Thomas was born about 1463, the son of Johannis [Hull] / Hill / Harris and Jocosa Acton. The place is not known.
His wife was Jana Sonnybanke. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their only known child was Geoffrey “Galfridus” (c1503-?).
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| Event | Date | Details | Source | Multimedia | Notes |
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| Birth | ABT 1463 |
Note 1
!Stylename: Harris [Hill], Thomas, de Abcott [~1462-?]
!Note: My current theory is still that the surname Harris was started by Sir Thomas Hill at the time of his will, to hide his brother's line from the Tudors and at the same time allow his nephew Thomas to administer his many cheritable contributions from his will.
- Timing: Sir Thomas Hill dies 1485 — exactly as the Tudors come in and the political climate shifts hard. His brother John’s descendants are gentry, not nobles, but still close enough to the old Yorkist commercial networks to draw suspicion. Also, big surprise, following all the Harris visitation charts back from their 1623 end dates, places them at exactly the right time to be with Sir Thomas Hill and mentioned in his will.
- Motive: The Hills had London and Shropshire property. A Tudor purge or forfeiture could have stripped both if the brothers were seen as connected to old civic power. A surname shift was the easiest disguise.
- Mechanism: What better way to veil a cadet line than to change the patronymic slightly? “Hill” becomes “Harris” — which, in secretary hand, looks like the same word when rushed, but reads differently aloud. A single stroke of the pen and you’ve turned a politically risky surname into a harmless one.
- Proof of intent: The Visitation of 1623 quietly gives away the game. Harris of Abcott bears the same arms differenced only slightly, meaning the heralds themselves recognized the descent from Hill but respected the “Harris” name as the living form.
- Aftermath: The line survives. They hold Abcott through the 1500s and show up again under the full Harris form—just as you’d expect if the renaming had been deliberate and successful.
!Source: The Visitation of Shropshire, TAKEN IN THE YEAR 1623, BY ROBERT TRESSWELL, SOMERSET HERALD, AND AUGUSTINE VINCENT, ROUGE CROIX PURSUIVANT OF ARMS;
Marshals and Deputies to William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms. WITH ADDITIONA FROM THE PEDIGREES OF SHROPSHIRE GENTRY TAKEN BY THE HERALDS IN THE YEARS 1569 AND 1584, AND OTHER SOURCES. EDITED BY GEORGE GRAZEBROOK, F.S.A. AND JOHN PAUL RYLANDS, F.S.A.,OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARR1STER-AT-LAW. PART I. LONDON: 1889. page 222
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Harris of Abcott
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Thomas Harris de Abcotte = Jana fil. Joh'is Sonnybanke de <<<<
in co. Salop. Ludlow in com. Salop.
!Source: The Visitation of Shropshire, TAKEN IN THE YEAR 1623, BY ROBERT TRESSWELL, SOMERSET HERALD, AND AUGUSTINE VINCENT, ROUGE CROIX PURSUIVANT OF ARMS;
Marshals and Deputies to William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms. WITH ADDITIONA FROM THE PEDIGREES OF SHROPSHIRE GENTRY TAKEN BY THE HERALDS IN THE YEARS 1569 AND 1584, AND OTHER SOURCES. EDITED BY GEORGE GRAZEBROOK, F.S.A. AND JOHN PAUL RYLANDS, F.S.A.,OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARR1STER-AT-LAW. PART I. LONDON: 1889. page 222
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Harris of Stockton
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Henricus Hull al's Harris = Sion'et [Sionett] filia M'red'd ap howll de Geri.
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Joh'es Hill al's Harris de com. Staff. = Jocosa filia Ric'i Acton.
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Johannes Harris de Stockton in com. Salop. = Jonetta filia Simonis Henalt Ar. <<<< Thomas Harris probably father.
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Johan's Harris de Stockton in co. Salop. = Katherinae fil. Jenkin ap Jem Vychan.
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Joh'es Harris de Stockton in com. = Pernell fil, Joh'is Wyn
Salop Crowner of Shropshire. ap Reignold.
and on to 1623 as Harris.
!Source: England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 for Thoma Hille, PROB 11: Will Registers 1384-1566 Piece 07: Logge
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5111/records/877576?tid=&pid=&queryId=406b9e5e-397c-4099-82da-a1d347c0b422&_phsrc=Xle404&_phstart=successSource
[Image Copyright requests no publication of the images, but they can be seen at thancestry.com address].
Lord Mayor of London 1484/5
Will of Thomas Hille, Grocer
Page 3.
…, Item I p[ar]don to my nebew John Hille grocer that was <<<< Thomas’s brother John
my apprentice xvy£ xiijs iiyd of the + mark the which he oweth me of money
borowed so that he pay to my exe[g]ences the xx£ – being residue of the sending
mark…, Item I bequeath to Marion late[ly] the wiff of my brother
John Hille Xiiis iiyd. Item I bequeath to Martha her daughter and to her children xx£ Item
I bequeath to Adoleyn her other daughter x£. Item I bequeath to Johna his other daughter to-
ward the sustenance of her self and her children the X£ -- of myn with XX£ in the hands
of her brother John Hills…, <<<< Thomas’s father John
Item I bequeath to Thomas Haress somwate <<<<
toward the sustenance of hym and his children to the entent that he will take upon
hym the oversight and guiding of the distribution to poynt people of the collec[tion] above,
to be solvyd during the iiii [4] years aforesaid — £20…,
I make and ordeyn myid executor Elizabeth my wiff, Rauf Tilmoy, Richard Walker grocer,
William Doughory, gentleman and my cosyn John Hille grocer, and I bequeth to each of the
said Rauf, Richard, William and John for his labor to be had in thir behalf XX mark and ther
outflow of this my said testament I make and ordeyn Sir Edmond Shaa knyght and
Alderman of London and I bequeath to the same Edmond for his labor to be hadd in that.