Christopher Phillips, of Devon

Christopher Phillips, born on 17 June 1565 at Teignhead, Devon, England, son of John Phillips and Johann Watters. Perhaps the Christopherus Phillippi who was buried 1623 in Devon.

Do not confuse him with:

• Christopher Phillips, of Rainham (Norfolk).
• Christopher Phillips, of Stepney (London)

Information garbled by Richard Ripley

Christopher married Agnes Abram, daughter of Thomas Abram and Rachel Foote, on 26-Oct-1587 at Chichester, Sussex, England.
Christopher Phillips Collection: MyHeritage Family Trees Site name: Phillip Russell Anderson Web Site Site manager: Phillip Anderson Birth: June 17 1565 - Teignhead, Devon, England, England Death: Feb 3 1621 - West Rainham, St Martins, Norfolk, England Parents: John Phillips, Johann Phillips (born Watters) Wife: Agnes Phillips (born Abram) Children: John Phillips Links

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mabgeneal...

Christopher's occupation was According to "The Roads Taken".

Christopher Phillips was born about two years after William Shakespeare and died about two years before Shakespeare. Christopher and Shakespeare were born during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, last of the Tudor monarchs. There is no relationship between Christopher and the Queen; the detail is included for historical reference only. The Elizabethan Era in England produced much of value and beauty. Handel composed his music; Newton defined gravity; Sir Francis Drake destroyed the much more powerful Spanish fleet; William Shakespeare wrote his plays; Methodism and other Christian branches began to organize; and on it goes. There is, however a Phillips involvement with the Shakespeare family. Elizabeth Phillips married Richard Quinney, and they had a son, Thomas Quinney (1589-1662). Thomas married Judith Shakespeare on February 10 1615. Judith was a daughter of William Shakespeare. All of these details and connections may be found in this family tree. It is worth noting that the Hathaway family found in small numbers in this family tree, due to their marriages and relationships with the Phillips family of New England, descend from the same lineage as Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare. This lineage will be added to this family tree at some point. The family of Christopher Phillips is steeped in the lore of the founding of America. His son Thomas is found on the list of people who were to sail on the Mayflower in 1620. Thomas, for some reason, did not make the journey, and stayed the rest of his life in England. Two other sons, John and George, made the passage 10 years after the Mayflower, on ships of the Winthrop Fleet. Son William came to America, apparently not on the Winthrop ships, but by some other similar means, and raised his family, and died, in New England. The Phillips name appears throughout the records and chronicles of early America. Several of Christopher's descendants married direct descendants of Mayflower passengers, as noted as you work through this tree. At least one married a descendant of the namesake of the Winthrop Fleet, the first Governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop. While descendants and cousins of Christopher Phillips eventually spread throughout America, and can be found fighting in the Revolutionary War on the side of the new Republic, and others distinguishing themselves in the Civil War, a number maintained their original values, and remained loyal to England and their king. It should be remembered that loyalty to the King was a hallmark of the Phillips family. Picton Castle, the Phillips home, held out against Oliver Cromwell, who deposed and executed King Charles 1. This dates from the 1640s. More detail is found in the family tree; see notes in the file of Sir Erasmus Phillips. In the later Loyalist role after 1776, they undertook military and other roles, and were subjected to the mass expulsions of Loyalists which occurred when the new republic defeated England. With just a few possessions, they headed with their friends and cousins for Canada, where barren wilderness and hardship awaited them. Several family members were born during the actual days of exodus. One, John Phillips, was born on a ship, a private vessel accompanying the Apollo, captained by his father in 1783, in a hasty exit made from New York to Nova Scotia. It would be very sad if descendants hung their hats on a political pole. It is very important to some to prove that they were descended from patriots, and so be eligible to join DAR and other such organizations. To others, it is important to show that they were descended from loyalists, and thus make them eligible to join UEL. These past loyalities were of interest, and the organizations have generated many useful (and some dubious) records. With the Phillips family and others, the key to ancestry is not political affiliation. It is membership in this vast and very important family. As the Phillips cousins whose chose loyalty to England made their ways through America, they paused along the way, thinking that they had reached safe haven - for example in upstate New York. No one could know what the final borders would be. The strong and unbending pressures placed upon them by the Continental Army, noted several times in documents as you work through this family tree, made their lives miserable. Some family lines paused in Pennsylvania and others in upper New York State. But this was not sufficient. They had to eventually cross the lines of what became the modern borders of Canada. Once in Canada, they had to start over, pulling out the pioneering spirit and determination which had led them to America from England 150 years earlier. Phillips on both sides of the Canada/US border gave their lives in World War I and World War II. I have the musket owned by my great great grandfather, George Rex Phillips (born 1812).

Sources

• Richard Ripley, The Roads Taken: Records and Stories of Our Families (in Progress) (2003). unreliable
• http://www.conovergenealogy.com/dkcances/dkcances-o/p343.htm#i261255

Justin Swanström C 5/2/2015 at 2:53 AM Report

I need some help resolving the parent conflict for Rev. George Phillips, of Watertown.

If I'm reading the sources correctly, the Great Migration Project has established that George was son of Christopher Phillips, of Rainham (Norfolk) by an unknown wife. That much is apparently established by George's matriculation record at Cambridge University.

But there seem to be two Christopher Phillipses who have been confused.

First, Christopher Phillips, of Devon, born 1565 at Stoke In Teignhead, Devon, son of Rev. John Phillips and Johanna Watters. Almost every Internet source I've found says he married (1) 1587 Agnes Abram, and perhaps (2) 1614 Agnes Rice. By his first wife, he was supposedly the father of (among others) four sons: (a) Thomas, who was supposed to sail on the Mayflower but didn't; (b) William, the immigrant to Taunton; (c) George, the first minister at Watertown; and (d) John, who settled at Plymouth. This information apparently comes from a source called "The Roads Taken", available at Ancestry.com.

Second, Christopher Phillips, of Norfolk, born about 1565 at Rainham, Norfolk, son of William Phillips and Johane Houghton. When a wife it given for him, it is Elizabeth Lightfoot. I haven't been able to track down the source of this information, but it appears to be an attempt to develop an ancestry in Norfolk (where Rev. George was born) rather than linking him to a family on the other side of the country.

The only seemingly firm evidence I've been able to find is DNA test results. The descendants of Rev. George Phillips belong to a different subgroup than the descendants of his supposed brother William of Taunton. That means the two men were probably not brothers. If they were both sons of a Christopher Phillips, there must have been two different Christopher Phillipses.

Rev. George is such a prominent ancestor to so many American families I'm hoping that someone on Geni knows more about the problems around his ancestry and can help sort out the problem.
Erica Isabel Howton C 5/2/2015 at 3:43 AM Report

I can only give you a logic case.

William Phillips MP Birth: May 12, 1588 Kirkton-in-Holland, Lincolnshire, England Death: circa April 16, 1654 (61-69) Probably, Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts Immediate Family: Son of Christopher Phillips and Agnes Abrams

William & George are not brothers. Therefore George should be disconnected from the Christopher Phillips of Lincolnshire & his wife Agnes Abrams.

The other siblings should also be examined for geography & disconnected / provisionally connected accordingly.

Christopher Phillips, of Devon, born 1565 at Stoke In Teignhead, Devon, son of Rev. John Phillips and Johanna Watters. Almost every Internet source I've found says he married (1) 1587 Agnes Abram, and perhaps (2) 1614 Agnes Rice. By his first wife, he was supposedly the father of (among others) four sons: (a) Thomas, who was supposed to sail on the Mayflower but didn't; (b) William, the immigrant to Taunton; (c) George, the first minister at Watertown; and (d) John, who settled at Plymouth. This information apparently comes from a source called "The Roads Taken", available at Ancestry.com.