Robert Fiske

Robert Fiske (c1521 - c1602), eldest child of Simon Fiske, was born at Stadhaugh, England about 1521. He married (1) Sibilla Gold, also known as Sybil Gould, widow of Nicholas Barber, (2) Joan (buried 3 August 1587 St. James, South Elmham, Suffolk, England).

(This does not seem correct G. Andrews Moriarty, "Genealogical Research in England - The Fiske Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register says he was the son of Richard Fiske) See:

1. G. Andrews Moriarty, "Genealogical Research in England - The Fiske Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 88, July 1934, pp. 265-267.
2. Frederick Clifton Pierce, Fiske and Fisk Family, Being the Record of the Descendants of Symond Fiske, p. 39-44.
3. G. Andrews Moriarty, "Genealogical Research in England - The Fiske Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 88, April 1934, pp. 142-146.
4. G. Andrews Moriarty, "Genealogical Research in England - The Fiske Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 86, October 1932, pp. 426,427.

A wheelwright, he resided at Fressingfield and South Elmham, Suffolk, England. While a resident of the parish of St. James, South Elmham, there was a great deal of religious persecution as Queen Mary, the reigning monarch, sought to restore Catholicism as the state religion. One John Noyes, of Laxfield, Suffolk county, a shoemaker, was burned at the stake on 21 September 1657; John Alcock was imprisoned for heresy, died in prison, and was buried in a dunghill. Isabella Gould, the sister of Sybil Gould Fiske, was a prisoner in Castle Norwich for her avowed Puritan opinion, and escaped death only on account of the influence of her brothers. Robert and Sybil were in great danger, and they were obliged to leave the parish. They returned later and Robert died at St. James in 1600. His will is dated 10 April 1590, and was proved on 28 July 1600.

Known Children of Robert Fiske and Sibilla Gould

1. William Fiske (c1550 - ) married (1) Anna Austye; (2) Alice
2. Geoffrey Fiske (c1552 - 1629) married Mary Cooke. He resided at St. James, South Elmham, Suffolk, England; he also resided at Great Bentley, Essex, England. He left a will on 11 May 1629 at Somerset House, London, Archdeaconry of Colchester, England; proved 23 July 1629.
3. Richard Fiske (baptized 16 July 1554 Fressingfield, Suffolk, England - died young)
4. Eleazer Fiske (baptized 31 May 1556 Fressingfield, Suffolk, England - 1613) married Elizabeth; no issue. He resided at Metfield, Suffolk, England. He was a wheelwright. He left a will on 3 June 1613 at Ipswich Probate Registry, Archdeaconry of Suffolk, England; proved 4 July 1615. His will and that of his wife mention many relatives.
5. Elizabeth Fiske (c1558 - after 1590) married Robert Barnard, a farmer of the estate of Custrick Hallin Wecky, county Essex, which he held of Sir Edward Coke, the lord chief justice. They had a daughter who married a Locke, and became the mother of author and philosopher John Locke (29 August 1632 Wrington, Somersetshire - 28 October 1704 Cates, Essex, England).
6. Thomas Fiske (c1560 - 1610/11) married Margery; buried 26 February 1610/11 at Fressingfield, Suffolk, England. He resided at Fressingfield, co. Suffolk, England. He was a wheelwright. He and Margery had six children. He left a will on 20 February 1610 at Ipswich Probate Registry, Archdeaconry of Suffolk, England; proved 28 February 1610.

Sources

• http://books.google.com/books?id=9jNHy0PBqlUC&pg=PA1531&lpg=PA1531&...
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/a/i/Edward-Gerrish-Mai...

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The Fiske's are an ancient family seated at Laxfield, Suffolk, England. Robert Fiske and Sybil Gold Barbor, a widow, were married about 1549. Sybil was the mother of all his children. He married secondly Joan. (Gold became "Gould" in America).

Robert died in 1633. Members of his family had been severely persecuted in England, especially during the reign of Queen Mary. His sister in law Isabel Gold, had been kept in Norwich Castle.

His son William's children emigrated to New England in 1637, in two groups; one that went to Wenham, and the other settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Robert Fiske and Sybil Gold Fiske are considered the progenitors of all the New England Fiskes. William, the oldest son of Robert married Ann Anstye.

The village and the surrounding area, like much of East Anglia, was a hotbed of Puritan sentiment during much of the 17th century. Being the birthplace of the intolerant William Dowsing as well as the home of many of his kin, it was natural enough that Laxfield became a puritan parish. By the mid-1630s, the Fiske family and others had departed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony as part of the wave of emigration that occurred during the Great Migration.

Bio Robert was a wheelwright. He was taxed at Laxfield in 1544 & 1545. He was living in Fressingfield in 1554 & 1556 when his sons Richard and Eleazer were baptised. In 1568, he was taxed in St. James, South Elmham, Suffolk. His will, dated April 10, 1590, proved at Metfield, Suffolk, July 28, 1602, mentioned eldest son William, daughter Elizabeth now wife of Robert Bernard, son Eliezar and wife Elizabeth, son Thomas, son Jeffrey, wife, and a stepson, Nicholas Barbor of Chepenell Greene.

NEHGR 88:266

Ken Smith

Sources

• Myrtle Stevens Hyde, A Re-Examination of the Fiske Family of Suffolk, England (concluded from Register 170: 2016: 346). Volume Name 171. Page 70. < AmericanAncestors >
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laxfield
• Thompson, Roger, Mobility & Migration, East Anglian Founders of New England, 1629-1640, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1994.
• Fiske and Fisk family. Being the record of the descendants of Symond Fiske, lord of the manor of Stadhaugh, Suffolk County, England, from the time of Henry IV to date, including all the American members of the family by Pierce, Frederick Clifton, 1855-1904 page 13 https://archive.org/details/cu31924029841024