Samuel Byfield (1628 - 1683)

Born Jul 1628 in Long Ditton, Surrey, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Watford) Byfield — married 29 Apr 1675 in Mitcham, Surrey, England

Died 1683 at about age 54 in Ewhurst, Surrey, England

Biography

Samuel Byfield was the eldest son of Rev Richard Byfield, rector of Long Ditton Surrey, and his wife Mary Lancashire. The registers of St. Mary in Long Ditton, Surrey, England recorded, "1628... Samuel filius Richi Bifeild artium [illegible] Rectoris ibid Baptisatus Julij Die [12?]."^[1]

Samuel followed his father into the church, matriculating Easter term 1645 at Queen's College and taking the BA in 1647/8. He then migrated to Oxford as a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, where he took the MA 1649-50. He was named Proctor in 1657. In 1667, he was appointed rector of Ewhurst Surrey, where he remained until his death in 1683. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Samuel married late in life in 1675, aged 45, to Mary Watford, spinster age 27, of Ewhurst. ^[5] The marriage took place on 29 April at Mitcham Surrey, where Samuel's brother Richard was then vicar. "Mr Samuel Byfield, rector of Ewhurst in the County of Surrey, and Mrs Mary Watford of the same parish, were married." ^[6]

Their marriage had two daughters: ^[7]

Mary - b. 28 March 1677

Anne - b. 4 August 1680

In his 1679 Will ^[8], Samuel's brother Richard Byfield left bequests to his niece Mary and her mother Mary Byfield, but Anne had not yet been born. Samuel was named as executor to Richard's Will, but he apparently did not leave a Will of his own. He died in 1683 and was buried in Ewhurst in June, followed within days by his widow Mrs Mary Byfield. ^[9]

"Commission issued 10 November 1705 to Mary Johnson als Byfeild wife of William Johnson, natural and lawful daughter of Samuel Byfeild lately Rector of Ewhurst in Surrey, clerk, deceased, to administer the goods, etc. of the deceased, the letters of administration of the said deceased granted in the month of July 1683 to a certain Anne Wickins wife of Samuel Wickins (sister of the deceased) and to Henry Cheynell clerk as curators lawful &c. of Anne Byfeild and the said Mary Johnson als Bifeild, then minor daughters of the said deceased, to their use and during their minority, having now by reason of the full age of the said Mary Johnson &c. ceased and expired." Admon. Act Book (1705) L. 214. ^[10]

Source

1. ↑ Anglican Parish Registers. Woking, Surrey, England: Surrey History Centre. Surrey History Centre; Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: 3833/1/1. Date Range: 1564 May-1654 Dec. Ancestry.com. Surrey, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/4790/images/40815_1831109333_1539-00013?pId=2362005.
2. ↑ "Bruges-Bythner." Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714. Ed. Joseph Foster. Oxford: University of Oxford, 1891. 201-227. British History Online. Web. 30 November 2023. Byfeild, Samuel
3. ↑ Venn, JA. Alumni Cantabrigienses, vol 1, p. 149. Cambridge University Press. p. 149
4. ↑ Clergy of the Church of England Database: Byfield, Samuel # 92430 #92430
5. ↑ London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1675 Apr-Jun (Allegation 28 April) Ancestry UK
6. ↑ Parish Register Mitcham, St Peter and St Paul 1563-1678 Ancestry UK
7. ↑ Ewhurst, St Peter and St Paul 1614-1719 Ancestry UK
8. ↑ PROB 11/361/379 3 December 1679
9. ↑ Parish Register Ewhurst, St Peter and St Paul 1614-1719 Ancestry UK
10. ↑ Waters, "Geneaological Gleanings in England", p. 141. NEHGR, vol LII, 1898. p. 141.