JOHN SMYTH (7488)married ALICE BARNES SMITH who emigrated with her son, JOHN SMITH to Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1635. She had me really confused when I couldn't find an ALICE BARNES who had been born about 1595. The marriage record from the Hadleigh Parish Church showed that JOHN SMITH had married an ALICE MARRYON in 1619. I finally looked again at the original church record and found a small "W" after her name which meant she had been a widow when she married JOHN SMITH. By tracing the marriages in Hadleigh I found where an ALICE BARNES had married a SAMUEL MERREN (MARRYON) in 1611 so that established her maiden family name as BARNES. Then I found her baptism on 6 June 1596 and her father showed as THOMAS BARNES which solved the mystery. Photocopies of these original baptism and marriage records are in my files.

John Smith married Alice Marryon (widow) on 17 June 1619

St. Mary's Parish Church Register

Hadleigh, Suffolk, England

Alice Barnes married Samuel Marryon (Marren) on 25 July 1611

St. Mary's Parish Church Register

Hadleigh, Suffolk, England

         IMPORTANT NOTICE

     I feel sure JOHN SMYTH must have died before his widow ALICE brought her son to Ipswich in New England. . There had been a serious plague in Suffolk County area in the late 1590s and was still around by the 1620s. The problem is there were 4 JOHN SMYTHs buried at the Hadleigh Parish Church between 1621/2 when JOHN SMITH was born and 1635 when ALICE SMITH and son JOHN left for America.

1627 November 16 JOHN SMYTH (a tailor)

1628 April 20 JOHN SMYTHE (from ___ )

1631 November 15 JOHN SMYTH (the elder)

1633 November 10 JOHN SMYTH (a carpenter). (a RICHARD SMYTH, carpenter, was buried the same day so they were probably brothers or father and son)

     I think the second one is unlikely as 2 weeks after he died a John Smythe, son of John Smythe died so these two were probably father and son, both taken by the plague. Also they both spelled the Smythe with an "E" on the end in the church records.

     So I have no way of being sure which was "our" JOHN SMYTH. To make matters even more confusing there were two JOHN SMITHS buried in Great Waldingfield. This is very interesting because of JOHN SMITH working as a tenant farmer for Samuel Appleton in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Great Waldingfield was the manor home of the Appletons and from where Samuel Appleton had departed for New England. The name was spelled SMITH in the Great Waldingfield Parish Church records which was the way ALICE SMITH spelled it on her Conformity Certificate when they left for America.

Even though JOHN and ALICE were married in Hadleigh and JOHN was baptized in Hadleigh they could have moved (or been working) in Great Waldingfield which was only 9 miles away. The following are the dates of these two burials.

1624 September 5 JOHN SMITH (the younger)

1635 June 5 JOHN SMITH

     It is tempting to speculate that it might have been the JOHN SMITH who was buried in Great Waldingfield on 5 September 1624. This might account for the fact that ALICE SMITH only had one child with her when she left for America. Probably I will never prove which one is correct.

Hadleigh Guild Hall, Suffolk, England

Built in 16th century and still in use in 2008

     In searching the Hadleigh Guild Hall Records with Sue Andrews, Assistant Archivist, my daughter Carole and I went through the various Charities at the time "our" JOHN SMITH would have been there. These were charities set up by rich patrons of the town to give assistance to the poor of the town. Because of the number of SMITHS in Hadleigh there is no way of knowing whether those mentioned had anything to do with "our" JOHN SMITH.

      The following was from the Alice Parkin's Charity started in 1580. In the time frame which interests us it was being administered by John Alabaster Jr. At the Guild Hall it is in file 11/A/02.

1622 January 3 Mother Smith Jr. 1 1/2 Ell of cloth (45 inches)

1624 December 24 Mother Smith

1626 January 2 "Milking" Smith 1 Ell

1630 Robert Smith

1631 Widow Smith

1632 Widow Smith

1636 Widow Smith

1638 Widow Smith Because Widow Smith was a recipient up to 1638 this can't be "our" Alice Smith.

     Another Charity was Dr. Styll's Charity which was £ 50 bequeathed for clothing. It is shown in the Guild Hall file 11/A/07.

1611 Thomas Barnes

1617 John Smith

1617 Whitbread Smith

1618 Thomas Barnes

1622 John Smyth

1623 John Smyth

1624 "Milking" Smyth's Girls

1624 Mother Smyth

1625 Widow Smith

1626 John Smyth the Younger

1626 "Milking" Smyth's Boy

1626 "Milking" Smyth

1627 "Milking" Smyth

1628 Widow Smith

1632 Widow Smith

1635 Widow Smith

     The interesting thing about this list is the mention of THOMAS BARNES. He was the father of ALICE SMITH, the wife of JOHN SMITH. If he was receiving assistance from the charities it makes it more likely that "our" JOHN SMITH was also one of the recipients. It is also interesting to see that a John Smyth received assistance in 1622 which is when "our" JOHN SMITH was born. And was the fact that WIDOW SMITH was receiving assistance from the charity starting in 1625 but ending in 1635 throw any circumstantial evidence that her husband JOHN SMITH died in 1624 and she left for America in 1635. These are intriguing speculations but there is no way of knowing what is correct.

     I have come to the conclusion that "our" JOHN SMITH had some sort of connection with the APPLETONS of Great Waldingfield. There are several things that have brought me to this conclusion. ALICE SMITH and her son JOHN SMITH left Suffolk in 1635 which is the same year SAMUEL APPLETON left for America. There is no record of which ship he travelled on. However we know they all ended up in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Then we know that JOHN SMITH was working as a tenant farmer for Samuel Appleton in Ipswich. ALICE SMITH would have also known all about the great excitement in Suffolk to get settlers to go to the Massachusetts Bay Colony by JOHN WINTHROP in 1630. His aunt Bridget Winthrop Alabaster was ALICE's grandmother.

     So there is strong circumstantial evidence that JOHN SMITH may have been working for the APPLETONS in Great Waldingfield which is only 9 miles from Hadleigh. If this is true then it adds more evidence that the JOHN SMITH who died in Great Waldingfield in 1624 was ALICE's husband.

There were also Charities in Great Waldingfield. One of these had been bequeathed by Edward Appleton in 1592. The Suffolk Record Office in Bury St. Edmunds researched these charities for me to see if any SMITHS had been recipients with the following results.

     Mr. Appleton's gift to the poor on 27 December 1614. Edward Smith, 12 pence, John Smith, 12 pence.

     Mr. Firmen's gift to the poor on18 January 1614, Edward Smyth, 10 pence, John Smith, 12 pence.

     Mr. Thomas Alston's gift to the poor, 10 January 1619, Edward Smyth, 6 pence, Harry Smyth, 6 pence, John Smith, 4 pence.

     Mr. John Wissley's gift to the poor, Edward Smyth, 6 pence, John Smith, 6 pence.

     Sir Robert Crane's gift to the poor, John Smith 12 pence.

     It would appear that the JOHN SMITH who was receiving this assistance was the one who died in 1635 which probably means it was NOT "our" JOHN SMITH.

     SOURCE of INFORMATION

     Church marriage records of HADLEIGH PARISH CHURCH, SUFFOLK COUNTY, ENGLAND. These particular records are transcripts made of Suffolk marriages 1559-1812 and are found in LDS film # 0991935. Copies of the pertinent pages are in my files.

     Baptism, marriage and burial original records from HADLEIGH PARISH CHURCH, SUFFOLK, ENGLAND are found in LDS film # 0919574. Copies are in my files.

     Register of Parish Church of Great Waldingfield 1539-1640. Transcripts are found in LDS film # 0991998. The originals are found in LDS film # 0952217 but are almost illegible.

     HADLEIGH THROUGH THE AGES by W. A. B. Jones. Published in 1977 by East Anglia Magazines. This book is in my library.

     THE BOROUGH OF HADLEIGH by Sue Andrews. Published privately in 1990. Sue Andrews kindly gave her permission to use portions of her book. This booklet is in my library.

     THE PEOPLE OF HADLEIGH PAY THEIR TAXES by Sue Andrews. Published privately in 1994. Sue Andrews kindly gave permission to use parts of her book. This booklet is in my library.

     VARIOUS FILES FROM HADLEIGH GUILD HALL ARCHIVES. These are records of the Collectors for Town Rents, Feoffment Market Accounts, Charity Accounts and Disbursements to the Poor in the Alms Houses. Photocopies of many of these are in my files. They are also summarized in a file in the computer named HADLEIGH GUILD HALL ARCHIVES. when my daughter Carole and I were in Hadleigh in 1998 we spent a day going over these original records with Sue Andrews, the Assistant Archivist at the Guild Hall.

     GREAT WALDINGFIELD POOR LAW PAPERS File 514/4/8. These were researched by Mr. J. A. Theobald at the Suffolk County Record Office in Bury St. Edmunds. In my files are copies he made of the SMITH recipients of several charities in Great Waldingfield at the time such as the Appleton Charity.

     ALICE BARNES (7489). ALICE (7489) was born before 6 June 1596 in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England. She was baptized on 6 June 1596 in St. Mary's Church, Hadleigh, Suffolk, England. She married SAMUEL MARRIN (MARRYON) (7490), son of JOHN MARRYON (7514), 25 July 1611 in St. Mary's Church, Hadleigh, Suffolk, England. ALICE (7489) died at an unknown date in Connecticut State, USA, at age at an unknown age.

     Children of JOHN³ SMYTH (7488) and ALICE BARNES (7489) were:

  + 20         i.            JOHN⁴ SMITH (1536) JOHN (1536) was born 21 January 1621/22 in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England. He married ELIZABETH (--?--) (1537) 16 June 1653 in Ipswich, Essex, MA, USA. JOHN (1536) died 16 October 1672 in Ipswich, Essex, MA, USA, at age 50.

14. THOMAS³ SMYTH (7534) (ANTHONY², WILLIAM¹). THOMAS (7534) was born 21 November 1596 in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England. He married ELIZABETH (--?--) (7540) 1618 in St. Mary's Church, Hadleigh, Suffolk, England. THOMAS (7534) died at an unknown date at age at an unknown age.

     ELIZABETH (--?--) (7540). ELIZABETH (7540) died at an unknown date at age at an unknown age.

     Children of THOMAS³ SMYTH (7534) and ELIZABETH (--?--) (7540) all born in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England, were as follows:

        21          i.            SUZAN⁴ SMYTH (7574). SUZAN (7574) was born 11 February 1618. SUZAN (7574) died before 22 January 1622 in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England, at age at an unknown age.

        22         ii.            SUZAN SMYTH (7541). SUZAN (7541) was born 22 January 1622. SUZAN (7541) died at an unknown date at age at an unknown age.

        23        iii.            ABIGAIL SMYTH (7542). ABIGAIL (7542) was born 22 January 1622. ABIGAIL (7542) died at an unknown date at age at an unknown age.

        24        iv.            THOMAS SMYTH (7545). THOMAS (7545) was born 29 April 1623. THOMAS (7545) died before 1 January 1627 in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England, at age at an unknown age.

        25          v.            MARGARET SMYTH (7543). MARGARET (7543) was born 19 January 1624. MARGARET (7543) died at an unknown date at age at an unknown age.

        26        vi.            THOMAS SMYTH (7544). THOMAS (7544) was born 1 January 1627. THOMAS (7544) died at an unknown date at age at an unknown age.

        27       vii.            MARY SMYTH (7575). MARY (7575) was born 9 September 1627. MARY (7575) died at an unknown date at age at an unknown age.

DIRECT E-MAIL LINK to LINTON LOVE

If your interest is in a particular generation you can jump to