Richard Baker, of Ashford

• Richard Baker, of Ashford was not the same as Richard Baker, of Hoxton in Shropshire or as Richard Baker, of Willingham Hall, Suffolk
• not the husband of Margaret Baker
• He was not the father of Sarah Symmes or Anne Llewelyn or Richard Baker
• Evidence needed to support Richard Baker, of Ashford as son of Sir Thomas Baker & Griselda Baker

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Disambiguation

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L2X6-1P1

As best I can tell there are two men named Richard Baker being conflated here and I'd like to keep their profiles separate.

Sir Thomas Baker Knight of Willingham Hall, Suffolk left a will in dated 3 June 1622 probated 11 Apr 1625 (PCC 1625 PROB 11/145/767) naming eldest son Thomas Baker with "wardship of my son and heir" (who was under the age of 21), daughter Elizabeth unmarried, if she dies her portion to her brothers and a younger son Richard Baker. He also names his wife wife the Ladie Constance who he married in 1601. Lady Constance was his sole executrix. We know all three of these children were living in 1625 because they had a dispute about the estate and the eldest son Thomas prevailed.

Therefore we know for fact that in 1622 Sir Thomas Baker Knight of Willingham Hall, Suffolk had two sons both under the age of 21. One of them was named Richard Baker and would have been born say 1605-1610.

The other Richard Baker born say 1578 married say 1600 to Margaret Merry. This Richard Baker died before 7 September 1604 in Ashford, county Kent and his will names children Thomas, Joane, Joyce, and Mary Baker. Ashford, county Kent parish registers:

"1604 Sep 5 buried [Richard?} (Baker) householder."

"1604 (*most likely 1605) Jan 18 married Margaret (Baker), widow & John Harker."

"1623 Jan 22 married Joyce (Baker) & Nicholas Butler, widow."

"1625 Feb 1 married Mary (Baker) & Thomas Boulding."

This Richard who died in 1604 is not named Sir and his children were not named in the wills of Sir Thomas Baker, Knight or any of his close Baker relatives. While it is possible that Sir Thomas Baker Knight who died 1625 had two sons named Richard and seems far fetched. Furthermore it is something of a red flag that none of his children were named in the wills of Sir Thomas Baker Knight of Willingham Hall, Suffolk or any of the other close family with the surname Baker. And in the dispute over Thomas Baker's estate why were Richard Baker's children legatees. I don't think there is reason to believe that Richard Baker born say 1578 was a son of Sir Thomas Baker Knight of Willingham Hall, Suffolk who wrote his will in 1622.

Richard Baker, of Ashford, Kent, married Margaret, but not Margaret Elkes. Margaret Elkes was the wife of Richard Baker, of Hopton, Shropshire.

Last Changed: October 12, 2022
Roland Henry Baker III

Biography

Richard and Margaret Baker of Ashford, Kent

The following statement was printed in Banks' 1911 History of Martha's Vineyard and repeated in various online trees and millennium files, but cannot so far be verified with any other sources.

Nicholas Butler married "JOYCE BAKER, dau. of Richard and Margaret Baker of Ashford 22 Jan. 1623-4, who was bapt. 30 May 1602. Her father was a miller of Ashford and the family had resided in Kent for many generations."[1]

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https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L236-7BG

Joyce was baptised: "1602 May 30 Joyces (sic) dau of Richard Baker" at Stanford, Kent a village just 12 miles from Ashford.

Her father, Richard Baker, was a "householder" of Ashford who died in 1604. He was NOT a miller as far as I can ascertain, the miller was in fact Joyce's step father, John Harker (died 1647 Ashford), that her mother Margaret (nee Merry) married soon after her first husband Richard's death in 1605 (1604 Jan 18 old calendar).

The Administration of Richard Baker's will speaks of children: Thomas, Joane, Joyce, and Mary Baker. Thomas Baker supposedly mentioned his sister Joyce in a will 1626, to which Nicholas Butler was a witness.

Joyce migrated to America with her husband, Nicholas Butler, a widower whom she married in Ashford in 1623, and her three children (John, Henry, Lidia) and five servants from Eastwell, Kent on May 11, 1637. "Persons which have taken passage from Sandwich, Kent, England for the American plantations. Butler, Nocholas, of Eastwell, yeoman, Joyce his wief, children John, Henry, Lidia, and servants: John Pope, John Gill, Richard Jenkin, Margaret Angells, Christian Spice". [Sherwood, George. American Colonists in English Records (Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1961) Page 30]

Biographies “Butler Family of Massachusetts” Source: Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts, Cutler and Adams (1910).

Transcribed by SueAnn McKnight.

BUTLER

Nicholas Butler, immigrant ancestor, of Eastwell, England, a yeoman, according to his statement when coming to America, with his wife Joyce, three children and five servants, came from Sandwich, England, before June 9, 1637, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was a proprietor before September 10, 1637. Their names appear on the passenger list of the ship "Hercules," sailing June, 1637. He was admitted a freeman March 4, 1638-9, and is called "gentleman" on the records, a position one might suppose belonged to him from the number of servants. He was a town officer and leading citizen in Dorchester. He removed to Martha's Vineyard in 1651, when he gave a power of attorney to his son John for sale of lands, etc. He sold land in Roxbury in 1652. He died at Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, August 13, 1671. The will of Joyce, his widow, mentions her grandchildren John and Thomas Butler, Mary Athearn, and Hannah Chadduck and son Henry. Children: 1. Rev. Henry, schoolmaster of Dorchester in 1652, proposed for minister at Uncatie, England, 1656: settled at Seoul. Somerset, until August 24, 1662, later at Williamfray, five miles from Frome; persecuted by authorities.

2. John, mentioned below.
3. Lydia, married May 19, 1647, John Minot, of Dorchester.

Richard and Margaret Baker of Ashford, Kent

The following statement was printed in Banks' 1911 History of Martha's Vineyard and repeated in various online trees and millennium files, but cannot so far be verified with any other sources.

Nicholas Butler married "JOYCE BAKER, dau. of Richard and Margaret Baker of Ashford 22 Jan. 1623-4, who was bapt. 30 May 1602. Her father was a miller of Ashford and the family had resided in Kent for many generations."[1]

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References

1. Joyce Baker baptism. 30 May 1602, All Saints Church, Stanford, Kent, England. < FamilySearch > Her siblings Thomas and Joan were also baptized here.
2. Joyce Buttler & Nicholas Butler Marriage: Jan 22 1624 Appledore Parish, Canterbury Diocese, Kent, England Wife: Joyce Buttler Birth: Of This Parish Husband: Nicholas Butler Birth: Of This Parish Marital status: Widowed Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M01478-4 System Origin: England-EASy GS Film number: 1736522
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukes_County,_Massachusetts Dukes County was thus established as Dukes County, New York, on November 1, 1683, and included all of Mayhew's lands – Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands.
4. Ashford, Kent - Index of all known births, marriages and burials from c.1570 - late 1800's < KAS.org >
   1. Baker 1604 Jan 18 mar. . . . . Margaret, widow, & John Harker
   2. Baker 1623 Jan 22 mar. . . . . Joyce & Nicholas Butler, widow.
   3. Butler 1623 Jan 22 mar. . . . . Nicholas, wid., & Joyce Baker
   4. Butler 1624 Jan 2 bap. . . . . John, son of -do-.
   5. Butler 1625 Jul 24 bur. . . . . Lyddia, dau. of Nicholas
   6. Butler 1626 Sep 17 bap. . . . . Henry, son of -do-.
   7. Butler 1628 Feb 23 bap. . . . . Lyddia, dau. of Nicholas
5. The History of Martha's Vineyard by Dr. Charles E. Banks: Volume II Annals of Edgartown: pp. 54 - 58 Sketches of the Early Settlers: NICHOLAS BUTLER. < FamilySearch >
6. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Baker-3575 cites
   1. Banks, Charles Edward. The History of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts in Three Volumes. (Boston, George H. Dean, 1911), Vol. 3, Page 47
   2. Kent History and Library Centre. Plaintiff: John HARKER sen & Nich BUTLER exors; Defendant: Ursula VANNER rel; Documents: Alleg & sent; Case: Test Hy VANNER St Geo Cant (21 Jul 1631 ), DCb/J/J/50/223 < link >

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Aug 18 2017, 21:01:16 UTC
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Aug 18 2017, 21:02:27 UTC

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• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 23 2019, 22:44:17 UTC