Benjamin was born about 1551 in London, England, the son of unknown parents.
He died on 26 MAY 1600 in London, England.
His wife was Mary de Baskerville. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. They had no known children.
| Event | Date | Details | Source | Multimedia | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | ABT 1551 |
| |||||
| Death | 26 MAY 1600 |
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Note 1
!Source: WikiTree Benjamin Gonson https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gonson-21
Born about 1551 [uncertain] in London, England
Died about 26 May 1600 [uncertain] at about age 49 in London, England [uncertain]
Benjamin Gonson
Son of Benjamin Gonson and Ursula Gonson
Brother of Vincent Gunson, Katherine Hawkins, William Gonson, Ursula Peterson, Margarett Gonson, Anne Fleming, Mary Gonson, Bennett Wallinger, Thomasine Browne, Elizabeth Gonson, Avice Smyth, Lucretia Gonson and Anthony Gonson
Husband of Mary Bulstrode — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Biography
Benjamin Gonson was the third and last surviving son of Benjamin Gonson, Treasurer of the Navy, and his wife Ursula Hussey. He was baptised on 28 July 1551 at the church of St Dunstan in the East. [1] [2] [3] [4]
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At the death of his father in 1577 he inherited a substantial estate, including property in Essex - notably in Great Warley and Sebright Hall in Great Baddow. He was a shipowner and a mariner who often served the Crown at sea, most notably holding a command during the defense against the Spanish Armada in 1588. [5] In many of his commands, from 1576, he was associated with his colleague William Borough and his brother-in-law Vice-Admiral Sir John Hawkins, husband of his sister Katherine and successor to his father as Treasurer of the Navy. When not fighting the Spanish, they were frequently dispatched to apprehend pirates. [6] [7]
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On 24 March 1582, Benjamin Gonson was appointed Clerk of the Ships, a joint commission with his colleague Williams Borough; from 6 November 1588, he held it alone, a position he retained until his death in 1600. [8] [9]
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In January 1584, Benjamin Gonson married Mary, daughter of Humphrey Baskerville, Mercer and Alderman of London. There was no issue of the union. [3]
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In September 1594, Benjamin Gonson wrote his WIll, [10] in which he bequeathed a life interest in his estate to his wife Mary Gonson, with a remainder after her death with no surviving heirs of his body to his four surviving sisters and their heirs: Ursula Peterson, Anne Fleming, Bennet Wallinger, and Thomasine Fenton. He left to his brother-in-law Sir John Hawkyns "my piece of gold of fifty duketts" and named his brothers-in-law as overseers of his Will. A codicil was signed on 25 May 1600, and he died the next day. [5] As his burial does not appear in the parish register of St Mary, Great Baddow, Essex, it is likely that he was buried, as his parents had been, at the church of St Dunstan in the East, London, where he was baptised, but the register is incomplete for the year of his death
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Mary Gonson lived until 1627, having remarried twice - to Charles Brook and Sir William Bulstrode. [11] Following her death, the estate of Benjamin Gonson was distributed to the heirs of the sisters named in his Will. "The manorial rights, with land in the north of the parish, went to Richard Browne , Thomasine's son; Great Warley Hall and the surrounding land went to Bennett's son, Benjamin Wallenger; Clay Tye farm, in the south of the parish, went to Thomas Disney, widower of Ursula, daughter of Ursula Peterson; and Warley Place went to Capt. Arthur Ashenhurst and his wife Ursula, daughter of Anne Fleming." [12]