An Archive of Holliman Family Materials

A Collection

of Holliman and Associated Families Materials 
assembled by Glenn N. Holliman

as of 28 March 2015

This writer has been in communication and visited with Phil Upchurch, a superb genealogist of his family's history whose stories closely parallel the Hollimans, both families from Tidewater Virginia and the Piedmont of North Carolina.  Discussions are underway with his organization, Allied Families, to create a virtual archive of our mutual families and others, which would allow for the storage and the immediate downloading of materials such as listed below of the Holliman families.

Until that day comes, I list below an archive of scanned Holliman and associated family manuscripts and research made available by Maxine Wright, Joe Parker, Bob Hollyman-Mawson, Bishop Holliman, Anne Holmes, Sarah Holliman Hatch, Lindsay Holliman and others; plus the  late Walt O. Holliman, Cecil R. Holliman and Rhodes B. Holliman.  These are mainly of Alabama and Texas families and their ancestors from the Carolinas, Virginia and England. Materials vary from one page to 200. 

From time to time, I scan and upload additional materials.  I post announcement of scanned materials on future blogs at http://hollimanfamilyhistory.com/ .  Happy to add your research to the list.  Bear in mind some of this writing is 20 to 50 years old and has been super ceded by new research in the Internet age.

Happy to send these materials by email and insure their research is available to present and future generations.  Contact me at glennhistory@gmail.com.  My thanks to cousins who continue to make their findings available!

Surnames: Alexander, Baldwin, Barham, Bass, Beall, Blakeney,  Baker, Bond, Bostick, Brewer, Bryan, Bryant, Bullock, Burns, Calvert, Carter, Champion, Chew, Clemmons, Cofer, Cole, Crafford, Crockett, Curtis, Dale, Daniel, Davidson, Davies, De Mallpas, Douglas, Dover, Duckett, Edwards, Edgerton, Emerson, Fitzhugh, Fowlehurst, Fox, Gains, Galvin, Garrison, Gonson, Graves, Gray, Guyton, Guins, Hall, Hamby, Hawkins, Hendrix, Hill, Hogg, Holliman, Hollyman, Holt, Howard, Jackson, Jones, Judkins, Juston, Kaiser, Lees of England, Love, , Lucas, Maget, Mansfield, Manwaring, McBee, McComas, McCurdy, McKnight, McNewsome, Moore, Nicholson, Norsworthy, Noyall, O'dell, Oliver, Pearce, Peerce, Pettigrew, Petway, Pitman, Plow, Plyler, Porten, Prather, Petite, Ridgely, Riggan, Roberts, Smith, Spencer, Sprigg, Standley, Stanyard, Swan, Strother, Thompson, Thornton, Thrope, Trelawney, Turpin, Underhill, Underwood, Walker, Wallace, Walters, Weedon, Whitherspoon, Whitten, Williams, Wilmot, Wilson, Whitaker and Yerby.  

In addition to the above, the following histories, research and cemeteries are available.

Dr. Rhodes B. Holliman (1928-2014), professor of biology at Virginia Tech for many years.  Continued his father, Cecil R. Holliman's work in family history.  Rhodes wrote extensively of his Alabama roots.  This photograph taken 1975.

Cemeteries -

Fayette, Alabama and surrounding counties, 4 parts

Grant Co., AR

Pickens Co. AL Unity Cemetery

Shepherd Baptist Church Burials, Fayette Co., AL

Springhill, Millport, AL

Family Histories and Biographies

FAMILY HISTORIES Alexander, Frank (1833-1925) et al by W.O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Baker and Kaiser Papers, 2 vols collected by C.R. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Baker, George (b 1782) by C.R. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Baker, George and Descendants by Douglas Blakeney, 2001

FAMILY HISTORIES Baker, Hogg and Jones Families, 2 vols by Cecil R. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Beall, Walter (1590-1653) et al by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Beaver, Elizabeth Blakeney biography by Minnie Beaver Rivers, 1926

FAMILY HISTORIES Blakeney Ancestors by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES  Blakeney and Associated Families by Cecil R. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Blakeney, Baker and Holliman Alabama Biographies contributed by Adolph Blakeney

One of the outstanding Blakeney historians and novelists is Reed Blakeney of Georgia.  Here in 2013, I hold one of his novels entitled Sipsey, the story of some Blakeney ancestors in Fayette, Alabama.  Yes, Hollimans, the Blakeney's Alabama farm neighbors and blood kin, are mentioned in this pager turner.

FAMILY HISTORIES Blakeney's Irish Heritage

FAMILY HISTORIES Blakeney, James A. House, Mecklenburg, NC

FAMILY HISTORIES Blakeney, John (1732-1832) et al

FAMILY HISTORIES Blakeney, Thomas and Descendants by Reed Blakeney

FAMILY HISTORIES Blakeneys of Smith County, Mississippi

FAMILY HISTORIES Blakeneys, Ten Generations by Rob Blakeney

FAMILY HISTORIES Boddington, Henry of Cuddington, Buckinghamshire, contributed by Lindsay Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Bryant Back Trails by Lazelle Parsons Long

FAMILY HISTORIES Bryant Family History by Maxine Wright

FAMILY HISTORIES Bryant Family Tree by Annabell  Wishart Lane, 1954

FAMILY HISTORIES Bryan(t)s of Kentucky and Mississippi

FAMILY HISTORIES Bullock and Holliman lineages by Maxine Wright

FAMILY HISTORIES Burns, Fox and Dover Families

FAMILY HISTORIES Champion, Edward (b 1610) et al

Maxine Wright of Arkansas is prolific in her research and always willing to share.  Her Holliman line stems from 19th Century Alabama and Tennessee.

FAMILY HISTORIES Clemmons-Holliman lineage by Maxine Wright

FAMILY HISTORIES Cofer Families by Maxine Wright

FAMILY HISTORIES Curtis, Dr. James (1819-1882) et al

FAMILY HISTORIES Davidson, James A. (1788-1856) et al

FAMILY HISTORIES Davies, Samuel (1725-1815) et al

FAMILY HISTORIES De Mallpas (1240) ca

FAMILY HISTORIES Douglas, Scottish Ancestor

FAMILY HISTORIES Edwards, William (1605-1673)

FAMILY HISTORIES Egertons et al, Middle Ages to Am. Revolution by W.O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Emerson, Fitzhugh, Fowlehurst and Gonson Families by W.O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Fox Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Glavan, Marilyn Wilson Lineage

FAMILY HISTORIES Graves and Gray Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Guins of Lamar Co., AL

FAMILY HISTORIES Guyton, Joseph of S.C. Ancestors by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Hall, Hawkins and Crockett Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Hendrix Family by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Hogg, Baker and Jones Families and Records by Cecil R. Holliman, 1980

FAMILY HISTORIES Holleyman Family of South Carolina

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Cecil R. - Immediate Ancestors, 1976

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Cecil R. Notes from 1750 to 1900 on SC and AL Hollimans

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Cecil R. My Family in 13 Parts

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Cecil R. papers compiled by Maxine Wright

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Charles, Warren and Cornelius by Kay Blevins

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Cornelius (d 1864) by Maxine Wright

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Cornelius materials

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Cornelius 1812 military record

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, David (d 1818)

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, David 1819 Will by Maxine Wright

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Elijah (d 1836) records by Maxine Wright

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Ezekiel information by Maxine Wright

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Henrietta lineage

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, James Franklin Children by Sara Hall Holliman Hatch

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, John Newton Hall Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, John Thomas (1844-1930) biography by Rhodes B. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Joshua by J. H. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Leon O'Lenthus Family

FAMILY HISTORIES Hollimans in CSA by Rhodes B. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Mary Lucas (1819-1913), Two Biographies

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Rhodes B. (1928-2014) lineage

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, David Fannin and Trogno Family

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Uriah and Family of Alabama

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Walt O. relations

FAMILY HISTORIES Holliman, Warren C., the Walters and Bryant Records from the Collections of Victoria Boune, Maxine Wright and Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Hollyman, Edward of Wigginton, near Tring, England

FAMILY HISTORIES Holymans of Hertfordshire, England by Glenn N. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Howard, Judkins and Love Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Jones Families of Fayette and Walker Counties, AL, Cecil R. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Jones, Keeping Up With The by Cecil R. Holliman 1970s ca

FAMILY HISTORIES Juston, Eddy Smith of Fayette Co., AL lineage

FAMILY HISTORIES Lees of England, a folder

FAMILY HISTORIES Lucas Genealogy and other Families

FAMILY HISTORIES Manfield, Manwaring, McBee and McKnight Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Moore, Nicholson and Odell Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Oliver Families by Walt O. Holliman

Below meeting in California in 2011, Glenn Holliman and Tina Peddie, the communications guru who has brought hundreds of Hollyman descendants together on her Yahoo chat room and Facebook Hollyman page.

FAMILY HISTORIES Peerce, Petite and Petway by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Plyler Family records

FAMILY HISTORIES Ridgely Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Riggan Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Roberts Family by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Roberts, Sarah lineage by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Smith, Col. John by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Spencer, Sprigg, Sandley by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Steward, Wm. M Civil War letters, Fayette Co., AL

FAMILY HISTORIES Thompson, Thorton and Trelawney by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Tring, England Hollimans by Anne Holmes 2013

FAMILY HISTORIES Walker Families of Alabama by Cecil R. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Walker, James (b 1765)

FAMILY HISTORIES Wallace, Walters and Whitaker Families by W.O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Walters, Easter Holliman research by Cecil R. Holliman, 2 vols

FAMILY HISTORIES Walters Families by Cecil R. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Weedon Family Records of England

FAMILY HISTORIES Whitten Family by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Williams, Wilmont and Wilson Families by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Wilson Family History by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Wilson Families of Fayette Co, AL from Heritage Pub.

FAMILY HISTORIES Wilson Family of Pendleton

FAMILY HISTORIES Wilson, Joel by Walt O. Holliman

FAMILY HISTORIES Yerbys of Fayette County, AL

Cecil R. Holliman (1902-1986), outstanding attorney in Birmingham, Alabama and exhaustive family researcher in the pre-Internet age.  Picture taken in 1919 at Marion Military Institute, Alabama.  Father of Rhodes B. Holliman.

Family Records and Research

Alabama Records pertaining to Hollimans, a folder

Alabama Family Union Soldiers by Cecil R. Holliman 1964

Anson Co., NC Records

Auiler, Patsy Holliman emails to/from Rhodes B. Holliman

Baker, Hogg and Jones Family Records, Vol. 2 by Cecil R. Holliman

Baker and Kaiser Papers by Cecil R. Holliman 1960s ca

Baker, Prof. Jacob H. letters to Cecil R. Holliman

Bedfordshire, England Notes by Glenn N. Holliman

Blakeney 2003 Reunion and Ancestral History

Blakeney's Irish Heritage

Blakeney Notes by Deanna Adams Holm and Rhodes B. Holliman

Blakeneys Irish Notes by Rhodes B. Holliman 1999

Blakeney, James  A. House, Mecklenburg, NC

Blakeney Notes by Rhodes B. Holliman

Blakeney Notes and Tables by Walt O. Holliman 1995 ca

Bryant and Holliman Deeds and Wills, other Histories by Walt O. Holliman

Bryant Families Deeds and Wills by Maxine Wright

Bryant, James Family Here and There by Lazell P. Long, 1989

Bullock, Chester papers

Bullock Family Notes

Burns, Fox and Dover Families

Civil War Letters of Wm. M. Stewart to Biddy Stewart, Fayette Co., AL, 1860s

Chesterfield Co., SC

Choctaw Co., MS

Cousin Emails by Maxine Wright

CSA Alabama Military Records for Hollimans

41st AL, CSA Regt.. H Co. Roster, 30 May 1862

41st Al CSA Regt., H and B Co. Rosters

41st AL CSA Regt. on Warren Holliman by Juanita Holliman

Hatch, Sarah Hall Holliman lineage

Herfordshire Holymans of England by Glenn N. Holliman

Hollimans and Blakeneys in Fayette Co., AL Cemeteries 1999

Holliman, Bessie Moore

Holliman, Cecil R. Notes on Alabama and S.C. Hollimans

Holliman, Cecil R. Notes from 1750 to 1900

Holliman, Cornelius 1812 Records

Below, Jeanette Holiman Stewart of Texas visits in 2013 Bob Hollyman-Mawson in Wales.  Jeanette is the keeper of the 20,000 plus names in Hollyman Ancestry.com Tree.  Bob is the British expert on his ancestors in Bristol, Somerset and Wales.  He also has a vast collection of names and histories of international Hollymans.

Holliman, David by Tina Peddie and Jeanette Holiman Stewart

Holliman, David by Tina Peddie

Holliman, David will d 1819 by Maxine Wright

Holliman, Elijah by Maxine Wright Holliman

Holliman, Isaac and Mollie by Hollis McCoy, Texas 1985

Holliman, James Franklin Holliman papers

Holliman, J.F. and Dr. Joshua, Notes by John H. Holliman 1964

Holliman, James F. papers

Holliman, James Grantson 1800 and 1810 census

Holliman, James Grantson lineage by Walt O. Holliman 1995

Holliman, James Grantson Revolutionary War Pension

Holliman, Juanita's notes and emails to Rhodes B. Holliman,, early 2000s

Two avid Holliman researchers, Joe Parker, left and Lynn Holliman, right, both of Texas, compared notes in 2011 in Fayette, Alabama, a root county for many Texas Hollimans.

Holliman, Marriages 1609-1938 by Joe Parker
Holliman Names and Associated Families with Index, 2 Parts by Cecil R. Holliman

Holliman, Spellings, Six Parts by Cecil R. Holliman

Holliman, Rhodes B. 1942-45 School Days photographs

Holliman, Rhodes B. Ancestor Photographs, 1999

Holliman, Rhodes B. Emails on Blakeney Families 2000 ca

Holliman, Walt O. Relations

Holliman, Walt O. Emails to Rhodes B. Holliman 2000 ca

Holliman, Warren, the Walters and Bryant, Elizabeth records from collections of Victoria Boune, Maxine Wright and W.O. Holliman

Hollimans in the CSA by Rhodes B. Holliman

Hollimans who fought in Wars

Holyman, Christopher 1684 patent, Library of  Virginia

Holyman, Christopher (1618-1691) some records

Holyman, Christopher (1618-1691) some descendants

Left, Peter and Maureen Smith of Bedfordshire first opened new vistas to Hollyman history in England in 2012. 

Below, in 2014, Barbara, Madeleine and Lindsay Holliman, visited with Carolyn Stonham, left, at Hollyman manor farm from the 16th century in Cuddington, Buckinghamshire, another breakthrough event in understanding Holliman English heritage.

Holyman Name, English Origin

Itawamba Co., MS Records

Lamar Co., AL Records

Lancaster Co., SC Records

Marion Co., AL Records
Mississippi Hollimans Notes

Mecklenburg Co., NC

Moore, Bessie letters by Maxine Wright

Noyall and Richard Holliman, Isle of Wight, VA documents

Rowan Co., NC Records

Somerset Family Tree of England by Bob Hollyman-Mawson

Tuscaloosa Co., AL Records

Wake Co., NC Records

Walker Co., AL Records

Walker Family names

Walters, Easter Holliman notes collected by Cecil R. Holliman

Wilson and Hughes Creek Nation Passports

Virginia Early Records by Maxine Wright

Walter O. Holliman, Jr., below, (1926-2003) left us a magnificent library of manuscripts, right, of his Holliman lineage and his associated families. 

His children bequeathed his genealogical materials to me, and I remain grateful for the opportunity to pass along his valuable research to future generations.

Histories

All Spellings of Holliman by Cecil R. Holliman, six parts

Boddinton, Henry of Cuddington, Buckinghamshire by Lindsay Holliman

Bryant Back Trails by Lazelle Parsons Long

Civil War Letters of Wm. M. Stewart to Biddy Stewart, Fayette, AL

Clemmons-Holliman Family History

Cofer Family History

Holliman, Edward of Wiggington, near Tring, Hertfordshire

Holliman Family History by Cecil R. Holliman

Holliman, James Franklin, Recollections of Children by Sarah Hall Holliman Hatch

Holliman Names and Associated Families by Cecil R. Holliman

Holliman, Rhodes 1942-1945 Memorabilia of Woodlawn High, B'ham, AL

Holliman, Richard of Haddenham, England by Lindsay Holliman

Hots Springs, AK and Holimans by Maxine Wright

In 2013, then 93 year old Bishop Holliman gave an oral history interview to historians in Irondale, Alabama, his home from his birth in 1919 until he left for World War II.  He now lives in Avilla, Indiana, age 95. 

Irondale, AL, Memoir of by H. Bishop Holliman 2013

Irondale, AL Further Memories of the 1930s by H. Bishop Holliman 2014

Lee Brasses at Dinton, Buckinghamshire, England

Below, in 2014 Anne Holmes in Cuddington, Buckinghamshire, English with Hollimans on the historic medieval farm of the 15th century Hollyman family.  A professional genealogist, Anne has been superb in locating and translating Hollyman and Lee families documents. 

St. Mary's Parish, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England

Shepherd Baptist Church, Newtonville, AL

Tring, Hertfordshire Hollimans by Anne Holmes

Please email glennhistory@gmail.com for copies of the above or if you wish to contribute materials yourself.

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 XXXVIII

by Glenn N. Holliman


Questions Concerning Those English Ancestors...


In previous posts, I shared some startling information provided by the research of Bob Hollyman-Mawson of Wales that my generation's tenth great grandfather was quite possibly Thomas Holyman of Cuddington, Buckinghamshire. 


This Thomas, whose will was probated in 1558 in Cuddington, is of the same family that produced two outstanding Roman Catholic and Protestant leaders in the 16th and 17th centuries.


So what additional must be done to drive even deeper into the Holyman past?  Being a Holliman, I made a list and here it is.

1. Learn more about Christopher Holyman who died in 1588, the suspected grandfather of our Christopher Holliman who died in 1691 in Virginia.

2. Study carefully the original will of Thomas Holyman (1558) of Cuddington, Buckinghamshire.

3. Discover the name and details of this Thomas Holyman’s father and ancestors.

4. Ascertain how long the Holyman family had been in the Cuddington, Buckinghamshire area.  Additional information is now surfacing from another source, family genealogist Peter Smith of Bedfordshire, suggesting that the Holyman’s may have originated in London.  So it is back to the Buckinghamshire Archives I will be going, probably with the assistance of my good friend below.

Above, in the fall of 2011, family historian Peter Smith and his wife, Maureen, discuss English history with the writer at the Swan Inn, Swinbrook, England.  The photograph in the back ground is of the famous Mitford family that lived in Swinbrook in that lovely part of England called the Cotswolds. 


Peter believes the Hollyman families emerged from the London area before moving north and west to Buckinghamshire, Herfordshire, Worcestershire and Somerset during the late Middle Ages.


5. Discover how connected  Bob Hollyman-Mawson’s family, whose origins are in the Bristol and Somersetshire, England area of the middle 1600s, is to the Buckinghamshire Holymans.  Below, Fred Cooper, left, of Bristol, England, another Hollyman genealogist, discusses outside of his home November 2011 with this writer his thoughts on Somerset Hollymans.  Fred has written a 400 page tome (which I am holding) on his research into the family since the 1600s.  Soon, I will be sharing Fred's incredible research with readers.

But before exploring the probable Somerset and Buckinghamshire Holyman connections and Fred's excellent work, let’s continue our close look at the Holyman’s of Cuddington….

When We Were English, Part XXXVII

Additional Evidence of Buckinghamshire Roots

By Glenn N. Holliman

This article continues my series on Holliman English Roots and my 2011 revealing visit with another Holliman genealogist, Bob Hollyman-Mawson of Carnarvon, Wales.  The photo below captures Bob along the Carnarvon waterfront.  Bob has always felt the call of the sea serving aboard a British aircraft carrier in the 1960s.  During my visit to his sea port city in late 2011, we explored our families' histories.

In previous articles at this site, I have presented evidence that American Hollimans have English roots.  A quick summary of my thesis is as follows:

- Christopher Holyman, Sr., who arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1650 and died in 1691, had been born in 1618 in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England,  (My generation’s 7^th great grandfather)

- and that his father was Thomas Holyman of Bedford, who was schooled and raised in the  late 1500s in nearby Sherington, Buckinghamshire, and is listed in his father’s will as a second son, (If this thesis be correct, Thomas is my 8^th GGF)

- and that Thomas’s father was one Christopher Holyman whose will was administered in Sherington, Buckinghamshire in 1589, (Making this Christopher my 9^th GGF)

- and now thanks to information provided by Bob Hollyman-Mawson, the above Christopher, according to his will, died in 1588 in Cuddington, Buckinghamshire, evidently Christopher’s childhood home and the location of a prominent Holyman family.

- and further in 1558, one Thomas Holyman died in Cuddington and in his will left legacies to several children, one being a Christopher Holyman!  Serious question – is this Christopher Holyman the gentle man who died in 1588 in Cuddington and whose will was proved in Sherington, 30 or so miles north, the same Christopher listed in this 1558 will? 

                                       

Right, Bob Hollyman-Mawson shows a display and photographs of his Hollyman research. He has in hand information from the original records concerning the wills of Christopher Holyman (1589) and Thomas Holyman (1558), both of Buckinghamshire, England. 


Bob is a post-graduate of the University of Wales, Bangor where he earned an honours degree in Linguistics with the English Language as well as a Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.  He is fluent in the Welsh language, still spoken by over a million persons.

Is this Thomas Holyman who died in 1558 in Cuddington my generation’s 10^th great grandfather?!

If so, then we seem to have found the missing piece of evidence tying the American Holymans to the paradoxical families of The Rt. Rev. John Holyman, Roman Catholic Bishop of Bristol, and enemy of the Reformation and Ezekiel Holyman, a Nonconformist and a founder of the Baptist Church in Rhode Island, USA!

Next posting, the quest continues....

When We Were English, Part XXIV

Back to England for More Research!

by Glenn N. Holliman

As I have written in earlier posts, in the spring of 2010, my wife and I did considerable research on the Holyman family in the Tring, Hertfordshire and Cuddington, Buckinghamshire areas of England.  The two villages are approximately a dozen or so miles apart, and in the 15th to 17th Centuries contained families named Holliman (Hollyman, etc.)

A highway leads from Cuddington, Buckinghamshire through the English countryside.  The Rt. Rev. John Holyman and other Holymans were born in Buckingham, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire in the 1400s and 1500s.  More and more evidence suggests these persons are the ancestors of the Virginia Hollimans of the 17th Century.

As described several of these Holymans became prominent; one The Rt. Rev. John Holyman (1495 – 1558) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bristol, England and was caught up in the English Counter Reformation.  Another Holyman, Ezekiel, a great nephew of Bishop Holyman, ironically helped found the Baptist Church in Rhode Island.

Additional research by cousins in the States in 2010 revealed parish records of St. Mary’s in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England that registered a Holliman family that in the early 1600s gave birth to children named, among others, Christopher (b 1618)  and Judith ( b 1621)).  Two persons with these names migrated to Jamestown, Virginia in 1650. 

Judith disappears to history (probably married to one of the surplus males in the colony) and Christopher to marry, have six children and prosper financially.  He left a plantation of 1,020 acres at his death in 1691, and is credited with being the founder of all the Hollimans and various spellings in the now United States. 

And So to Bedfordshire
So in the spring of 2011, my wife and I sailed to England to research further the Holliman family (with its various spellings). In addition to American cousins doing considerable research, we have been assisted by a family researcher in Bedfordshire, one Peter Smith, seen below in the photo with the author in May 2011.  We are reviewing materials over lunch at the Swan Hotel in Bedford, Bedfordshire, north of London.

In May 2011, two couples met at the historic Swan Hotel in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England to review genealogical materials pertinent to the Holyman family.  John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, lunched here in the middle 1600s.  Left to right are Maureen Smith, Barbara Holliman, my wife, Peter Smith, a family historian and member of the local genealogical society, and yours truly.  One can observe that not all family history research and sharing occurs in a musty archives.  More of that later.

Peter had not found (nor did I) Holymans in Bedford before the 1609 marriage of Thomas Holyman, and the subsequent birth of his children.  Peter, in his research, however, had found a John Holman born 1560 in Woburn, Bedfordshire, approximately 15 miles south of Bedford and 15 miles north of Tring, Hertfordshire.  This John married early – 1575, but no wife is named.

While young, it may have been a required marriage as one Thomas Holiman was born in Woburn in 1576.  Two other children are recorded of that marriage – Robert, b 1581 and Joan, 1586, both born in Woburn.    Hmmm…..interesting.  Could this Thomas be Christopher Holyman, Sr.’s father?  Some believe this Woburn, Bedfordshire Thomas is an ancestor of ours.

Next posting in Woburn, Bedfordshire....