William Byng, of Wrotham - Richard Benger --> John Benge --> William Byng, of Wrotham --> Robert Byng, MP lineage questions.

Hello!

I am starting this discussion because I have some questions and concerns about the validity of the lineage for Richard Benger, of Cople Parish , son of John Benge , son of William Byng, of Wrotham , son of Robert Byng, MP, of Wrotham .

First and foremost, I suggest that we remove William Byng's wife, Joan Hicks, which I think is a mistake. In no source have I seen a name for his wife. The Joan Hicks here on Geni is probably the result of confusion as Joan Hicks is the name of William's great-grandmother. Joan Byng

Secondly, I have some doubts about the connection between William Byng, immigrant to Virginia in 1619, and William Byng of Wortham, son of Robert Byng. While this text by Don Chestnut: http://donchesnut.com/genealogy/pages/wmbenge.htm#introduction has a detailed discussion about William Byng and it concludes that the two are the same, it does so only by examining the social and political spheres of the William Byng in Virginia, without examining the life of the William Byng of Wortham in England.

The biography of William Byng of Wrotham in The History of Parliament: https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/b..., while sparse in exact details and dates about his later life, makes no mention of the Americas and says that "Unmarried and childless, he left what little property he owned, in Tonbridge, to one of his nephews. His will was proved on 7 May 1669."

What is certain is that he occupied the position of Captain of Deal Castle from 1611-1642. While the Wikipedia article "List of Captains of Deal Castle" lists at least another captain appointed during this period, Thomas Pilnetby in 1625, there are records of William Byng in his official position as Captain of the Castle in 1627 and 1628. See "Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles I, Volume 2," page 34 for example.: https://books.google.com/books?id=akMMAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA381&lpg...

William Byng was also in England during the Civil War in the 1640s, as well as the 1650s and 1660s.

While William Byng of Wrotham, as a wealthy and well-connected individual, may very well have been able to travel back and forth frequently between Virginia and England (Don Chestnut says that a William Byng is frequently referenced in colonial records), from what I have read the position of Captain of Deal Castle appears to have been a relatively important military assignment in the 1600s involving the command of the garrison and the strategically important artillery fort, and William Byng was certainly involved with the Castle and his role as Captain during his tenure there.

Furthermore, I see no evidence of William having a son, John. In fact, if The History of the Parliament is to be believed, and I am inclined to do so as it is written by professional historians and clearly references primary source materials, he did not have any children whatsoever. The connection between the Virginian William Byng and the English one appears to be based only on guesswork and not proven by evidence.

This post by Linda Bollinger, while I have no idea what types of research and evidence she utilized, likewise challenges the connection: https://lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/list/bing.rootsweb.com/2002/4/ .

As for the later generations: Richard Benger and John Benge, I also see no evidence connecting the two of them, but I have not done as comprehensive a search for them as I have with William, so I was wondering if anyone has any ideas or sources for that connection.

Sincerely,
Tamas Caldwell-Gilbert