The Hollyman English Ancestry Quest 2019, Part 2

By Glenn N. Holliman

Our First Stop – St. Peter de Merton

Bedford, Bedfordshire

May 18, 2019

We were on an adventure moving back in time.  There were 29 or so of us on that chilly, rainy morning. Our bus met us at 9:15 am on Saturday morning, May 18^th in Moreton in Marsh and took us across beautiful countryside, fields green and yellow flowering horse chestnut trees in bloom and through little villages. There was a bit of rain but it did not discourage our high spirits.

We Hollimans and spouses gathered in Bedford at the spot where 410 years earlier my generation’s 8^th great grandparents, Thomas and Helena Poynard Holliman, were married.  Naturally this called for another group photograph.  This couple were the parents of Christopher Hollyman, our forefather who migrated to Jamestown, Virginia in 1650.

Above the entrance to St. Peter de Merton in Bedford, Bedfordshire. Jim Holliman of Marion Junction, Alabama and Becky Holliman Payne, Cookeville, Tennessee in the picture between the gates.

Genealogist Anne Holmes had arranged our first stop at St. Peters de Merton, a 10^th century church where we received hot tea, biscuits and a history of the parish by one of the lovely ladies who greeted us.

It was here we were transported back in time to 1609, the year and place where my generation’s 8^th great grandparents were married. 

Below the nave of St. Peter Church in Bedford, a parish over 1,000 years old!  Texans Marcia Holliman, Rob Fenske and Mary Holliman Fenske, center, and right, Alice Holliman Murphy take pictures.

Great changes occurred in that first decade of the 17^th Century. 

Queen Elizabeth, perhaps England’s greatest monarch, died in 1603 replaced by James VI of Scotland, James I as he became known in England.  His mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, had lost her head several decades earlier after an attempt to replace Good Queen Bess on the throne. Dangerous business being a monarch in those times.

At the time of the marriage of Thomas and Helena, Jamestown, Virginia struggled to survive, an outpost for the London Company to which Christopher and Judith Hollyman would find a safe harbor 40 or so years later.

The new King James struggled to keep the various religious factions of England and Scotland from harming each other.  A sect of pious Protestants demanded less liturgy and more ‘puritanism’ in the nascent Church of England.  Roman Catholic terrorists led by Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the House of Commons.  Their gunpowder plot failed, and persecution of Catholics was renewed.

   

Guy Fawkes pictured.  To this day the English celebrate this would be tragedy with massive bonfires all over England on November 5th.

On the plus side, the glorious King James Version of the Bible was transcribed at the same time Shakespeare wrote some of his most outstanding plays.  It can be argued these two events were the epitome of English literature, not equaled since.

What do we know of this great grandmother, Helena? 

Not very much.  It was expected that the bride’s church would be chosen for the ceremony, and it did occur at St. Peter because such is recorded in the parish register.  Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chancellor decreed in the 1530s (before he too lost his head) that baptisms, marriages and funerals were to be documented, for which genealogists have been ever grateful.

Foreground, Rob Fenske and Dr. Jim Holliman inspect the chancery where Thomas and Helena Poynard Hollyman were married.

Genealogist Anne Holmes cannot find the name Poynard in other registers in Bedford, a town then of 2,000 souls.  She did find a will dated decades before the marriage by a Thomas Poynard of Barkway in 1563, perhaps a document of our 10^th or 11^th great Poynard grandfather?   We may never know.

We do know that Helena died in 1653 and is buried outside St. Mary’s Church on the south side of the Ouse River in Bedford.  Probably she was in her early 60s, and Thomas, whose death date is not known, evidently passed away before her.

And of course, of her eight living children, two had left the family forever, migrating in 1650 to Virginia, never to return to a mother’s embrace.

We thank the good ladies of St Peter de Merton for their kind hospitality, hot tea and sharing of the history of this famous church.

Next blog, we visit the parish where Thomas and Helena had their many children baptized.

When We Were English, Part XVIIL

by Glenn N. Holliman 

RETURN TO ENGLAND, Part 1

 On two occasions in 2012, I had the opportunity to travel to England to research further my Holyman family roots.  During this time I was assisted by family historian Peter Smith of Bedfordshire and professional genealogist Anne Holmes of Buckinghamshire.

Their research and my own examinations of original source materials continue to deepen my understanding of my ancestral families before the immigration of Christopher Holyman and his sister to Virginia in 1650.

 In this space for several years, I have been writing of my findings, inviting the reader into my search to discover the roots of the Hollimans.  Many of you have been 'walking' with me.  If one desires to review earlier writings, please go to the 'Archives' section of this home page or just click over the name of a person or location in "Labels' portion of the home page.

 

 

Above, Glenn Holliman, left, and right, genealogist Anne Holmes of Buckinghamshire, England examine Holyman records of the 16th Century in the archives in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom in November 2012. 

Briefly what new findings do I have to report.

1. Thanks to the research of Anne Holmes, the scenario of the Holyman family from John Holyman, d 1521 in Cuddington, Buckinghamshire to his great grandson, Christopher Holyman, d 1588 in Sherington, Buckinghamshire appears solid.  This thesis is backed up by translated wills and parish records which will be examined in future articles.

 2. The thesis that I have been promoting that Christopher Holyman of Sherington (d 1588) is the father of Thomas Holyman of Bedford and the grandfather of our Christopher Holyman (d 1691) in Ile of Wight, Virginia is not disproved and continues to be a very plausible explanation of lineage. 

 3. Thanks to Anne Holmes we know Thomas of Bedford lived near St. Mary's Parish on Caldwell Street, which even today runs in front of the church.  His wife, Eleanor Holyman, died in 1553 and is buried in that churchyard cemetery.

 4. A fascinating piece of information is that Thomas Holyman was a shoemaker, a cordwainer if you will!  While an honorable profession, this seems a comedown on the social ladder for the Holymans of Cuddington who were substantial landowners just a half century earlier.  However, he did own the Blue Boar Inn lease which he sold for 40 pds in 1640, a tidy sum in that era.  Let's call him a craftsman and a businessman.

Below, the bridge connects then north side of the Great River Ouse in Bedford to the south side.  Behind the high rise hotel on the left stands St. Mary's parish church and Caldwell Street, the lane (then) that housed the residence and business (es) of Thomas Holyman (b bef. 1587 - d bet. 1646-1652).

 5. Anne will continue to investigate the Bedford records to add context to our family story.  As yet, we have not found burial records for Thomas and Eleanor's children named Christopher and Judith (we have of their other children) thus strengthening the argument that the Christopher who arrived in Virginia in 1650 and died there in 1691 is indeed from Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.

We will follow the story wherever additional research may lead!

Much more in the next postings...

 

When We Were English, Part XXII

by Glenn N. Holliman

Are the Holymans from Bedford, rather than Tring?

On the map below, one can see Bedford within the red circle almost due north of London. Tring (unnamed) is located at the red dot just northeast of London. Click on map to enlarge.

As readers of this blog know, I have spent the past four months expounding on research of our Holyman (Holliman, Holleman, Holloman, etc.) origins conducted earlier this year in England. In the late 1990s, a Holyman family tree was posted on the Internet, and many of us took it as gospel. This site, still posted, lists one John Holyman (1572 - 1650) of Tring, Hertfordshire as the English father of our Holliman families in America. A John Holyman really did die in 1650 in Virginia, as recorded by Virginia records.

However, a continuing search of Internet archives, family trees, research by others, and my own exploration in the Hertfordshire Archives has failed to turn up this elusive character in Tring or surrounding villages, although we have found an abundance of Holymans with some fascinating biographies. I trust they are our relations in some form or fashion.

However, this begs the question concerning John Holyman - have we been looking in the wrong places?

Alas, thanks to research by cousins Maxine Wright, Joe Parker and others, an interesting parish register has turned up in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. The parish is St. Mary's, now a redundant facility administered by a trust. Bedford is located approximately 50 miles north of London, and about 25 miles or so from Tring. (See map above) The following information is taken directly from the parish register, and can be found in RootsWeb and LDS internet files.

St. Mary's parish church, although closed, still stands just south of the River Ouse in Bedford. A few blocks away is the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives.

For those of you cognizant of the names of early Virginia Hollimans, these Bedford names are nothing less than amazing. Remember our Christopher Holyman, Sr. arrived 1650 (the same year John died) along with a woman named Judith, believed to be his mother or sister. Another Christopher Holliman and another Judith arrived in 1653. Our Christopher Sr. was first married to a woman (our great grandmother!) named Mary.

Be aware, according to colonial records, a Thomas was already in Virginia at Martin's Hundred, one of America's first real estate developments (so to speak).

Now look at these names from the St. Mary's parish register of Bedford!

1576 - Thomas Holman baptised March 4 in Bedford.

1609 - This Thomas married Helena Poynard on Oct. 23. Their children are listed below.

1610 - September 16, one John Holliman baptised. BINGO! Is this our elusive John, the reputed American founder of our family who died in South Hampton, Virginia in 1650? John married a Mary Parrell on July 25, 1641.

1612 - On September 13, Ellenora Holliman baptised.

1613 - On November 14, Joan Holliman baptised.

1616 - Thomas Holloman baptised on March 20. Is this the Thomas of Martin's Hundred near Jamestown who took land in the 1630s?

1618 - Christopher Hollaman baptisted on September 2. Is this our Christopher Holyman Senior who immigrates to Jamestown in 1650, raises a large family, makes his earthly fortune and dies 1691?! Is this my generation's 8th or 9th great grandfather?

1621 - Judith Holliman baptised on February 11. Is this the Judith who arrives in Jamestown with Christopher in 1650 or later in 1653?!

1623 - On May 14, Eleanor Hollyman baptised at St. Mary's.

1625 - Stephen Holloman baptised on December 24.

1628 - Mary Holiman baptised on September 13.

So the question is begged - have we found the Holyman family that settled in Isle of Wight, Virginia in the early 1650s?

If we have, then Thomas and Helena Poynard of Bedford, Bedfordshire are our English fore parents, and not John Holyman of Tring!

I will leave you here to ponder on the above, and to allow me time to gather further notes 'to push this envelope'. Again, this research belongs to Maxine, Joe and someone who entered the above in LDS records. My continuing thanks to them. If I have omitted others, please allow me to correct the record and give credit where credit is due.

This Holyman history gets more and more interesting....(if you are addicted to family history!)