According to the profile for Richard Foxwell, it's not known where he came from in England, though I've seen either Kent or London suggested. Either way no documentation in England has been confirmed for him to my knowledge, but lately I've found a Richard Foxwell of Limehouse in London and I wonder whether he may be a suitable match.
Some of the basic facts about the Barnstable Foxwell are that he was a tailor by trade; he was an original settler and founding member of John Lothrop's church in Scituate in 1634 (later moving to Barnstable); he had a son John that appears to be from a previous marriage, who died as a young adult in 1646; and he married Ann Shelley in Massachusetts about 1634 and had three daughters by her. Also, he must have at least been acquainted with a woolen draper named Mr. Adams (possibly Thomas Adams (1586-1668)?) who lived on Gracious St in London, whom he mentioned in his will.
Below I'm including all the links to the Church of England records on Ancestry pertaining to the Richard Foxwell of Limehouse. These records are spread across a few different parishes in London, but I think they belong to the same family unit. He married in January 1615 in St. Olave, Southwark and had a son baptized there. Then he seems to have gone to Limehouse and belonged to St. Dunstan's Church in Stepney, and then later St. Mary, Whitechapel. It appears he had at least these children: Edmund (1616-1625), James (1621-1621), John (1622-), Nathaniel (1624-1627), and Thomas (1627-). There are at least a few details about this Richard that stood out:
*This Richard Foxwell was also a tailor, and is prominently referred to as such through most of the entries.
*His wife's name was Ellen Cole. One of the Barnstable Foxwell's daughters had a husband named Hugh Cole.
*He had a son named John who would appear to be about the right age as the John Foxwell in Barnstable, and I didn't find any mention of this John dying in England. On the other hand it seems most or all of the other children died young in England. That would be consistent with them not appearing in Scituate or Barnstable.
This family disappears from the records after 1627. I think we would expect the Barnstable Foxwell to be absent from Church of England records in the years leading up to his departure, if he was a follower of Rev. Lothrop's Independent congregation in London. That's certainly implied by the phrase Lothrop uses: "so many of us as had been in covenant before". There's disagreement over what year he sailed to New England, but it must have been between 1630 and 1634.
I'm curious if others have looked into this Richard Foxwell. Do we think he could be the same person as the Richard Foxwell of Barnstable? I see him as a possible candidate, and thought I should suggest him to others that are researching. There may be other candidates, and I'd want to make note of those too, if others know of any.
*If this is the same Richard, then he would have to be born earlier than the current estimate on the profile--more like 1595 or so instead of 1610, but this wouldn't make him unreasonably old.
St. Olave, Southwark
23 Jan 1614/15: Richard Foxwell & Ellen Cole (Marriage)
11 Jun 1616: Edmond Foxwell son of Richard Foxwell tailor (Baptism)
St. Dunstan & All Saints, Stepney
18 Oct 1621: James son of Richard Foxwell of Limehouse tailor and Ellenor his wife (Baptism)
14 Nov 1621: James son of Richard Foxwell of Limehouse tailor & Ellyn his wife (Burial)
23 Oct 1622: John son of Richard Foxwell of Limehouse tailor and Ellinor his wife (Baptism)
28 Oct 1624: Nathaniell son of Richard Foxwell of Limehouse tailor & Elenor his wife (Baptism)
11 Mar 1624/25: Edmund son of Richard Foxwell of Limehouse tailor (Burial)
St. Mary, Whitechapel
25 Aug 1626: Richard Foxwell (Burial)
*Unclear who this is, but it can't be the Richard Foxwell married to Ellen as it's too long before the birth of their son Thomas below. Perhaps it's a son or other relative.
5 Jun 1627: Nathaniel Foxwell (Burial)
*May be the son of Richard that was baptized in Dunstan.
11 Oct 1627: Thomas son of Richard Foxwell & Elinor ux. (Baptism)
