When We Were English, Part XXXII

A Treasure Found - the Will of Christopher Holyman, 1589! by Glenn N. Holliman


I could not look at all of the Holliman wills in the Buckinghamshire Archives, but three that seemed to match time, place and name, I explored closely.  Now I am not talking about microfilm.

The actual wills were hand carried to me by a lady garbed in a white coat, much like a physician.  She placed three 'ancient' parchments in front of me on a pillow so bindings would not break, and then (gasp) with my uncovered but clean fingers, I turned the pages and held in my 21^st Century hands a will signed  in 1589 by Christopher Holyman!!!

Was I holding a document signed by my  9^th great grandfather????  Could this be the grandfather of Christopher Holyman, Sr. (1618 – 1691) of Isle of Wight, Virginia?  Let me tell you what I found and what it may, repeat, may mean.

Click twice and the document should enlarge. I have yellowed the names, the first one being Christopher Hollyman!  Note Thomas Hollyman is the second child.

1.      This Christopher Hollyman lived in Sherington, Buckinghamshire.

2.    He had children, whose names I make out to be:

A.   John

B.  Thomas, a minor in 1589

C.    Dorothy (?), a minor

D.   Ellin, a minor

E.    (?) lloy, a minor

F.    Ami, a minor

The wife’s name was Margaret.  He appointed his brother, Thomas Hollyman, as executor. Were these persons my 9th great grandmother and a very great uncle?

Yes, for 4 pounds, 20 pence (about $7) I asked for a copy of the will.  It did not reproduce well but here is part of it above.  But there was the signature by an English Christopher Hollyman – chills down my back at this point at this point.  Darn, I forgot to film the document, I was so excited.

So I race to the Sherington, Buckinghamshire parish records to ascertain the baptism records, marriage and burial records of this Hollyman family.  Tragedy!!  No parish records from Sherington UNTIL 1603.  Curses, no way to find out the birth dates of the children.

What next?