Edmond
Honington Freeman and his wife Alice are my 10x great grandparents.
They were apparently fairly well established in England and it
appears that at least some of their offspring were educated.
Edmond
Honington Freeman was b. c. 1572 in Pulborough, co. Sussex, England.
He was the s/o John Freeman and Tryphona Isham.1 {Pronounced
Eye-sham} She was from Northamptonshire, probably from a place
called Isham. This name is a habitational name taking the Celtic
word for the River Ise and combining it with the Old English word
Ham, meaning 'homestead.' 2 She may have been related to
Sir John Isham, High Sheriff of Northamptonshire.3
Edmond married Alice Coles, b. c. 1574- 1652 and they lived their
entire lives in England. Edmond died when he was 52. Alice spent her
later years with her daughter Alice and her son-in-law John de
Beauchamp (Beecham). He was also a contributor to the Plymouth
Colony but he never removed to there.
They
married in Pulborough and had 6 children:
- i. Edmond (1596-1682) m1. (in 1617) Bennett Hodsall (1597-1630) – 6 children m2. (in c. 1635) Elizabeth Unknown – 1 child
- William (1600-1666) m. Christian Hodsall (1600-1638)
- Alice (1601-?) m. John de Beauchamp
- Eleanor (1603-1618)
- John (1606-1629)
- Elizabeth (1609-?)
1. Edmond Freeman, b. in Billinghurst, co. Sussex and Bennett Hodsall,
b. in Pulborough, co. Sussex were married on Oct 12 1617 in
Gravely, England. Bennett died in Pulborough on Apr 12 1630 at
the age of 32. He married his second wife, Elizabeth (it has been suggested her name was Gurney), in England and in 1635 departed on
the ship Abigail
with his wife, 2 sons and 2 daughters. It is said he was a man of
“much consideration in England and brought with him much valuable
plate.” He first settled in Lynn, Massachusetts Bay Colony, but
after receiving permission from the Plymouth Colony for a grant of
land, he moved to Sandwich around 1637. Edmond's family may have
had connections with families of the aristocracy. His sister's
marriage to John de Beauchamp indicates her social position. The de
Beauchamp family had roots in Normandy and one branch of the family had been Earls of Warwick. Over 200-300 years the family had long
time relationships with many of the notable noble families of
England. Bennett Hodsall's parents were John Hodsall and Faith
Gratwick. There is much confusion concerning this couple's dates of
birth and marriage. There doesn't seem to be any reliable sources to
turn to, so I will merely present them as the parents of Bennett
Hodsall. (N.B. - the name is also spelled Hodsoll and sometimes with
only one 'l'.)
Edmond
and Bennett had children:
i. Alice (1619-1651) m. (in 1639) William Paddy
ii. Edmond (1620-1673) m. (in 1646) Rebecca Prence
iii. Bennett (1621-1633)
iv. Elizabeth (1624-1692) m.
(in 1644) John Ellis
2. v. John (1626-1719)
m. (in 1649/50) Mercy Prence (1631-1711) – 10 children
vi. Nathaniel
(1629-1629)
2. John married Mercy Prence, d/o
Gov. Thomas Prence and Patience Brewster and sister of Rebecca who
married John's brother Edmond. Mercy was b. bef. Sep 28 1631 in Plymouth Colony and she died in 1711 in Eastham, MA. John was
prominent in public affairs as a deputy, selectman and as an
assistant to the Gov. He was a deacon in the church and a Major in
the military. He was a large land holder in the Orleans part of Eastham throughout his life. He was an early settler of Eastham along
with Gov. Thomas Prence and has often been considered one of its
Founding Fathers. On his death, his will gave his two slaves their
freedom and conditions to ensure their well being, as well as providing bequests to his children.
John
and Mercy had children:
i..
John (1651-1721) m. (in 1672) Sarah Merrick – 8 child
ii.
Thomas (1653-1715) m. (in 1673) Rebecca Sparrow (1655-1739) – 10
children 3. iii.
Edmond (1657-1717)4 m1. (in 1677) Ruth Merrick
m2. (c. 1681) Sarah Mayo (1660-1746) – 12 children
iv.
Mercy (1659-1744) m. (in 1679) Samuel Knowles (1651-1737) – 11
children
v.
William (1663-1687) m. Lydia Sparrow (1660-?) - 2 children
vi.
Patience (1664-1745) m. (in 1682) Samuel Paine (1652-1712) – 9
children
vii.
Hannah (1664-1743) m. (in 1681) John Mayo (1656-1727) - 8 children
viii.
Prince (1665-1665)
ix.
Nathaniel (1669-1760) m. Mary Howland (1664-1743) – 6 children
x.
Bennett (1671-1716) m. (in 1689) John Paine (1661-1731) – 13
children.
All
descendants of John and Mercy Prence Freeman are Mayflower
Descendants of William Brewster. The husbands of Patience and
Bennett were brothers and Mayflower Descendants of Stephen Hopkins.
Edmund's wife and Hannah's husband were brother an sister. With the
children I have been able to find, John and Mercy were the
grandparents of at least 79 grandchildren.
John Freeman
Mercy Freeman
The burial site
The
Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Vols.
I-III
Find a Grave
- http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=isham
- Barnstable County Probate Records
