2. WILLIAM HEATH, born say 1550-1555, arid probably the eldest son in the family, was buried at Ware 7 January 1624/5. The name of his wife has not been learned. *
That William, and not either of his brothers Robert or John, was the father of the next generation of Heaths in Ware is strongly suggested by the fact that he inherited his father's house there, to the exclusion of his brothers. He was probably well established there already. Although the Ware parish registers do not include the name of the father of children baptized there in the period 1581-1604, the spacing of the baptisms strongly implies that there was only one Heath family having children in the parish in the 1580s and 1590s. Beginning in 1604, the baptismal registers include the father's name, and that year William's son Thomas was baptized there. Chronology suggests that this was William Heath's last child.
Significantly, no further children for this William appear in the registers of either Ware or Great Amwell.
* A William Heath, merchant taylor, m. at St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, London, 28 Feb. 158[4/]5, Ellen (____) Swanton, widow of Thomas Swanton of the parish of Whitechapel; an Ellen Heath m. there 17 Jan. 1593/4, Stephen Wylde (Allegations for Marriage Licences Issued by the Bishop of London 1520 to 1610, Publications of the Harleian Society, 25 (London, 1887], 137); Hallen's London City Church Registers, III St. Botolph, Bishopsgate [London, 1895], 19, 26,115). This William, however, had a son Robert bp. at St. Botolph 4 Dec. 1586, which appears to be inconsistent with the baptism of Isaac Heath, the New England immigrant, at Ware 13 Feb. 1586/7.
Probable children; surname Heath:
i. JOHN, bp. at Ware 5 Aug. 1581; d. probably young, before 25 July 1591 when another son was named John.
ii. ALICE, bp. at Ware 22 Dec. 1583; buried at Great Amwell 10 Oct. 1640; probably the Alice Heath who m. there 19 Sept. 1614, as his first wife, NATHANIEL LARKE of Amwell Street, Great Amwell, who was buried there 24 Feb. 1648/9, having survived his second wife, Annis , by only a few days. He was one of the overseers of the will of Thomas Johnson of Ware, dated 13 Aug. 1639, proved 9 Feb. 1640 (ERO, D/ABW 57/46). Children bp. and bur. at Great An twell; surname Larke: 1. Elizabeth, bp. 23 July 1615; bur. 9 Aug. 1615. 2. Mary, bp. Sept 1616; bur. 8 Oct. 1616. 3. John, bp. 2 Nov. 1617. 4. Mary, bp. 7 Feb. 1618/9; bur. 4 June 1619. 5. Elizabeth (twin), bp. 2 April 1620. 6. Mary (twin), bp. 2 April 1620. 7. Nathaniel, bp. 3 June 1621; bur. 12 Oct. 1622. 8. Joseph (twin), bp. 20 Oct. 1623. 9. Benjamin (twin), bp. 20 Oct. 1623; bur. 6 March 1645/6. 10. Susan, bp. 1 June 1625; bur. 12 April 1626. 11. Nathaniel, bp. 15 Sept. 1626; bur. in Sept. 1626. (By his second wife, A.nnis, Nathaniel Larke had: Susanna, bp. 21 Oct. 1642 and Rebecca, bp. 2.3 Feb. 1643/4.)
iii. ISAAC1, bp. at Ware 13 Feb. 158~7; d. at Roxbury, Mass., 21 Jan. 166W1 aged about 75 years; m. at Ware, Herts., 14 Jan. 1628/9, ELIZABETH MILLER, bp. at Bishop's Stortford, Herts., 3 March 1593/4, bur. at Roxbury 14 Jan. 1664/5 aged about 70 years, daughter of Thomas Miller, gentleman, and his wife Agnes. (For information about the Miller family, see Spencer Miller, "The Millers of Bishop's Stortford, " in New York Genealogical and Biographical Record [hereinafter NYG BR], 70[1939]:148.)
Elizabeth was sister of the immigrants Agnes, wife of Robert Burnap, and Margaret, wife of Thomas Waterman. On 22 Dec. 1630, Isaac Heath witnessed the will of Agnes Porter, widow, of Ware (ERO, D/ABW 50/101), whose stepson, Edward Porter, arid stepdaughter, Elizabeth Porter (later wife of Heath's nephew, Isaac Johnson of Roxbury, Mass.), immigrated to New England.
Isaac Heath came to New England in 1635 on the ship Hopewell, with his wife Elizabeth, one child, and a cousin, Martha Heath. Upon landing, he proceeded to Roxbury where William Heath was already settled; he represented the town in the General Court in 1637 and 1638. In 1637 he was chosen Ruling Elder of the Roxbury church, and held that position until his death. He was one of the founders of the Roxbury free school in 1645. (For more information, see Davis, Ancestry of Annis Spear, 29-31.)
Children, bp. at Ware, Hens.; surname Heath: 1. Elizabeth, bp. 7 Feb. 1629/30; d. at Roxbury. Mass., 6 July 1655 aged
25; m. there 2 April 1649, as his second wife, John Bowles of Roxbury. Their four children included John Bowles, Jr. (1653-1691), who became Speaker of the Massachusetts General Court. 2. Isaac, bp. 13 May 1632; buried at Ware 21 June 1632.
iv. GEORGE, bp. at Ware 4 Aug. 1588, apparently named for his uncle, George
Heath, who died the previous month. No further record.
v. WILLIAM1. baptism not found at Ware, l-Ierts.; bur. at Roxbury, Mass., 30 May 1652. Peter Walne, County Archivist for Hertfordshire, suggests that William may have been born at Great Amwell during the pe
268 The Heath Connection JULY
nod, Oct. 1586 to May 1590, when there is a gap in the records (Register, 122:21). If so, his birth would necessarily be in early to mid-1590, in order to fit his birth between his brothers George and John; such spacing is consistent with the date of his first marriage and the birthdate of his first wife. He m. (1) at Great Amwell, 10 Feb. 1616/7, MARY CRAMPHORNE [sic], bp. at Sawbnidgeworth, Herts., 16 Jan. 1592, bur. at Great Amwell 24 Nov. 1621, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Lyndesell) Cramphorne. He m. (2) at Gilston, Herts., 22 Jan. 1622/3, MARY PERRY, bp. at Sawbridgeworth 27 June 1602, bur. at Roxbury, Mass., 15 Dec. 1659, daughter of John and Mines (Peerce) Perry.
William Heath immigrated in 1632 on the ship Lyon, with his wife, Mary, and five children. He became a prominent figure in Roxbury, representing the town in the colony s first General Court on 14 May 1634 and in the courts of 1637,1639, and 1640 through 1642. (For additional information, see Davis, Ancestiy of Annis Spear, 32-34.)
Children; surname Heath, by first wife, Mary Cramphorne: 1. Mary, bp. at Great AmweIl 10 May 1618; living, urtin. in 1652, probably an invalid or incompetent 2. Isaac, bp. at Great Aniwell 21 May 1620; d. at Roxbuxy, Mass., 29 Dec. 1694; m. there 16 Dec. 1650, Mary Davis. 3.Daughter, stillborn, bur. at Ware 27 Nov. 1623. by second wife, Mary Perry, bp. at Nazeing, Essex: 4. Peieg, bp. 30 Jan. 162415; d. at Roxbury, Mass., 18 Nov. 1671; m. Susanna (prob. Barker). 5. Mary, bp. 2 Sept. 1627; d. at Brainfree, Mass., 7 Dec. 1674; m. ca. 1643 George Spear. (See Verne Raymond Spear, The Descendants of George Spear who settled at Braintree, Massachusetts 1642- 7988 [West Hawley, Mass., 1988], 17-18.) 6. Hannah, bp. 5 Nov. 1629; m. Isaac Jones of Dorchester, Mass. vi. JOHN, bp. at Ware 25 July 1591; prob. the John Heath bur. there 20 Jan. 1594/5. vii. MARY, bp. at Ware 24 March 1593/4; bur. there 15 May 1629; m. there, 21 Sept. 1613, as his first wife, JOHN JOHNSON. He immigrated in 1630 to New England, where he settled in Roxbury, Mass. See Part Two below.
viii. PRUDENCE, bp. at Ware 6 Nov. 1597; m. at St. Mary Mounthaw, London, 25 Oct. 1622, EDWARD MORRISON of Ware and Great Amwell. See Part Three below.
ix. THOMAS, bp. at Ware 1 Oct. 1603; prob. the Thomas Heath bur. there 5 Oct 1603.
x. THOMAS, bp. at Ware 30 Sept. 1604, "son of William Heath"; m. at Great Amweli, 9 April 1627, ELIZABETH MUMFORD. They lived at Great Amwell, Ware, and Watton at Stone, Herts.
children; surname Heath: 1. and 2. Twin Sons, bur. at Great AmwelI 19 Sept. 1627. 3. Isaac, bp. at Ware 29 Aug. 1628. 4. Elizabeth, bp. at Watton at Stone 14 Jan. 1630/1. 5. John, bp. at Watton at Stone 1 May 1633.
Printed from NEHG Register, Volume 146, July 1992, New England Historic Genealogical Society & Broderbund Software, Inc., Banner Blue Division, February 11,2002
HEATH JOHNSON MORRIS UPDATE:
THE ANCESTRY OF AGNES (CHENEY) HEATH
Douglas Richardson
In 1992, the present author published evidence that the immigrants Elder Isaac Heath and William Heath of Roxbury, Massachusetts, were sons of an earlier William Heath, Sr. (ca. 1555-1625) of Ware, HertfordshireJ11 Following publication of that article, the marriage of William Heth [sic] of Ware was found, in the parish of Waltham Abbey, Essex, on 9 June 1580, to Agnes Cheney.121 Subsequent research produced probate records identifying Agnes as the daughter of Robert and Joan (Harrison) Cheney, and making it possible to develop her ancestry in both paternal and mhternal lines as presented below.
New evidence on the Heath line has confirmed that William Heath, Sr., of Ware was the father of the immigrants Isaac and William. An inquisition taken at Ware, Hertfordshire, 20 June 1628, mentions an earlier indenture dated 20 March 1612/13 whereby Humphrey Spenser of Ware, gentleman, citizen, and haberdasher of London, and John Thorowgood of Ware, yeoman, acting as trustees, conveyed various properties to a large number of inhabitants of Ware, among them William Heath and Isaac his son.131
In the earlier article, it was shown that William Heath, Sr. was son of Edward Heath, collarmaker of Little Amwell in the parish of Ware, and his wife Alice. It has now been learned that a Robert Heath is listed on the 1545 subsidy roll for Little Amwell.141 From the chronology involved, and knowing that Edward Heath (ca. 1530-1593) named a son Robert, we may conclude that Robert Heath of Little Amwell was probably the father of Edward Heath of that place. Both Edward and Robert owned property at Little Amwell, and no other Heaths appear on the 1545 subsidy roll for this locale.
Douglas Richardson, author of numerous articles published in the Register and other major journals, is a professional genealogist specializing in colonial research, English origins, and medieval lines. His address is 216 West Buffalo St., #3, Chandler, AZ 85224.
1. Register, 146(1992]: 261-278.
2. Parish registers of Waltham Abbey, Essex (FHL microfilm 1,526,972). Record of this marriage was published in W. Winters, esq., Notices of the Pilgrim Fathers (Waltham Abbey, Essex, 1882), p. 60, and called to the attention of this author by Judith Miner Hine Luedemann of Roxbury, Corm.
3. Abstracted by W. J. Hardy in "The Charities of Hertfordshire" Middlesex Notes and Queries. Also listed is Adrian Porter, father of the immigrants Edward Porter and Elizabeth (Porter) Johnson of Roxbury, Mass. (see Register, 148[1994]:45-60).
4.Hertfordshire Genealogist & Antiquary, 1[1895]:275.
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