Sir Alexander Webb, Jr., Kt. {Fictional}

Not the son of Alexander Webb & Margaret Cornwall. Not the husband of Lady Agnes Myleward (Millward) Webb or Mary Burdett.

Debunking of Sir Alexander Webb II's Existence

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Webb-113#Debunking_of_Sir_Alexander_W...

The story of Sir Alexander Webb II and his four immigrant sons is similar to the genealogical myths adopted by other surnames in America which say that all the great branches of the surname in America descend from the immigrant sons of a single common noble ancestor. (See, for example, The Legend of the Ashley Brothers.) The story of Sir Alexander Webb II and his four immigrant sons has the further advantage of making the Webbs of America related to William Shakespeare. Unfortunately, virtually nothing about the story is based on fact.

In addition to the fact that, as discussed above, most of the information relating to Alexander is demonstrably false, there appears to be no reliable evidence that he existed at all. If he had existed, one would expect to find some shards of reliable evidence of this existence, such as parish records, court records, tax records, deeds or contracts, or estate records. However, no such reliable evidence of his existence has been cited, produced or discovered. Moreover, it he had existed, it is highly likely that he would have been mentioned by one of the many reputable Shakespeare researchers who have studied Shakespeare's relatives, since he would have been one of William Shakespeare's cousins; but he is not.[13][14][15][16][17][18]

It therefore seems highly probable that he never existed and was instead created to serve as a link between the very real Alexander Webb of Bearley/Snitterfield and the four Webb immigrants (Richard Webb, of Norwalk, William, Christopher Webb, of Braintree and Henry Webb, of Boston).

A nice story, but fictional.

References

1. Stirnet's "Webb03" page (membership required to view without interruption) does not mention this Sir Alexander's issue.
2. Norwalk. By Charles Melbourne Selleck. Page 403. < GoogleBooks > Spurious pedigree.
3. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Webb-113 cites
   1. Selleck, Charles M. Norwalk. 1896. pp. 387-388, 398-399, 402-403 interpage. Link to pp 402-403 interpage at archive.org. Unsourced genealogy in self-published history of Norwalk, Connecticut. In Selleck's defense, he apparently just published whatever the local families said their English ancestry was and started the "Lineage" section of his book with the following disclaimer: "In regard to this work's 'genealogy,' its author assumes no statement-responsibility beyond that of his clients' American ancestry and affinity. Of the right and reasonableness of introduced foreign family data, the reader must be the judge." See p 81.
   2. Frost, Josephine. Ancestors of Henry Rogers Winthrop and His Wife Alice Woodward Babcock. 1927. pp. 540-541. Link to page at archive.org Link to page at ancestry.com ($). Unsourced pedigree. Note: This book has the distinction of having been singled out by Donald Lines Jacobus as an example of the type of genealogy book that should not be trusted. See Jacobus, Donald Lines. Genealogy as Pastime and Profession. 1930. p. 75. Link to page at hathitrust.org.
   3. "Sir Alexander Webb Jr.", geni.com. Accessed March 29, 2019. References skinnerwebb.com, timjanzen.com, and several family genealogy websites/trees with broken links. (Note: previous profile archived as “about cleanup” attached document.)
   4. "The Webb Family," webb.skinnerwebb.com. Accessed March 29, 2019. A family genealogy website which states that it relied on Descendants of Richard Webb, a 1943 unpublished manuscript by Lewis Bailey Skinner.
   5. "Tim and Rachel Janzen's Ancestors," timjanzen.com. Accessed March 29, 2019. An unsourced family tree.
   6. Finley, Mrs. Herold R. "Dorr Family". Americana. Vol. XVII, No. 4 (October, 1923). The American Historical Society, 1923. pp. 467-468. Link to page at books.google.com. Unsourced genealogical information about the Webb family as part of a genealogy of the Dorr family.
   7. See the profile for his putative father, Alexander Webb.
   8. Halliwell-Phillipps, J.O. Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare. Seventh Edition. Volume the Second. Longmans, Green and Co., 1887. pp. 407-408 Link to pages at hathitrust.org.
   9. "BURDETT, Robert (c.1558-1603), of Bramcote, Warws." The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981. Link to article at historyofparliamentonline.org.
   10. Anderson, Robert Charles. "Richard Webb". The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volume III, P-W. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995. pp. 1954-1956. Link to pages at americanancestors.org.
   11. "Webb Surname DNA Project - Y-DNA Colorized Chart", familytreedna.com
   12. Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640. A Concise Compendium. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.
   13. French, George Russell. Shakspeareana Genealogica. McMillan and Co., 1869. Link to page at archive.org.
   14. Halliwell-Phillipps, J.O. Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare. Seventh Edition. Volume the First. Longmans, Green and Co., 1887. Link to volume at hathitrust.org.
   15. Halliwell-Phillipps, J.O. Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare. Seventh Edition. Volume the Second. Longmans, Green and Co., 1887. Link to volume at hathitrust.org.
   16. Stopes, Mrs. C.C. Shakespeare's Family, Being a Record of the Ancestors and Descendants of William Shakespeare with Some Account of the Ardens. James Pott & Company, 1901. Link to volume at gutenberg.org.
   17. Eccles, Mark. Shakespeare in Warwickshire. The University of Wisconsin Press, 1963.
   18. Pogue, Kate Emery. Shakespeare's Family. Praeger, 2008. Available on Kindle at amazon.com. See also:
   19. "Alexander Webb," themorrisclan.com. Archived July 20, 2017.
   20. Webb Family History with Name Origin and Lineage Lines. by Heraldry, P.O.Box 365, Carpinteria, California 93013. JAN 1975.
   21. Descendants of Sir Henry WEBB", jimwebb.rootsweb.com. Archived February 20, 2016
4. Webb Family Genealogy, archived 3 Jan 2014. < link >