Sir Thomas Gerard, MP, 1st Baronet of Bryn

Family and Education b. 1560, 1st s. of Sir Thomas Gerard of Bryn by Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Sir John Port† of Etwall, Derbys. educ. Brasenose, Oxf. 1576; I. Temple 1579. m. (1) c.1580, Cecily, da. of Sir Walter Maney of Staplehurst, 1s.; (2) aft. c.1608, Mary, da. of Sir James Hawes, ld. mayor of London, wid. of Sir John Smyth and Sir Robert Lee, ld. mayor; (3) Mary, da. of Sir William Dormer, wid. of Anthony Brown and Sir Edmund Uvedale. suc. fa. 1601. Kntd. 1603; cr. Bt. 1611.1

Offices Held

Gent. pens. 1599.2

Biography Gerard’s father, mother and brother John were Catholics. Himself tutored by a Catholic, he married a recusant wife (his first), employed a ‘notorious recusant’ as schoolmaster to his child, and was reported to be ‘of evil affection in religion’ in 1590. His return to Parliament for Liverpool is somewhat surprising, implying as it must a degree of conformity. He resided near the borough and presumably family necessity overruled other considerations. He evidently found favour in the new reign. James I at York, on his way to London in 1603, told him: ‘I am particularly bound to love your blood on account of the persecution you have borne for me’, and gave him an interest in the tobacco pipe monopoly as well as a free baronetcy ‘in consideration of his father’s sufferings in the cause of Mary Queen of Scots’. He died 16 Feb. 1601.3

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603 Author: W.J.J. Notes 1. Burke, Peerage, 924; GEC Baronetage, i. 21-2; CSP Dom. 1603-10, p. 326. 2. E407, box 1/29. 3. J. A. Twemlow, Liverpool Town Bks. ii. 1077, 1213; Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc.), iv. 206-7 et passim; Recusant Rolls 1592-3 (Cath. Rec. Soc.), 31, 175, 182; VCH Lancs. iv. 144; John Gerard, Autobiog. ed. Caraman, 263; Lancs. Eliz. Recusants (Chetham Soc. n.s. cx), 86, 103, 115; Lancs. Inquisitions (Lancs. and Cheshire Rec. Soc. xvii), 297-301; PCC 40 Dale; GEC Baronetage, i. 21-2; VCH Lancs. iv. 143-6; v. passim; Gerard, 213

From the book "The Baronetage of England," printed for John Stockdale, published 1806.

Sir Thomas Gerard, first Baronet Gerard, of Bryn, Lancashire, married first, Cecily, daughter of Sir Walter Maney, Knight; married 2nd Mary, daughter of James Hawes; and 3rd, Mary, daughter of Wiliam Dormer, Esq. By his first wife he had a son Sir Thomas, who succeeded him, and daughter Frances. By the other two marriages, he had no issue.

Family of Thomas Gerard

1. THOMAS1 GERARD1 was born Abt. 1540, and died January 11, 1628/29 in Winwick,, England. He married JANE UNKNOWN Bef. 1586. She was born Abt. 1542 in Garswood,,England, and died Aft. 1628.

Notes for THOMAS GERARD:

The following text was provided by Patricia L. M. Stanley, 10505 N. Fores Ave., Kansas City, MO 64155, in January, 1994:

Gerrard- Ellyson

The surname Gerrard is also spelt Gerard and Girard and was originally FitzGerald. The arms of the principal branch of the family are : Argent, a salties, glues, and the crest: A lion, rampant ermins crowned or, and the motto: En Dieu Est Mon Esperance. The linage of the family of Bryn County,England based on Burk's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage is as follows:

William FitzGerald of Carrun Castle, county Pembroke, eldest son of Gerald FitzWalter, constable of Penbroke castle and brother of Maurice FitzGerald, Lor of Maynooth. He went to Ireland with Strongbow in 1171, but died in England in 1173;

Leaving with other issue, Otho, ancestor of the Carew family and: William FitzWilliam FitzGerald, his youngest son, who was Justice in Eyre, for the county of Chester, and had: William, Lord of a Moiety of Kingsley, county Chester, in right of his wife, Emma, second daughter and co-heir of Richard de Kingsley, Chief Forester of Delamere. He died before 1259,leaving a son:

William Gerrard of Kingsley, died before 1316 having by his wife, Margaret, his son and heir:

William Garrard of Kingsley and Cantenhall living in 1330, who married Matilda, daughter of Henry de Glasshowse of Kingsley and died before 1352. They had:

William Gerrard of Kingsley, born about 1322, who married Joan, the daughter of heir of Peter de Bryn and had:

Sir Peter Gerard of Kingsley and Byrn, who died before 1380, having had:

Thomas of whom presently, and John the ancestor of Gerard of Ince and Macclesfield. His eldest son was:

Sir Thomas Gerard of Kingsley and Bryn, Knight, who died March 27th 1415-16, leaving issue:

John Gerard of Kingsley [d.April 10th 1431] who married Alice, daughter of Sir John le Boteler, and had:

Sir Peter Gerard of Kingsley and Bryn, who married Isabella Strangeways, and had:

Sir Thomas Gerard of Kingsley and Bryn, who married Douce, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Assheton of Ashton-under-Lyne,and had:

Peter Gerard, who married [1481] Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Stanley of Hooton, Cheshire. He died June 19th 1485. They had:

Sir Thomas Gerard, of Kingsley and Bryn, who married Margaret, the daughter of Sir Edmund Trafford of Trafford, and widow of Nicholas Longfored and Sir John Port, and had:

Sir Thomas Gerard, of Kingsley and Bryn, who married Jane, the daughter of Sir Peter Legh of Haydock and had:

Sir Thomas Gerard of Kingsley and Bryn, who being accused of a design to deliver Mary, Queen of Scots, out of her confinement, was committed to the tower, and was forced to give his estate of Bromley to his kinsman, Sir Gilbert Gerrard, Attorney General and mortgage many others before he could obtain his liberty. He married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Port, Knight of Etwall, co. Derby. He died in September 1601. He was survived by his son:

Sir Thomas Gerard, born 1560, was created a Baronet on the first day of the institution of the order, May 22, 1611, and received back the fee which he had given for the dignity in consideration of the sufferings of his father on behalf of Queen Mary. He married first, Cecily, daughter of Sir Walter Maney, Knight, and had:

Sir Thomas Gerard, Second Baronet of Bryn, who married Frances, daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, First Baronet of Sefton, and sister of 1st Viscount Molyneux, and had:

John, Peter and Gilbert, who are said to have died unmarried [see William Playfair], Frances,who became a Nun. William, the 3rd Baronet, who married Elizabeth,daughter of Sir Cuthbert Clifton, Knight, Thomas (below), Richard [1612-1686], Anne,who married 1st Cox and 2nd Thomas Green, who came on the Ark and Dove to Maryland in 1634 and was governor of the province. He was married three times, first to Elizabeth, sister of Leonard Calvert, 2nd to Anne, and 3rd to the widow, Winifred Seyborne.

Gen.I---Thomas Gerrard, The Immigrant [died 1673]

The last quarter of the 16th century witnessed the beginning of a Catholic exile movement to America. As early as 1574 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, conceived a plan of colonization which was to have the support of two Catholic gentlemen, Sir George Peckham and Sir Thomas Gerard. A state paper hinted that he was hand in glove with "the Papists" in looking for relief to a new world. Sir Humphrey was not a Catholic, but he was glad of support from this quarter. It was not until four years later that he was able to obtain a grant to discover and colonize any land in North America then unsettled. At the time of this venture there was in force a statue called "An Act against Fugitives over the Sea", which was designed to prevent the migration of Catholic recusants. Notwithstanding this opposition the English Catholics, led by Peckham and Gerard, continued their efforts to plant a Catholic colony under the Gilbert grant. In 1582 they renewed their efforts with Sir Humphrey. At this time an informer submitted to Walsingham the following report.: "There is a muttering among the Papists that Sir Humphrey Gilbert goeth to see a new found land; Sir George Pickham and Sir Thomas Gerrard goeth with him. I have heard it said among the Papists that they hope it will prove the best journey for England that was made in forty years". Walsingham still adhered, however, to his policy of allowing Catholic recusants to accompany the expedition provided they made provision for the payment of their fines. [J.Moss Ives The Ark And The Dove]

On June 11th 1583, Sir Humphrey's fleet of five ships and some two hundred men, including Catholic recusants, sailed from Plymonth and reached Maine on August 20th. On their return trip at midnight on September 9th, during a heavy storm, Sir Humphrey's ship with all on board went down.

In 1632 Charles I granted a charter to Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, making him the proprietor of the largest tract of land granted to a single person up to that time. His father, George, the first Baron Baltimore, had been the promoter of the charter. He had previously received a land grant in Newfoundland, but found the climate unsuitable. Before returning to England he had sailed up the Chesapeake Bay and found Maryland more to his liking and petitioned the King for the grant. He died, however, shortly before the charter was issued and his son, Cecil, succeeded him to both his title and the land. [Ives]

After much preparation the Ark and the Dove spread their sails in the early morning of November 22nd, 1633. The departure was from Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The number of voyagers and the proportion of Catholics and Protestants have been questioned. On September 8th 1635, A Relation of Maryland was printed to attract adventurers to settled in the new province. On page 56 we find seventeen names "of the gentlemen adventurers that are gone in person to this plantation". Among them we find "Richard Garard, son to Sir Thomas Gerard, Knight and Baronet." [Savin's Reprints [No.II] It is also said that Anne Cox, a widow, his sister, came with him. She was to become the 2nd wife of Gov. Thomas Green and to die in Maryland. Richard, who had been the cup-bearer to King James was to return to England, where he was to become a distinguished soldier and to die on September 5th 1686. [Ives, Burk's Peerage, Alice Norris Parran, Register of Maryland's Heraldic Families,Series I and II.]

The First stop for the Ark and the Dove was made at the Fortunate, now Canary Islands. Then after sailing two hundred miles on a southerly course, the Ark changed her course to the westward and sailed across the Atlantic headed for the West Indies. Barbados was reached January 3, 1634, where the Ark joined the Dove. On February 24th, 1634 they dropped anchor at Point Comfort, Virginia. They were there several days and then entered the Chesapeake and reached the Potomac. On St. Clement Island these Maryland colonists made their first landing on March 25th 1634.

According to the Book of Early Settlers in the Land Office, Annapolis, Dr. Thomas Gerrard emigrated to the province in 1638, four years after his brother, Richard, and sister, Anne. Some historians identify this Dr. Thomas Gerrard with the Second Baronet, but according to Burke's Peerage the Second Baronet died on May 15th, 1630. [Parran]

On October 29th, 1639, Thomas Gerrard requested a land grant for transporting himself and five able men into the province. On March 30th, 1640 a survey of 1,000 acres of land lying to the north of St. Clement's Manor where the town of Matapania now stands and including the island of St. Catherine's Creek called St. Catherine's Island was made for Thomas. The warrant is signed by Leonard Calvert on November 3, 1639. The original was in the Maryland Historical Society. Among other of his land possessions taken from the rent rolls of St. Marys County from 1639 to 1724 are: St. Clement's Manor, St. Clement's Island, 11,400 acres granted to him by Lord Baltimore in 1638-9 and re surveyed for Justinian Gerrard, his eldest son in 1678, Gerard's Freehold, 243 acres in St.Mary's

Hundred, surveyed April 21 1640, St. Winefreides Freehold surveyed March 28, 1651, in Charles County, Wiccocomico, 550 acres surveyed for him in 1666, Westwood Manor, surveyed in 1651. In all there are 32,343 acres. Some of the place names were: Bromley, Chaptico, River View, Bushwood, Hackley, Little Hackley, Waterloo, Dukehard, Branton, Longworth Point, and Chancellor Point. [ Parran] Bromley Manor was purchased in 1719 by Charles Carroll of Carrollton. [ibi]

The first proprietors of what is now called Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. were George Thompson and Thomas Gerrard, who patented the land jointly under several titles in 1663. The largest of these grants were Duddington Manor and Pasture, New Troy, and St. Elizabeth. Thompson and Gerrard were remote kinsmen and jointly named "Duddington". In 1664 Gerrard sold his interest to Thompson and in 1670 he disposed of the entire estate to Thomas Notley, who united the three grants into one Manorial holding to

be known as Gerne Abbey Manor. Notley willed the land to Notley Rozer, grandson of Jane [Lowe] Sewall Calvert, Landy Baltimore.

In 1727, Anne Rozier, daughter of Notley, married Daniel Carroll, uncle of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. He died in 1734 leaving three children and a year later his widow married Col. Benjamin Young. In 1758, Mrs. Young, again a widow, petitioned the court to permit her elder son, Charles Carroll of Carrollsburgh to divide the property with his half-brother, Notley Young. By this division, Cerne Abbey Manor went back to the original component parts and Carroll was given Duddington Manor with the remainder to Notley Young. Charles died about 1778 leaving, as principal heir, his eldest son, Daniel, who very property called himself "of Duddington Manor" He with his co-heir, Notley Young, negotiated the sale of the property with President Washington's commission. Of the three commissioners, who purchased the land for the Federal Government, Daniel Carroll of Rock Creek was the brother of the Most Rev. John Carroll, first Catholic Bishop in the United States and uncle of David of Duddington's first wife, Anne Brent, whose brother, Robert, was to be the first mayor of Washington D.C. This purchase by the Federal Government took place one hundred and twenty-seven years after George Thompson and Thomas Gerrard acquired the original title. [Margaret Bret Downing, The American Capitoline Hill and it's Early Catholic Proprietors, The Catholic Historical Review, Vol.II, pp. 269-282]

That Thomas Gerrard was a Catholic is universally admitted and it is but necessary to recall that he, as Lord of St. Clement's Manor, is the historical personage always cited to prove the broad toleration of Maryland's charter. He was fined 500 pounds of tobacco, no light penalty, for locking a Protestant chapel and refusing to open if for service located on his property. He is also brought forth to prove the Court Leet and Court Baron held on his manor from 1659 to 1672. Thomas was one of the first doctors or "chirurgeons" in the province. A list of his patients may be found in the administration Accounts of the colonial courts. As early as 1639, Richard Lee and his wife of Virginia died at his home having come to him f...........(sic)

Thomas patented 1,000 acres on the Nomini River on October 18, 1650 in Westmoreland County,Virginia. He moved there after he lost his Maryland estates in the revolution of 1659 under his friend, Josias Fendall. The Assembly met at Thomas's home, Bromly and Buchwood the home of Robert Slye, his son-in-law. They issued the first declaration of Independence in America and Gov. Fendall proclaimed Maryland a republic. [ Douglas S. Freeman, Geo. Washington, S.R. Hardy, Colonial Families of the Southern States of America, and Side-Lights on Maryland History.]

Thomas married Susannah, dau. of Justinian Snow who also immigrated from England as his first wife. He had the following children;

1.Justianian Gerrard..the eldest married Sarah, widow of Wilkes Manunders.,but left no issue.

2.Elizabeth Garrad, who m. 1st, Nehemiah Blackistone, 2nd, Ralph Rymer, and 3rd, Joshua Guilbert.

3.Susannah [Hannah] Gerrard, who m. 1st, Robert Slye, and was given Bushwood by her father, which was built in 1667 and became the sire of the first mint in the colony, and m. 2nd, Robert Ellyson [below].

4.Thomas Gerrad, who married a widow Curtis, but died without issue.

5.Frances Garrard, who married 1st, Thomas Specke, and second Dr. Valentine Peyton, and 3rd, Capt. John Appleton, and 4th, John Washington, great grand-father of George Washington, after her sister's death in 1676.

6.Anne Gerrard, who married 1st, Walter Broadhurst, and 2nd, Henry Brett, and 3rd, John Washington,above, who had no children by the two Gerrard sister's.

7.John Garrard, who married Elizabeth, who married 2nd, James Johnson after his death in 1678.

8.Patience Garrard, who married Daniel Hutt, and second John Crabbe.

9. Janette Garrard, who married Richard Eltonhead.

10. Judith Gerrard, who married John Goldsmith.

11.Mary Garrard, who married Kenelm Cheseldyne III.

12. Rebecca Gerrard, who married Hon. Charles Calvert, Governor of Maryland, 1720-1728, uncle of Lord Baltimore. [Parren, Freeman, Wm.& Mary College Quarterly,Vol.4 and 5.]

It seems that Susannah, Thomas's first wife, died in Maryland. He then married second in Virginia Rose Tucker. She already had a daughter Sarah, who married the prosperous immigrant, William Fitzhugh. After Thomas's death, his widow, Rose, contracted a third marriage with John Newton, who had himself been married twice previously and had several sons. We know only that Thomas's eldest son and his daughters, Elizabeth, Susannah, Frances, and Patience were born in England and by his first wife. In his will he mentions his three sons, two, Justinian and John by name, and five daughters, one Mary by name. He only refers to the possibility of children by his second wife, Rose. He wills his "title" to his son Justinian. His son, John, had one son, John Jr., but he died without issue, so there are no descendants of Thomas by the name Gerrard.

In Westmoreland County where relationship was general and the dominant class nearly unified, Thomas Gerrard, John Lee, Henry Corbin, and Isaac Allerton symbolized even more than they executed in an interesting documents to which they set their hand on March 30th 1670 at a time when boundaries were often uncertain and the law required a periodic "processioning" of each parish to mark property lines. To simplify this these neighbors convenanted not only to set their boundaries clearly,but

to provide a meeting for the friendly celebration. At the junction of Allerton's land with Gerrard's the four friends agreed to construct a

Banqueting House to met with wives, heirs, and friends yearly. All neighbors were, however, not so friendly. Two, Richard and his wife, Anna Cole, were of a type not frequent in Virginia. In 1664 Mrs. Cole had been committed to the custody of the sheriff "upon suspicion of the murder of Rose Parker". Of this charge she must have been acquitted, but she did not bridle her tongue and evidently the Coles looked upon Thomas Gerrard and his two daughters, Anne and Frances, as enemies and in due time the Garrard's had to bring charges of libel against Mrs. Cole. It appears the Gerrards won the case. John Washington was one of the Justices of the Court and subsequently married Anne after the death of her second husband and Frances, after Anne's death. [Freeman,Vol.1.p.2; 18ff]

Thomas Gerrard died between Feb.5th, 1672, when he made his will and Dec.15th 1673, when it was proved. According to it he was to be buried as close as possible to his first wife, Susannah [Hall of Records,Annapolis,MD, Wills 1, ff. 567-73;Testamentary Proceedings 6, ff. 23, 48-55, 163-64.]

Gen.I- Captain Robert Ellyson, The Emigrant:

Capt. Robert Ellyson came from Maryland with Thomas Garrard and patented 577 acres in New Kent County, Virginia. It is likely that he came from England under the sponsorship of Gerrard and that they may have been distant relatives, since an ancestor of Thomas had married a daughter of Cutbert Ellyson. He married Susannah [Hannah], Thomas' daughter and the widow of Robert Slye. Capt. Robert Ellyson, also called Doctor, formerly resided in St. Mary's Parish,Maryland. Part of his Virginia land was in James City County and he served as High Sheriff of both counties, and as Sergeant at Arms of the House of Burgesses, 1657-58. He was a Burgess from 1656 to 1663. He had two children by Thomas Gerrard's daughter: Hannah who married Capt. Anthony Armistead, who served as a Burgess from 1693 to 1699, and a member of the Court Martial, under Sir William Berkeley in 1676 to try the Bacon insurgents, and Gerrard, below. Capt. Robert Ellyson died about 1688.

Anthony and Hannah [ Ellyson] Armistead had among other children, Robert [d.1742], who married first the daughter of Robert and Anne [Bray] Booth, whose daughter, Mary [1761-1792] married Hon. John Tyler, a descendant of John Page, and they were the parents of John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States.

Gen.II- Gerrard Ellyson:

After his father's death Gerrard Ellyson patented his land as his "son and heir". He married Anne, the daughter of John Myhill of Elizabeth City and their children were:

1.John Ellyson, baptized in 1668 in St.Peter's Parish, New Kent, VA.

2.Gerrard Ellyson.

3.Robert Ellyson, who died in Chesterfield about 1761.

4.Elizabeth Ellyson, who married John Johnson Jr. on 6th Aug.1725.

5.Hannah Ellyson who married Andrew Crew in 1720.

6.William Ellyson, who married Agnes, also a daughter of John Johnson of Hanover County in 1772.

7.Judith Ellyson, who married in 1726 James Ladd.

8.Cecelia Ellyson, who married Thomas Ellyson, her cousin in 1729.

9.Ursula Ellyson,who married William Ladd in 1730.

Anne [Mayhill] Ellyson died in Elizabeth City County and her will is dated January 7th 1727. [ Based on Ellyson Family, Tyler's Quarterly Magazine,Vol.10.p.32.,Lorand V.Johnson, The Ancestry of William and John Johnson. p.151 and Hardy pp. 25 and 518.]

Note by RCL: This account differs slightly from the genealogy I have recorded in this Personal Ancestry File. That account is based on The Founders of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789, Vol 1, p348.

More About THOMAS GERARD and JANE UNKNOWN:

Marriage: Bef. 1586

Child of THOMAS GERARD and JANE UNKNOWN is:

             i.   JOHN GERARD 2, b. New Hall,,England; m. ISABELL UNKNOWN.

He also matriculated from Braesnose College, Oxford University 20 July 1578.

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