Jeffrey Ferris, of Greenwich - The Ancestors and Origins of Jeffrey Ferris (c.1610-1666)

I have uploaded a revised version of the Origins of Jeffrey Ferris to the Sources tab. This version includes separate sections on page 10 and 11 for William Ferrers-Ferris (aft.1547-1625) and the Virginia Company of London and Edward Ferrers (c.1573-1639), Mill Speculator and Member of the Crown Land Consortium.

Found a few interesting documents searching for different variations of Jeffreys names and searching for births in the 1500s:

Geffrye Farre (has similar name, and birth info however location doesnt sound familiar to me and born at a moderate time in relation to Jeffreys death as far as life expectancy)
Geffrye Farre
mentioned in the record of Margarete Farre
Name: Geffrye Farre
sex: Male
Daughter: Margarete Farre
Other information in the record of Margarete Farre
from England Births and Christenings
Name: Margarete Farre
Gender: Female
Christening Date: 19 Feb 1581
Christening Date (Original): 19 FEB 1581
Christening Place: LYDLINCH,DORSET,ENGLAND
Death Date: 16 Mar 1581
Father's Name: Geffrye Farre
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPL2-7X9

Gregorye Ferris (this individual only has a Christening and no death or marriage documentation but born around the right time and happens to have a name that could had changed in spelling due to illiteracy) [unlikely]
Gregorye Ferris
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Name: Gregorye Ferris
Gender: Male
Christening Date: 05 Apr 1603
Christening Date (Original): 05 APR 1603
Christening Place: ALL SAINTS,LEICESTER,LEICESTER,ENGLAND
Father's Name: William Ferris
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPCK-9CM

Sorry I think I misread Geffrye Farre page

Glad to see you are looking for pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. We may not know where they fit, but at least they are available to ponder. And, you are right to consider name variations which could be misspellings.

Jeffrey is such a unique name, finding Geffrye Farre in Lydlinch, Dorset is worth noting. Perhaps a transcriber forget to include an "s" at the end of the "Farre" surname. But given the location, even if he is a Ferris, he would more likely have descended from the Ferrers-Ferrises of Bere Ferrers in Devon. Let's keep this piece of the pizzle on the table. (This is the first time I have seen Geffrye spelled that way.)

Gregorye Ferris is obviously interesting because he was born in Leicestershire in 1603. He is probably an example of descendants of younger sons remaining in a location after the original family estate passed into ownership by other families. (Groby in Leicestershire passed to the Grey family in 1463.) Gregorye is not a typical Ferrers given name but his father's name, William, was. It would take some digging to determine where Gregorye fits on the Leicestershire Ferrers-Ferris family tree.

Thanks for finding these pieces of the puzzle.

Below is a revised descent tree for Roger Ferrers (1516-1579) and Margaret Badger. It adds a son Richard and a daughter Susan. It also names Edward's children as William, Thomas and Susan (perhaps Jordan). These additions arise from the 1639 Will of Edward Ferrers (c.1573-1639) available on Ancestry.com.

I should also note that a monument to William Ferrers-Ferris (aft 1547-1625; the Merchant Adventurer below) at Ash Church in Gloucester mentions his three wives and that while all of his children died before him, he left bequests to his three living grandchildren. (See my note above on 12/26/2017 at 5:24 PM.)

2-John Ferrers (1547-1622)
.+Eleanor Ferrers (1555-)
...3-Henry Ferrers (1579-)
...3-John Ferrers (1581-)
...3-William Ferrers (1583-)
...3-Dorothy Ferrers (1585-)
2-William Ferrers-Ferris (aft 1547-26 Sep 1625; Merchant Adventurer)
.+Three unknown wives
...3-Alice Ferrers (1586-3 Oct 1614)
....+John Halliday (d.1610)
....+Arthur Ingram (ca 1565-1642)
...3-William Ferrers (ca 1586-25 Aug 1625)
....+Jane Vanlore (-)
..... .4-Unknown son Ferrers (d.bef.1625)
..[3-Three unknown grandchildren of William Ferrers-Ferris were living at his death in 1625. Their parents are uncertain.]
2-Roger Ferrers (-)
.+Ann Walton (-)
...3-Thomas Ferrers (-)
....+Judith Raynton (-)
..... .4-Thomas Ferrers (-)
..... .4-William Ferrers (-)
..... .4-Rebeccah Ferrers (-)
2-Thomas Ferrers (aft 1547-)
2-Edward Ferrers-Ferris (ca 1573-1639; Mercer & mill baron)
.+Katherine Topsfeyld (-)
...3-William Ferrers (-)
...3-Thomas Ferrers (-)
...3-Susan (Jordan?) Ferrers (-)
2-Richard Ferrers (-)
2-Susan Ferrers (-)

Ferrers Family Records in London

William Ferrers-Ferris (d.1625), the Merchant Adventurer, owned Bromley Hall in an area of London now known as Tower Hamlets. Bromley Hall is about 2 miles north of the Greenwich palace, across the River Thames. Bromley hall was a popular hunting retreat and was used by Henry VIII in the 16th century. Bromley Hall had been occupied by John Blount, who served in King Henry VIII's court and whose teenage daughter, Elizabeth bore a son by King Henry VIII. Another earlier Elizabeth Blount was the great grandmother of Henry Ferrers (1549-1633), "the antiquary" who had been born at Baddesley Clinton in Warwickshire which is only about 20 miles from Tewkesbury.

William Ferrers-Ferris (d.1625) was also a member of All Hallows church on Lombard Street in London, near Aldgate where he was a regular donor. His children and grandchildren may have been married and/or baptised there. His brothers, such as Thomas and Edward, may also have been members. Unfortunately, All Hallows church burned during the Great London Fire of 1666 and was finally demolished in 1937. Records from the early 17th century, like those of the adventuring Ferrers-Ferris family, may have been destroyed in the Great Fire. But William Ferrers-Ferris (d.1625) was still listed in the "Receipts of Account" for All Hallows church in "The History and Survey of London," Vol II, William Maitland, (1756), p. 1056. So, some records did survive the fire. https://archive.org/details/historysurveyofl02mait

See my note above on 12/24/2017 at 10:51 AM

Bromley Hall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromley_Hall

All Hallows church: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Hallows_Lombard_Street

Great Fire of London: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London

Geni has me matched with several profiles who's surname is Hoyt and they claim them to be my 14th & 17th great grandfathers I dont know how the matches work on Geni works. I can attempt to message the profile managers about what our relation is exactly.

While tracking the Ferrers and Ferris surnames in England, I have not seen the surname Hoyt. I also do not know how the Geni profile matching works. But I will let you know if I do see the surname Hoyt.

Anne Ferrers-Ferris (1438-1468) and William Shakespeare's Richard III (1597 and 1634 Editions)

Anne Ferrers-Ferris (1438-1468) was the daughter of William Ferrers (c.1412-1450), the 6th Baron Ferrers of Chartley. Anne Ferrers-Ferris married Walter Devereux (c.1431-1485) who then became the 7th Baron Ferrers of Chartley. Walter Devereux died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 at which King Richard III was killed.

In the final scene of William Shakespeare's history play "The Tragedy of King Richard III," Richmond (Henry Tudor who became King Henry VII) asks "What men of name are slain on either side?" Darby (the Earl of Derby) then answers "John Duke of Norfolk, Walter Lord Ferris, Sir Robert Brakenbury, and Sir William Brandon." Shakespeare's "Walter Lord Ferris" was Anne Ferrers' husband Walter Devereux.

The first edition of the play, published in 1597, and a later edition published in 1634 both say "Walter Lord Ferris." Later editions, however, have changed the name to "Walter Lord Ferrers."

But to Shakespeare himself, the title (and surname ) was Ferris rather than Ferrers.

The first 1597 edition : http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/doc/R3_Q1/scene/5.5/#tln-3855

The 1634 edition: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=ukeMuYw8YpEC&printsec=f...

Ferris, Ferrys and Ferres in the 1530 Visitation of Sussex

A note to an entry about the Shirley family in the 1530 Visitation of Sussex reflects the evolution of the Fierriers-Ferrers surname to Ferris and Ferrys in the 16th century. That note states:

"...in the days of King Henry the first [reigned 1100-1135] & of K. Stephen [regined 1135-1154] ye elder Henry at yt tyme held of Sr Robt Ferris Lord of Tithery [Tutbury] fyve knights fyes in Darbish & Fulchr his brothr of ye same Sr Robt held 4 knights fyes in the sayd shire unto whome moreover Wm at that tyme Prior of Tithery gave 4 oxganges of lands in Shirley & Sr Robt ferris confirmed yt gift by his charter und seale ... who in the dayes of K. H.2 [reigned 1154-1189] acknowledged himself to hould ye same of Wm Erle ferrys as well as ye IX knights yt his fathr as the 4 that his uncull held of Sr Robt Ferris of Titbery."

The Visitations of the County of Sussex, 1530 and 1633-4, Benolte and Philipot (1905), p. 4. https://archive.org/stream/visitationscoun00owengoog#page/n4/mode/2up

Another entry for the Cooke-Cobert family notes the marriage of Francis Bohun to "Sibell d. of Wm. Ferres Erle of Darby [1193-1254]." Ibid. p.73. (William Ferres' wife was also named Sibyl and was the daughter of William Marshal (1146-1219) who was guardian to King Henry III and married to Isabel de Clare (1173-1220).

So, in the same 1530 work, the grandson of Henri de Ferriers (1036-1088)) is noted as Sir Robert Ferris (1090-1163), his great grandson is noted as Earl William Ferrys (1140--1190) and his third great grandson is noted as Earl William Ferres (1193-1254).

The Ferries-Ferris-Ferrers family of Fiddington, Ashchurch, Gloucestershire is very interesting. The spelling of the Ferrers surname in contemporary records for just one generation of this family (living from 1546 to about 1639) includes: Ferris, Ferries, Feries, Ferres, Ferrers, Ferryes, Ferrys and Farris.

Roger Ferrers (1516-1579) and his wife, Margaret Badger, apparently had fourteen children between 1546 and 1579. At least two of those children, William (c.1549-1625) and Edward (1573-1639), became wealthy merchant adventurers and politicians in London with interests in the Virginia and Plymouth Companies and extensive mill holdings throughout England. One of their nephews, Henry Ferrers (b.1579; son of brother John b.1547), became a merchant in Spain.

In addition, the mother, Margaret Badger, was the daughter of Giles Badger of Aschurch. A later Giles Badger (1610-1647) migrated to Massachusetts in the 1630's. The father, Roger Ferrers (1516-1579), was born in Corsham, Wiltshire about 25 miles from Manningford Bruce, Wiltshire where a "Jeffery Farris" married Dorothy Sleapsend in 1623. The baptism record (see below) for a daughter of Roger Ferrers and Margaret Badger, named Marget (b. 1568), shows her surname as "Farris," the same spelling as the Jeffery Farris who was married in Wiltshire.

Finally, Thomas was a common name in this family and a "Thomas Ferris" was killed in a massacre in Powhattan, Virginia in 1622 on a plantation owned by another London merchant adventurer in the Virginia Company (and shipping magnate) named Edward Bennett who was probably at least known to William (c.1549-1625) and Edward (1573-1639) Ferrers-Ferris-Ferries.

William Ferrers' (c.1549-1625) surname is shown as Ferris or Ferrys in contemporary records.

Edward Ferrers' (1573-1639) surname is shown on his baptism record as "Ferries" which is close to the spelling of Jeffrey Ferris' surname in contemporary American records as “ffereies” and “Firries.”

The foregoing sure is a lot of coincidence -- perhaps the base of a soup from which the American Jeffrey Ferris-ffereies-Firries may have emerged.

Below is Edward Ferrers-Ferries baptism record from FindMyPast. The same record appears on FamilySearch.org.

First name(s) Edwarde
Last name Ferries
Baptism date 17 May 1573
Place Ashchurch
County Gloucestershire
Father's first name(s) Roger
Father's last name Ferries
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Record set England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975

Also below is the baptism record for one sister in this family mentioned above, Marget Farris:

First name(s) Margett
Last name Farris
Baptism date 27 Dec 1568
Place Ashchurch
County Gloucestershire
Father's first name(s) Roger
Father's last name Farris
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Record set England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975

Below is a list of the children of Roger Ferrers (1516-1579) and Margaret Badger with their surnames spelled as they appear in their baptism records on both FindMyPast and FamilySearch.org. Those spellings include: Ferries, Feries, Ferres, Ferryes and Farris.

All of the records are for baptisms in Ashchurch, Gloucestershire, a village with only about 260 communicants in 1551. All of the records show the father's name as Roger. It seems unlikely there was more than one Roger Ferrers in Ashchurch during this period. BHO, Parishes: Aschurch (fn. 80) http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol8/pp172-188

You will note the repetition of the given names John and Thomas. I was unable to find any death or burial records that might suggest early deaths for any of these children. Nevertheless, separate baptism records do exist for each of them. At least one brother named Thomas was in Gloucester in 1625 because he erected a monument in Ashchurch to his elder brother William (see my note above on 12/26/2017 at 5:24PM).

There were no baptism records for the first four children: John (b.1547), William (c.1549), Roger (c.1551) and John (c.1554). But they do appear in "The Visitation of the County of Gloucester in the Year 1623," Chitty and Phillpot (1885), p. 59.

1547 John Ferrers
c.1549 William
c.1551 Roger
c.1554 John

[The following children appear in records on FindMyPast and FamilySearch.org.]

01 Mar 1555/6 Ann Ferries [This 1555 date is Julian but is 1556 Gregorian]
28 Sep 1558 Thomas Ferries
09 Oct 1560 Katherine Feries
30 Apr 1564 Walter Ferres
23 Dec 1566 Rychard Ferryes
27 Dec 1568 Marget Farris
10 Oct 1571 Thomas Ferries
17 May 1573 Edwarde Ferries
27 Aug 1576 Thomas Ferries
30 Aug 1579 Jhoane Ferries [Edwarde Ferries' (1573-1639) will mentions this sister]

FamilySearch.org also has a marriage record from Ashchurch for "Margereett Ferris" in 1595. Presumably, this is the "Marget Farris" (b.1568) above. Here is the record:

Margereett Ferris
England Marriages, 1538–1973
Name: Thomas Beale
Spouse's Name: Margereett Ferris
Event Date: 16 Jun 1595
Event Place: Ashchurch,Gloucester,England

In addition, FindMyPast has a marrige record for a "John Ferrers" of F[P]iddington, Glocester to Elenor at Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire (another Ferrers family home). Other sources indicate Elenor was a Ferrers and a cousin. See "Baddesley Clinton, its Manor, Church, and Hall," Rev. Henry Norris (1887), p. 119. Here is the record:

First name(s) John
Last name Ferrers
Residence Piddington, Glocester
Marriage year 1535-1746
Denomination Anglican
Place Baddesley Clinton
Spouse's first name(s) Elenor
Spouse's last name -
County Warwickshire
Document type Parish registers
Archive Warwickshire County Record Office
Archive reference DRB0028/1
Record type Baptisms, marriages & burials
Record's year range 1535-1746
Record set Warwickshire Marriages

In my note above on 1/9/2018 at 1:00 PM, I added a Susan as the last daughter of Roger Ferrers (1516-1579) and Margaret Badger based on the 1639 will of Edward Ferrers-Ferries(1573-1639). I believe the addition of that Susan was in error. That daughter should have been named as Jhoane Ferries (b. 30 Aug 1579) as evidenced by the Ashchurch baptism record her brother Edward's will.

Roger Ferrers (1516-1579) and Margaret Badger had a son named Roger c.1551. That son Roger married Ann Walton and he was described as being of Fiddington, Gloucestershire in "The Visitation of London, 1633-1635," Vol I, Henry St. George (1880), p. 271.

This son Roger (b.c.1551) and Ann Walton had a son named Thomas Ferrers who was a merchant living in London in 1633 with his wife named Judeth Raynton. If the son Roger was born c.1551, he might have been married by the early 1570's and his son Thomas living in London and working as a merchant could have been one of the Thomas Ferries baptized in Ashchurch on 10 Oct 1571 or 27 Aug 1576.

The Visitation of Wiltshire for 1565 includes Roger Ferrers (1516-1579) of Fiddington, Ashchurch, Gloucestershire (see above) as the son of John who was also the son of John and includes their various identified siblings. But the 1565 Wiltshire Visitation gives all of them the surname Ferris rather than Ferrers. Of course, this visitation only covered the period down to Roger Ferris-Ferrers (1516-1579) but it does suggest that Ferris was considered the common form of the Ferrers-Ferris surname, at least in Wiltshire at that time.

The Visitation of Wiltshire 1565, William Harvey (1897), p. 18-19.
https://archive.org/stream/visitationofwilt00harvrich#page/n7/mode/...

The Visitations of Surrey include a family entitled Ferrar. The first entry is for William Ferrar and his wife Margarett Lacy of Eywood. His grandchilden in that entry are listed as Henery Ferrer, John Ferrer, and William and Humffrey. His great grandchildren are listed as John Ferer, Henery Ferer, etc. (The first great grandchild is noted as 13 years old in 1623.)

This Surrey Visitation may be an example of regional differences in the evolution of the Ferrers-Ferris-Ferrer-Ferrar surnames. In this case, the surname evolved from Ferrar to Ferrer to Ferer. In Wiltshire, the Ferrers surname appears to have evolved into variants of Ferris, such as Ferries or Farris.

The Visitations of Surrey 1530, 1572, and 1623 (1899), pp. 157-158.
https://archive.org/stream/visitationsofcou43beno#page/n5/mode/2up/...

In "The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635," Vol. II, (NEHG, 2011), p. 520, Robert C. Anderson gives the following pertinent dates for Jeffrey Ferris:

Birth: By about 1604 based on estimated date of marriage.

Marriage: (1) By about 1629 ___ ___.

Migration: 1634 [to Watertown]

Children with first wife:
i. Peter, b. say 1629
ii. Joseph, b. say 1632
iii. Mary, b. say 1636
iv. John, b. about 1640 (deposed 5 December 1705 at age 65)
v. James, b. say 1642

The above information is from footnote 4 for Jeffrey Ferris on the "Genealogy of the Petersen-Tarbert family" web site which appears to be an extensive quote from "The Great Migration" by Anderson. http://www.myfamilysearch.net/getperson.php?personID=I3274&tree...#
(I do not have access to a copy of that tome to confirm this information.)

Of course, the above dates suggest that both Peter and Joseph were born in England which means baptism records for them may exist there. While the above dates appear to be educated guesses by Anderson, they are worth considering given his knowledge of the Great Migration and his reputation.

The dates also suggest not dismissing out of hand the marriage of a "Jeffery Farris" to a Dorothy Sleapsend in Manningford Bruce, Wiltshire on 30 Jul 1623 as described in my note above on 4/24/2017 at 9:34 AM. The marriage in 1623 of a Jeffery Farris born circa 1604 seems possible. In addition, since the birth dates of Peter, Joseph and Mary are not known with certainty, moving them a year or two and speculating about a child or two dying young, opens some possibilities. And, Jeffrey Ferris's death at the age of 56 (1610-1666) always seemed unfortunately young, particularly since his children lived into their mid-60's to 70's.

Erica Howton, what do you think about using Anderson's dates from "The Great Migration?"

I uploaded a revised version of the "Origins of Jeffrey Ferris" today. You can download it from this link: http://www.analent.com/Ferris/Origins_of_Jeffrey_Ferris.pdf

Based on Robert Anderson's belief that Jeffrey Ferris was born circa 1604, I changed the birth references in the memo to read "born c.1604 to c.1610, died 1666." I hope the change will encourage those searching for evidence about Jeffrey to widen the time frame they are considering. I also changed the section about Jeffrey's birthplace and date on pages 13 and 14 accordingly.

I also revised the third paragraph on page one to mention Ferrises who were Merchant Adventurers involved in financing Sir Walter Raleigh's explorations, the colonization of Virginia and the Mayflower's voyage to Plymouth.

I had previously added a section on page 11 about Shakespeare's use of the title "Lord Ferris" to refer to Anne Ferrers' (1438-1468) husband Walter Devereux in the 1597 first edition of his play "The Tragedy of King Richard III." Some later editions, after Shakespeare's death, changed the title to "Lord Ferrers."

With respect to the revised version of the "Origins of Jeffrey Ferris," I also added on page 14 the following paragraphs:

I suspect this "Jeffery Farris" married in 1623 may be descended from the Ferrises and Ferrers of Blunsdon (about 20 miles north of Manningford Bruce) who included Roger Ferris (1516-1579), the father of William Ferris-Ferrers (c.1549-1625) and Edward Ferries-Ferrers (1573-1639). (See pages 10 and 11 above about William's and Edward's involvement with the Virginia and Plymouth companies and with Royal mill purchases.) This Roger Ferris (1516-1579) branch of the Blunsdon Ferris family settled in Fiddington, Ashchurch, Gloucestershire but Roger did have brothers and may have had male cousins. (The "Jeffery Farris" married in 1623 could also have been from the Ferrises of Beres Ferrers, given the geographic location; see charts p. 31, infra.)

The baptism records for Roger Ferris's (1516-1579) other children spelled the Ferris surname variously but included "Margett Farris," baptised 27 Dec 1568 at Ashchurch, Gloucestershire. You will note that Margett's surname is spelled the same as that of the "Jeffery Farris" married in Manningford Bruce in 1623. And, the surname of Margett's younger brother Edward (1573-1639) was spelled "Ferries" in the record of his baptism at Ashchurch. Of course, the spelling of Edward's surname as "Ferries" is similar to the spellings of the migrant Jeffrey Ferris's surname as "ffereies" and "Firries" in colonial American records.

Sorry I missed this sooner.

My experience with the Great Migration Sketches is that they are conservative (good) and about as accurate as can be. Breaking news after series publication (2005) is the only thing to look for, and there would be articles on the AmericanAncestors site to refer to.

Your response only took a nano-second compared to several centuries of searching for Jeffrey Ferris's secrets. Not to worry about response time.

Thanks for the info about the Great Migration Sketches. I will take a look.

Another quesiton for you: have you ever heard of a case where a Virginia immigrant in the 1620 to 1640 era moved from Virginia to New England? Prior Ferris family connections to Virginia prompt the question. Consider the following evidence:

William Ferris (1549-1625) was a member of the Virginia Company;

Edward Ferris (1573-1639; brother of William above) was an M.P. and one of "the most extensive mill-owners the kingdom has ever known."

Thomas Ferris was killed in the 1622 Powhatan, Virginia massacre on Edward Bennett's (1577-bef.1651) plantation;

Edward Bennett (1577-bef.1651) also a London merchant and an auditor of the Virginia Company (therefore, probably knowing William Ferris) held the grant for the Powhatan plantation and was described as a Puritan in the Anglican Virginia colony;

Richard Bennett (1609-c.1675; Edward Bennett's nephew) first travelled to Virginia in about 1628 and was recruiting Puritan ministers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony by about 1640.

A "Jeffery Farris" married in Manningford Bruce, Wiltshire in 1623 not that far from Ferris family homes in Blunsdon, Wiltshire and Ashchurch, Gloucestershire (home of William and Edward Ferris, above).

A George Ferris (?-?) shipped goods from Barnstaple to Virginia in March 1628 and November 1633 (but what and to whom is not known);

No baptism records in England for the migrant Jeffrey Ferris's sons Peter (b. say 1629) and Joseph (b. say 1632).

Jeffrey Ferris built a mill in Stamford c.1640. Building and operating a grain mill required specialized parts and knowledge such as the stones (sometimes imported from England or France), the gears and various woods (some harder than others). English mill operators were secretive about their processes in this era to protect their local monopolies.

Brainstorming: could Jeffrey have initially migrated to Virginia sometime after a marriage in 1623, built a mill with the specialized parts needed for a mill (e.g. the stones, various woods, gears, etc.) shipped by George Ferris (perhaps assisting Edward), become disenchanted with the Anglican culture, caught a boat with his family to Boston, joined a Puritan church in c.1634 to become a freeman, eventually moving to Stamford to build another mill?

Just trying to come up with a narrative to explain the currently available evidence as well as ideas for additional places to search for more evidence.

Obviously, this is just speculative brainstorming, but the real, underlying evidence is intriguing. The only real, limited question to you is whether you have seen any case of a migrant move from the Virginia colony to Massachusetts. Of course, any other thoughts you may have would be welcome.

Well, we have the example of our Rev Denton apparently doing a stint in Virginia. My understanding of movements is that Puritans tried some missionary work in Virginia and failed spectacularly. No doubt Denton is one of those. :)

On the business side, I ran across a Capt. Pierce who transported to Virginia but settled in Boston; he was eternally mixed up with a militia captain Pierce in Virginia and no where else.

To me, it would be a well off family in England that would send members to the Virginia Colony, the Mass Bay, and the Connecticut Colony. The thing is that CT was so radically fundamentalist. It’s hard to think of a Virginian being comfortable there.

In other words, I could see a Puritan doing some time in VA for business / etc reasons, but he wouldn’t have settled, as Puritanism in VA did not work out so well.

Great lead with the Reverend Denton example -- someone who remained an Anglican priest until Laud's pressure became too great, migrated, became a Presbyterian and, yes, failed in Virginia.

I have the impression that, at least the brothers William Ferris-Ferrers (1549-1625) and Edward Ferris-Ferries (1573-1639), had reasonably good financial means. William was the Master of the London Mercers's Company, a London Alderman and endowed a grammar school in Tewkesbury. Edward was a Member of Parliament from Tewkesbury and parlayed his brother William's good fortune into the purchase of hundreds of mills from King James. In addition, they owned Bromley Hall, north of the Greenwich palace. Bromley had been seized by Henry VIII for his personal use from John Blount whose daughter, Elizabeth, became his mistress and father to one of his sons. If Edward wanted to expand his mill holdings to America, sending a relative might not be a bad way to do it.

Many ifs in this speculative narrative, but if Jeffrey migrated to America more to expand one of the Ferris family businesses, religious concerns could have been of secondary importance, although not negligible, particularly in the 1630's and 1640's. I recall seeing a suggestion somewhere that Jeffrey moved from Stamford to found Greenwich to escape Stamford's religious climate.

You are right to note the financial issues. Building a mill would not have been cheap. I suspect the millstones would have been the most important and most expensive parts for the operation.

My rough review of the mill business indicated that around this period, millstones were imported to England from northern France until some suitable quarry was found in England. Once you had the right stone, you had to cut the right designs into it, etc.

The millstones sound like the type of product that might have been more likely imported than manufactured in America, at least in the earliest days.

The Great Migration to New England was overwhelmingly middle class. Mercer’s Company was well off. Think Saltonstall - was Ferris in CT in that category of connected? How big was the English family? Who were his CT associates?

Good questions that I will need to spend more time reviewing and researching. Thanks.

Certainly, the family of William Ferris-Ferrers (1549-1625) and his brother Edward Ferris-Ferries (1573-1639) was large with 7 or 8 brothers and 3 or 4 sisters. I have identified at least a few of the sons of a couple of the brothers but have been unable to put together the families of several of the other brothers.

So a younger son in a well off family is more likely to try adventuring, of course, and act as a factotum for a powerful relative, we see this all the time in the Virginia Colony, maybe less so in New England.

Filling out the descendants of Roger Ferris (1516-1579) and Margaret Badger of Fiddington, Ashchurch, Gloucestershire:

The children of their son Walter Ferres (b.1564; wife not identified) were:

Walter Ferris (b.1593)
Constance Ferries (b.1596)
Agnes Ferris (b.1599)
Sarah Ferris (b.1602)
Audrey Ferris (b.1603)

All of these children were baptised in Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire about 20 miles from Manningford Bruce (where a "Jeffery Farris" was married in 1623) and about 20 miles from Corsham (where Roger Ferris (1516-1579) was born). Their baptism records from FindMyPast appear below.

Steeple Ashton's history does not include any Ferrers' or Ferrises but it does include a John Bennett who purchased the manor house and farm in 1624. British History Online, Steeple Ashton. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol8/pp198-218 I do not know if this John Bennet is related to the Virginia plantation owner Edward Bennett (1577-1651) or his nephew Richard who became a governor of Virginia.

First name(s) Walter
Last name Ferris
Birth year 1593
Birth date ? ? 1593
Baptism year 1593
Baptism date 13 Mar 1593
Place Steeple Ashton
Father's first name(s) Walter
Mother's first name(s) -
County Wiltshire
Record set Wiltshire baptisms index 1530-1917
Wiltshire Family History Society

First name(s) Constance
Last name Ferries
Birth year 1596
Birth date ? ? 1596
Baptism year 1596
Baptism date 18 Nov 1596
Place Steeple Ashton
Father's first name(s) Walter
Mother's first name(s) -
County Wiltshire
Record set Wiltshire baptisms index 1530-1917
Wiltshire Family History Society

First name(s) Agnes
Last name Ferris
Birth year 1599
Birth date ? ? 1599
Baptism year 1599
Baptism date 24 Jun 1599
Place Steeple Ashton
Father's first name(s) Walter
Mother's first name(s) -
County Wiltshire
Record set Wiltshire baptisms index 1530-1917
Wiltshire Family History Society

First name(s) Sarah
Last name Ferris
Birth year 1602
Birth date ? ? 1602
Baptism year 1602
Baptism date 19 Jun 1602
Place Steeple Ashton
Father's first name(s) Walter
Mother's first name(s) -
County Wiltshire
Record set Wiltshire baptisms index 1530-1917
Wiltshire Family History Society

First name(s) Audrey
Last name Ferris
Birth year 1603
Birth date ? ? 1603
Baptism year 1603
Baptism date 19 Feb 1603
Place Steeple Ashton
Father's first name(s) Walter
Mother's first name(s) -
County Wiltshire
Record set Wiltshire baptisms index 1530-1917
Wiltshire Family History Society

Millstones in New England

At least in early Virginia settlements millstones were indeed imported and at least one was from France. In "Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century" Annie Lash Jester (2008), the author says:

A resumé will give some idea of the wealth of commodities brought to Virginia in 1620. Among the implements useful for clearing land were pickaxes, felling-axes, squaring-axes, spades, weeding-hoes, scythes, reap-hooks. Grindstones and two French millstones were brought along with 22,500 nails, an anvil and two sieves for making gunpowder...

Mill stones were among early shipments to the colony and locations of some of these seventeenth-century mills remain landmarks in Virginia today. Denbigh, on Waters Creek in Warwick County, Chuckatuck in Nansemond, and the headwaters of the Poquoson in York County are among the sites of early mills. John Bates of Skimeno in Upper York County, a large land owner, operated two mills, one on his plantation called "Pease Hill creek mill" and the other, "Okenneck," a water-grist-mill.

http://archive.org/stream/domesticlifeinvi27482gut/pg27482.txt

Roger Ferris's (1516-1579) brothers and sister.

According to "The Visitation of Wiltshire, 1565," Harvey (1897) Roger Ferris (1516-1579) was the son of John Ferris and Jone Fowler. John and Jone Ferris's children were:

George Ferris
Walter Ferris
Roger Ferris (1516-1579), father of the merchants William (1549-1625) and Edward (1573-1639), etc.
Bartholmew Ferris, a priest
Dorathie Ferris

Roger Ferris's (1516-1579) brother George (above), of Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire and Ann Cole had children:
--George
--Edward
--Anthony
--Bartholomew
--Dorothie

It seems noteworthy that in this 1565 Visitation, the surnames for this entire family are given as "Ferris." But, of course, the baptism records for Roger's children use numerous variations of the surname including Ferries, Ferres, Ferryes and Farris.

https://archive.org/stream/visitationofwilt00harvrich#page/n7/mode/...