Joseph Underwood of Dorset

Biography

https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:John_Underwood_%2823%29

Joseph (not John) Underwood was born in 1585 in Dorchester, England, the child of Joseph and Mary. He married Rachel Edwards on April 25, 1607, in Dorchester, England.

They had one child during their marriage. He died on April 19, 1631, in Middlesex, England, at the age of 46. A previous version of this profile claimed, citing only an online tree, that he was the father of Great Migration-era immigrant Joseph Underwood. This Joseph did have a son Joseph, but the son remained and died in England.

"There was no John Underwood baptised in 1585 in Dorchester (at least in those register pages that still exist). Joseph Underwood was baptised at Holy Trinity in 1586, he was the son of John. Joseph Underwood married Rachael Edwards in 1607.They had 9 children, all baptisted at Holy Trinity Dorchester. They both died and were buried there.(Joseph in 1641) Joseph was a grocer, wealthy and well known member of the community and there are many mentions of him in town records and in the contemporary diary of William Whiteway I note that many merges ago one of the merged profiles was a Joseph I propose that either Ruth is detached from John and a new profile is created for her husband Joseph or John is once more changed to Joseph, a correct biography written and disconnected from his 'sons'. Joseph's father was John and probably born locally. We do not know his mother. Joseph and Ruth's children continued to live in Dorchester (England). Their son Joseph was not a migrant, he was a Parliamentary soldier until at least 1651."

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Apr 17 2018, 2:23:15 UTC
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Apr 17 2018, 2:27:20 UTC

John Underwood (son of Joseph Underwood) was born March 1585/86 in Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England, and died April 19, 1631 in London, Middlesex, England. He married Rachel Edwards on April 25, 1607in Holy Trinity, Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England.

More About John Underwood:

Christening: March 25, 1586, Holy Trinity Church, Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England.

More About John Underwood and Rachel Edwards:

Marriage: April 25, 1607, Holy Trinity, Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England.

Children of John Underwood and Rachel Edwards are

+Joseph Underwood, b. Abt. 1614, London, England, d. February 16, 1676/77, Watertown, MA.

The old church of Holy Trinity was taken down and rebuilt in 1824. It was an oblong structure but neither large nor ancient; it consisted of a nave, supported by five arches on each side and an aile to the south of equal length and height. The chancel occupied the middle of the nave and aile and was divided from the latter by rails. The tower was low and probably had not been raised after the fire of 1613 in which the former church was thought to have been consumed. It contained five bells and was adorned with battlements and pinnacles. The South aile was built after the union with Frome Whitfield the parishioners then being too numerous for the church. The whole church was neatly pewed and adorned with a handsome pulpit and gallery.

The present structure was completed in 1824. It is a very neat oblong building with the entrance at the West end which opens into a small vestible. It is very neatly pewed with the reading desk on one side of the communion table and the pulpit on the other. There is a spacious gallery on either side, and an organ at the West end. On each side of the entrance there is an octangualar turret, the southern one containing a clock. The

East window is of painted glass, very hansomely executed and below this and above the communion table there is a portrait of our Blessed saviour.

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In the 20th year of the reign of Ki

ng Richard II (i.e. 1397) a grant was obtained to found a fratenity dedicated to the Blessed Virgin , in this church. In the 1st year of the reign of King Henry IV (1399) a Chantry (or endowment) of t

he Blessed Virgin Mary (or B.V.M) was founded by John SYWARD. The Sarum registers are said to contain a list of nine chaplains or wardens of this chantry covering the period 1403 to 1541. In the 2nd y

ear of the reign of Edward IV (1547/8) the King in consideration of a payment of £149.11.9d granted to the burgesses of Dorchester and their successors a messuage and lands and twenty two other messu

ages, burgages (i.e. tenure of land held in return for service or annual rent) and gardens belonging to this chantry amounting to a yearly value of £6.9s.3d. In the eleventh year of the reign of Eliz

abeth I (1568) five tenements and eleven acres of land in Dorchester belonging to the chaplain in this church and in the occupation of the bailiffs were granted for 21 years to John HERBERT. The paris

h of Frome Whitfield was annexed to that of Holy Trinity by Act of Parliament in the 7th year of the reign of James I [1610] .

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The register of this church begins in 1559 and within i

t is inserted a memorandum :-

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"1651 - August 22nd, at night there was great thunder and lightening, such as has not been known by any living in this age, and there fell w

ith a great storm of hail, some of the stones of which were seven inches about, with abundance of rain, and it continued all night and great part of next morning, till eight or nine of the clock. That

same day were Mr LOVE and Mr GIBBONS beheaded".

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[Note:- The Rev Christopher LOVE MA was arrested by Oliver Cromwell's forces for his alleged involvement with a plan to raise money

for the restoration of the monarchy, a charge Love denied and held in the Tower of London. Both he and John GIBBONS who was a condemned prisoner at Newgate had their appeals rejected by parliament bei

ng mentioned in the House of commons Journal. They were both executed on 22 August 1651].

Monumental Inscriptions in the old Church:-

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On the south wall near the east end was

a mural monument of white marble:- "To the pious memory of Dorothy TURNER, widow late of this town. She died 9 Nov 1718, aged in years but much more in piety and virtue. Near this place also lies the

body of Katherine ROSE widow of Thomas ROSE late of this town MD. They were the only surviving sisters and co-heirs of John HURDING on Longbredy in this county Esq. by whose death that ancient and rel

igious family was extinct".

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At the south side of the church near the door, on a tablet in gold letters:- "To the memory of Mr Edward DASHWOOD of this parish who by his last will gave

to the poor of the parish within this borough of which he was thrice Mayor fifty pounds; the profit thereof to be annually and equally divided between them the 9th of March for ever. And also to the

poor of West Stafford, ten pounds to be distributed amongst them the same day". He died 5 Feb 1666 at the age of 78.

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There is also an elegant white marble tablet to the memory of Dr

William CUMING who practiced medicine in this town for forty-nine years and greatly assisted the Rev. J HUTCHINS in his elaborate history of Dorset