Henry "Harry" Botsford

Henry was the only child baptized at Sundon, all others at Chalgrave. Baptism 6/15/1608.

Botsford Family Historical Association

Henry Botsford in England

The surname Botsford is derived from a place name in Leicestershire, England, originally Botolph's Ford. This became abbreviated to Botelesford or Botlesford, and later to Bottesford, whence Botsford.

The first known Botsford to emigrate to America was Henry Botsford whose family lived in Chalgrave, Bedfordshire, England, about 35 miles northwest of London in the early 1600's. Henry's three brothers and two sisters were all baptized in the Botsford ancestral All Saints Chalgrave Church, but for some reason Henry's baptism took place in Sundon, a few miles from Chalgrave where his parents, Edward and Alice [Prior] Botsford, were married November 9, 1606. Henry was baptized there as "Harry" on June 15, 1608.

In Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, a few miles to the north of Chalgrave, Henry Botsford married Elizabeth Woolhead, the daughter of Alice [Lambert] and Thomas Woolhead, on January 26, 1631. To this effect, The New England Historical and Genealogical Society Boston Mass Register, October, 1987, page 358, states: A Henry 'Botshodd' married at Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire 26 January 1631/2 Elizabeth Woolhead. She was probably the daughter of Thomas 'Wolhed' and Alice Lambert.

There was political, intellectual and religious unrest throughout England at the time of Henry's birth in 1608 and afterward--Queen Elizabeth the First had recently died, Shakespeare was still writing plays, and the Protestant Reformation was not yet a century old. It was an age of steeply rising prices, and the land-owning gentry were reluctant to pay the increased taxes imposed by the crown whose income was steadily dwindling. The stories of Drake, Raleigh and Smith were stirring the hearts of Englishmen with ideas of the unknown sea and the unexplored wilderness of the New World. Preachers, spreading the word of their faith, gained such influence that many of their flock were willing to emigrate to America with them for religious and civic freedoms.

Peter Prudden was one of these Puritan ministers who with his followers from Hertfordshire and surrounding counties joined with Theophilus Eaton and Rev. John Davenport to emigrate to America. They made preparations without attracting attention for fear of punishment from the authorities and sailed from London in the spring of 1637 on two ships, the "Hector" and a second said to be called the "Martin." They arrived in Boston, MA, on June 26, 1637. Many in this Prudden Davenport Eaton Company became the Original Planters in Milford, CT, in 1639.

Colonial Daughters of the 17th Century (26031)

• FInd a grave

  ---

He was baptized on June 15, 1608 in Sundon, Bedforshire, England. He came on the good ship, Martin, in 1638. He was a freeplanter in Milford and had lot #45. He joined the First Church at Milford in 1644, and was a Corporal in the trainband against the Dutch in 1654.

GEDCOM Note

Biography ==The following from Families of Early Milford, Connecticut, compiled bySusan Woodruff Abbott (Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1979) p. 105<ref>Abbott, Susan Woodruff. Families of Early Milford, Connecticut (Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979) Page 105</ref>

Henry Botsford was baptized 15 June 1608 Sundon, co. Bedford, England.His will was drawn 1 February 1685/6 and inventory taken on the 15th of April. He had a wife Elizabeth (_____). They were admitted to the chur­ch at Milford, she on 4 October 1640 and he 25 July 1644. He was a freeplanter and had lot # 45 consisting of 2 acres and 2 rods. This would be near the property of Laurelton Hall and off West Town Street.He had many offices in the town and was also a Corporal in the fight against the Dutch in 1654. He was the son of Edward and Alice (Prior) of Chalgrave, co. Bedford, as there is found the baptism of Henry withothers. In the “ship lists” of Bedford in 1637 and 1638 Henry’sname appears, and not again in Bedfordshire.

Children:

• Elnathan bpt 15 Aug 1641 (MC1)
• Elizabeth bpt 21 May 1643 mar 27 June 1665 Daniel Baldwin
• Mary bpt Dec 1645 (MC1) mar 8 Jan 1667/8 And­rew Sanford Jr.
• Hannah twin bpt Dec 1645 (MC1) mar Nathaniel Baldwin*Esther bpt 11 July 1647 (MC1) mar 27 June 1665 (MVR) Nathaniel Wheeler of Newark, N.J.
• Ruth bpt 8 July 1649 (MC1) mar John Baldwin. Removed to Newark, N.J. Stevens-2498 The following from Find A Grave Memorial# 14903818 -not documented HENRY BOTSFORD, the son of EDWARD & ALICE (PRIOR) He was baptized on June 15, 1608 in Sundon, Bedfordshire, England, butmay have been born in Chalgrave, Bedfordshire and baptised in his mothers parish five miles away. He came on the good ship, Martin, in 1638. He was a freeplanter in Milford and had lot #45. He joined the First Church at Milford in 1644, and was a Corporal in the trainband against the Dutch in 1654. A HENRY BOTSHODD married ELIZABETH WOOLHEAD on January 26, 1631 in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, England. but this is a different Henry, born in 1602 in Chalgrave. His will was dated Feb. 1, 1685/6 and the inventory was taken on April15, 1686. He had a good estate.

Spouse: Elizabeth Unknown Botsford (1614 - 1692)* Children:
* Ruth Botsford Baldwin (____ - 1717)*

• Elnathan Botsford (1641 - 1691)*
• Hannah Botsford Baldwin (1645 - 1686)*
• Esther Botsford (1647 - 1731)*

Burial: Milford Cemetery, Milford, New Haven County, Connecticut, USA Plot: BURIED IN THE OLDEST PART OF THE CEMETERY Created by: Nareen, et al, Record added: Jul 12, 2006,

Research Notes ==NOTE: The marriage date of Oct. 4, 1640 came from Torry, Clarence A.New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: GenealogicalPublishing Co., 2004. p. 85. No maiden name for Elizabeth is given. The marriage date on Findagrave of January 26, 1631 is not documented (impeccable source since found) so it is hard to tell which is correct, (or perhaps they both are!)

There were two Henry Botsfords - the one shown on this profile, born Sundon in 1608 and another born 1602 in Chalgrave, 5 miles away. Eitherof whom could be the one who emigrated. And there really was a marriage in Marston Moretaine on 26 Jan 1631/2, between Henry Botshodd and Elizabeth Woolhead.<ref>"England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N2KQ-6L6 : 13 March 2020), Eliz Woolhead in entry for Hen Botshodd, 1631.</ref> If Henryand Elizabeth married in 1640 in Connecticut she can't have been Elizabeth Woolhead unless Henry Botshodd wasn't Henry Botsford or they married for a second time in Conn. Henry baptised a child in 1633 in Chalgrave where the mother wasn't named and Henry and Elizabeth baptised two children in Chalgrave in 1638 and May 1640, so even if Henry emigrated in 1638 leaving Elizabethin Bedfordshire he couldn't have been the father of a son born in 1640. And Henry was buried on 19 Aug 1657 at Chalgrave. So he's ruled out as being the Henry who emigrated I've convinced myself that it was the Sundon Henry who emigrated but that Elizabeth whom he married in 1640 wasn't Elizabeth Woolhead. There are only two Botsford entries in Sundon parish register - the marriage of Edward and Alice and the baptism of Henry in 1608.

Sources

<references />

• Families of Early Milford, Connecticut, compiled by Susan Woodruff Abbott [Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1979] p. 105
• 14903818* Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004. p. 85.* Wheeler, William O, Alstyne L. Van, and Charles B. Ogden. The Ogden Family in America, Elizabethtown Branch, and Their English Ancestry:John Ogden, the Pilgrim, and His Descendants, 1640-1906. Philadelphia: Printed for private circulation by J.B. Lippincott Co, 1907 Page 54.
• http://www.botsfordfamily.org/history.html
• Henry "Harry" Botsford