William Knowlton (abt. 1584 - 1632)

Born about 1584 in Knowlton Manor, Kent, England

Died 6 Jun 1632 at about age 48 in At Sea near Nova Scotia

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Research has shown that this person never existed. See the text for details. Join: Disproven Existence Project Discuss: Disproven_Existence

Research Notes

This person is a fictional invention of Dr. Charles Stocking in his 1897 Knowlton Genealogy. There is no physical evidence that he ever existed, and the civilian owner of a ship in that time was a "Master" and not a "Captain" (which was reserved for the military). Furthermore, English Parish records in Uxbridge, England identify the three Knowlton brothers who emigrated to Ipswich, MA ca. 1637-9 as descended from Robert and Mary Knowlton in Uxbridge. There is no connection whatever to Knowlton Manor in Kent or English nobility.

Captain William Knowlton is an imaginary person. There is no primary source documentation for his existence, just a story about an old gravestone (for a William Knowlton, died 1632), that was found in Nova Scotia in the 19th century. This is the only source for the unreliable old Knowlton genealogy's tale about Captain William Knowlton, the imaginary father of the three Knowlton brothers who settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

The old Knowlton genealogy gives an imaginary wife Ann Elizabeth Smith for the imaginary Captain William Knowlton. It also gives imaginary parents, Richard Knowlton and Elizabeth Cantize; see this page.

The Errata and Addenda to the Knowlton genealogy incorrectly supposes that Captain William Knowlton (died 1632) was the same as William Nolton of Hingham (d. 1639), whose wife's name was Ann. There is no evidence to support such a hypothesis. Furthermore, the will of Widow Ann (----)(Nolton) Tucker left everything to her grandchildren Paul Guilford and Susanna Jewell, with no mention of any Knowlton sons.

Fictional Biography

The information below is included for reference the original myth from Stocking as well as an unsuccessful attempt in 1903 in the Errata and Addenda by George Knowlton to clarify it.

Capt. William was at least part owner of the vessel in which he sailed for America. He died on the voyage, probably not far from Nova Scotia, for a land surveyor, Alphonso Wells by name, in the employ of the Canadian Government, brought word to the Canadian Knowltons that, when surveying land in Shelbourne in 1839, he had found an ancient head-stone there bearing the name of William Knowlton, 1632. Tradition also says that his ship was sold here, and that his widow and children proceeded to Massachusetts, probably to Hingham, the following year, where his widow is said to have remarried. The English tradition is that her name was Ann Elizabeth Smith. On June 9, 1668 one Anne, widow of William Knollton, petitioned for an appraisal of land in Hingham, and she has been thought by some to have been the widow of Capt. William, an opinion strengthened by a will of Deacon Thomas, her son, dated "12th month, 14th day, 1653," in which he makes certain bequests to his brother John, to Marjery Wilson, and to his nephew Abraham and his niece Elizabeth, and "the rest for my mother`s use during her life." Although this makes certain that his mother was then living, the petitioner Anne may have been the widow of William (1615) also named Ann Elizabeth. The Knowltons of New England pg. 21

Sources

• Rev Charles Henry Wright Stocking DD, The History and Genealogy of the Knowltons of England and America. (New York, NY: The Knickerbocker Press, 2897), Page 3
• George Henry Knowlton, Errata and Addenda to Dr. Stocking's History and Genealogy of the Knowltons: And A Supplement With Copies of Old Wills Administration Records, Etc., (Boston, Mass: The Everett Press Company, 1903), page 1
• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900; Source number: 138.000; Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Yates Publishing. [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
• Preston, Edward M. A History of Captain Roswell Preston of Hampton, Connecticut (E.M. Preston, Nevada City, California, 1899) Page 45