no image
Privacy Level: Open (White)

John Adams (abt. 1505 - bef. 1543)

John Adams
Born about in Englandmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died before before about age 38 in Barton St. David, Somerset, Englandmap [uncertain]
Profile last modified | Created 27 Jul 2010
This page has been accessed 12,525 times.
English flag
John Adams is managed by the England Project.
Join: England Project
Discuss: england

Disputed Parentage and Wife

There is an internet fantasy claiming that John Adams, husbandman of Barton St. David, Somerset, was the son of John Adams, landed aristocrat of Stoke Gabriel and Dartmouth, Devon. There is no evidence to support this supposition.

Alternatively, it has been suggested that the Robert Adams who appears on a 1543 tax list in 1543 was John's father. There is no evidence to support this, and this Robert could conceivably have been John's brother, son, uncle, or second cousin. Nothing more is known of this Robert Adams.

By the same token, it has been suggested that the Alice Adams who appeared on the same 1543 subsidy list was the widow of John Adams. This is possible, but she could have been his step-mother or his aunt or his widowed sister-in-law. We simply have no idea.

Furthermore, there is an internet fantasy claiming that John Adams was the husband of Margery Squire, an alleged daughter of Thomas Squire of Podington, Bedfordshire or his alleged brother John. Once again, there is no evidence to support this supposition.

Biography

J. Gardner Bartlett's 1927 genealogy, Henry Adams of Somersetshire, England and Braintree, Mass., gives exactly one record that mentions John Adams: "John Adams of Barton David, born probably about 1500 to 1505, is named in the Muster Roll for the tithing of Barton, Somersetshire, 1539... and he is credited with supplying a 'bowe.'"[1]


Bartlett goes on to state that Robert Adams and widow Alice Adams appeared on a subsidy list in Barton David in 1543. Bartlett assumes that Alice was the widow of John and the mother of Henry Adams, b. 1531: "The subsidy rolls for the reign of Henry VIII for Somersetshire are few and in a generally decayed state, rendering examination difficult and somewhat inconclusive. Those for 1542 and 1543 are badly damaged, especially in a section comprising Barton, but there can still be read the name of Robert "Adamps" and Alys Adams, widow... The Alys Adams above named may be the widow of John(1) Adams, of whose death and the settlement of whose estate no record has survived...."[2]

A different John Adams (son of William) was Member of Parliament for Pembroke, Henry VIII.[3]

Sources

  1. J. Gardner Bartlett, Henry Adams of Somersetshire, England and Braintree, Mass (1927), p. 27.
  2. J. Gardner Bartlett, Henry Adams of Somersetshire, England and Braintree, Mass (1927), p. 28.
  3. Bartrum's 'Welsh Genealogies 1400-1500' volume 1 page 5 footnote 1 states "Pembs. 125 exchanges the names of John and Thomas
  • Dorset Pilgrims, by Frank Thistlethwaite, Published by Heart of the Lakes, Interlaken NY, 1993.
  • From Deborah Longoria:
  • England, Select Deaths and Burials 1538-1991,
  • England, Select Marriages 1538–1973,
  • London, England Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1538-1812,
  • Millennium File, UK and Ireland Find A Grave Index 1300s - Current,

Web: International, Find A Grave Index,

  • Web: Netherlands Genealogie Online Trees Index 1000-2015.




Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of John's ancestors' DNA have taken a DNA test.

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments: 11

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
I corrected a few minor things from BioCheck. Could someone please track down the source citations and add more details, either links, or Authors, Publishers, dates and page numbers (or both). Since it is project protected I feel uncomfortable making any major changes.

Thanks, Scott DataDoctors

posted by Scott Michal
I am related to these Adams. The book says it is possible they are Ancestral Cousins of John Adams. Just putting it here for conversations sake/ research.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Genealogical_History_of_Robert_Adams_o/PQlXAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=harriet+electa+Adams+Kenney&pg=PA362&printsec=frontcover

posted by Lily (Bohling) Spencer
I would like to remove squire-62 from this profile.
posted by Al Adams
Hi Profile Managers, thank you for your care for John Adam's profile. The England Project has taken on management of his profile as it is project protected. We invite you to join the project and continue to contribute your expertise about him and his family. Please get back to me if you have any questions about this. Regards, Gillian, Leader England Project.
posted by Gillian Thomas
Hi profile managers, the England Project would like to take on management of this profile. See https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Project_Protecting_and_Merging for more information. I am adding the England project box today and will send you a trusted list request to add me to the trusted list for the profile. Please contact me if you would like to discuss. Regards, Gillian, Leader, England Project.
posted by Gillian Thomas
John is the 13th great grandfather of Al
posted by Al Adams
Travis, there was a fraudulent aristocratic ancestry of this humble Adams family, that has spread all over the internet, with an added make-believe wife and birthdate. John Adams's parents are unknown.
posted by [Living Schmeeckle]
I have a John Adams in my family tree on Ancestry, here are the details I found for him, hope it helps:

Birth 14 Jan 1502 in Barton St. David, Somerset Death 1542 same

Wife: Catherine Stebbing Birth 1484 Devon, England Death 1514 (1582 also found)

Her parents were John Small Stebbing of Devon and Alice Borroridge

John Adams's father: John Adams II Born 1482 Beverston, Gloucestershire Death 2 AUG 1557 Barton St David, Somerset

I was able to trace that line back a long way to (as I recall without looking) an Adam Gwynt who was a Welsh nobleman (and even much further back than that). Either he or his son took the surname Adam.

Btw, I looked into the ancestry of President John Adams and noticed he had ancestors from Barton St. David -- we appear to be 5th cousins 8 times removed :-)

posted by Travis Fields
It appears that this John Adams is the same as John Adams-258 at http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Adams-258 .

It also appears that this John Adams got mixed up with a different John Adams, member of Parliament; see http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/adams-john-1511-7175

Neither of those two John Adams is known to have had sons named Richard or John; those sons should be detached unless there has been a new discovery in the primary source records.

posted by [Living Schmeeckle]
If nobody objects, I would like to detach Alice Adams as the wife of John, per the discussion in the profile.
posted by [Living Schmeeckle]
Adams-13736 and Adams-258 do not represent the same person because: Rejecting match because of spouse: There is an internet fantasy claiming that John Adams was the husband of Margery Squire, an alleged daughter of Thomas Squire of Podington, Bedfordshire or his alleged brother John. Once again, there is no evidence to support this supposition.
posted by Bobbie (Madison) Hall