 5 more likely candidates. Of these, Wroxeter actually has the best statistics so far.

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Now the next question, is are any of these Thomas’s otherwise engaged? Do we have wives and children of a Thomas at their location? From 1646 to 1666 we find Thomas Hotchkiss’s recorded as fathers in where each x represents a record, but not trying to eliminate duplicates.

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Wem xxxxxxx Baschurch 9, Bishop’s Castle 37, Wroxeter 16, High Ercall 10, Leebotwood 22

Clungunford xxxxx Baschurch 33, Bishop’s Castle 12, Wroxeter 27, High Ercall 32, Leebotwood 14

Madeley xxxxxxx Baschurch 27, Bishop’s Castle 34, Wroxeter 13, High Ercall 15, Leebotwood 27

St. Chad xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx St. Chad’s - same town

Sherriff Hales xx Baschurch 28, Bishop’s Castle 43, Wroxeter 16, High Ercall 14, Leebotwood 28

Culmington x Baschurch 34, Bishop’s Castle 15, Wroxeter 23, High Ercall 33, Leebotwood 15

Ratlinghope x Baschurch 24, Bishop’s Castle 17, Wroxeter 19, High Ercall 30, Leebotwood 6

Upton Magna x Baschurch 13, Bishop’s Castle 29, Wroxeter 4, High Ercall 5, Leebotwood 14

Norbury x Norbury - same town

Ledbury North x Baschurch 32, Bishop’s Castle 3, Wroxeter 26, High Ercall 30, Leebotwood 13

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Clearly we can cross St. Chad’s and Norbury off our list. Are any of the others nearby enough to the other Thomas birthplaces to be eliminated by this means?

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year Thomas birthplace Parents to Much Wenlock Nearest Children

1625 Leebotwood, Shropshire, England Roger & Elizabeth 14.3 mi Ratlinghope 6 mi, Ledbury North 13

1626 High Ercall,Shropshire,England Richard & Beatrice 15.4 mi Upton Magna 5 mi, Wem 10

1626 Wroxeter, Shropshire, England Guilielmi & Margaret 8.1 mi Upton Magna 4 mi, Madeley 13

1628 Bishops Castle,Shropshire,England Richard & Elizabeth 25.5 mi Ledbury North 3 mi, Clungunford 12

1628 Baschurch,Shropshire,England Vincet & Mary 23.9 mi Wem 9,mi, Upton Magna 13

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Wroxeter and High Ercall are both very close to Upton Magna. The child born there was named Richard, and the father of the Thomas from High Ercall is Richard, so I’m voting those two go together, leaving Wroxeter available.

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So the closest Thomas about 1625 birth to Much Wenlock is Wroxeter and Wroxeter is also the closest to Madeley where Thomas about 1625 had most of his children and he appears not be taken elsewhere. All the other choices do appear to be busy elsewhere.

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Thus, I think our Thomas’ father was more likely to be Guilielm, which is an early version of William, unless there is better evidence. This why I had not gone back further.

!Notes: On Early English records.

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This was published on the hotchkiss group on yahoogroups.com and is from a conversation with Jennifer Berger on 3 Sep 2017

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One more point on following English records back into the 1500’s: parish records were sporadic at best. Very few churches kept records, and if they did, they were just of the nobility, and if records were kept of the nobility, they might be by their real surnames, or by their titles from the land they held.  So in my previous response, we don’t even know if I had records for all the possible Thomas baptisms, even if ancestry happened to have all the extant records.

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Also, don’t forget, very few people could even write.  There was definitely no standard spelling.  Thus there were hundreds of possible variations on the spelling and pronunciation of Hotchkiss.  You can find many of these in the notes on the records on my website.  So, even with the limited people actually recorded, searching for them by name is fraught with problems.

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Thus, absent a direct record, such as a will listing relatives, or a heraldic visitation with a pedigree chart, or some other such legal record, it is virtually impossible to say “I know” about any earlier ancestry in England, beyond about King James and certainly beyond Queen Elizabeth [just read earlier than 1600].

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The following is from Wikipedia, but you can find the same basic info in many places.

England

Parish registers were formally introduced in England on 5 September 1538 following the split with Rome, when Thomas Cromwell, minister to Henry VIII, issued an injunction requiring the registers of baptisms, marriages and burials to be kept. Before this, a few Roman Catholic religious’ houses and parish priests had kept informal notes on the baptisms, marriages and burials of the prominent local families. This injunction was addressed to the rector or vicar of every parish in England. However, this order had nothing to do with religious doctrine or the papacy and rather indicated the desire of the central -government to have full knowledge of the population of the country.[4] The book was to be kept in a "sure coffer" with two locks and keys. A fine of 3 sols, 4 deniers was to be levied for failure to comply. Many parishes ignored this order as it was commonly thought that it presaged a further tax.

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Finally, in 1597, both Queen and Convocation reaffirmed the injunction, adding that the registers were of ‘permagnus usus’ and must be kept in books of parchment leaves. Previous records [most found in a less durable form] had to be copied into the new books and copies of each year’s entries had to be sent to the bishop’s registrar. The parish clerk was paid to copy the old records into a new parchment book in order to keep the record up to date.[5]

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During the English Civil War [1643–1647] and in the following Commonwealth period, records were poorly kept and many are now missing after being destroyed [bored by beetles, chewed by rats or rendered illegible by damp] or hidden by the clergy. This parsimony and neglect was remedied by depositing the registers in county record offices where they were safeguarded and made accessible….