not a primary source, but William Lewis 1561 birth, 1592 marriage and births of children (William b. 1594; Christopher b. 1618; Robert b. 1639 & Ann) in North America, Family Histories[1]
before 1623 -
A Cathcart/Lewis connection via land deeds is asserted in Volume 1 of the book "Pioneer Lewis Families" by Michael Lewis. Only snippets are available in a Google search but the book states that "Cathcart" deeded land to William Lewis who then deeded the land to his son Christopher Lewis. Unfortunately no dates, locations, or primary sources are listed.[2]
this Cathcart/Lewis connection is very similar to the later record connecting Wm Jr and his wife Felix Collins (maiden name listed as unknown in several genealogies):
- very similar Deed record, this one in Stanstead, England, btwn Wm Jr and father-in-law Collins...
-1623 • Wm Jr moved to Stanstead, Essex, England... "where his two bros had already gone"... ** Lewis, Simeon D, "Genealogy of the Lewis Family", Buffalo, 1891. ** Thompson, KO, & Lewis, (Mrs) Elmer, "The Lewis Family". note that this is a move of 200 miles E by NE of Penarth, Wales. A very substantial journey in 1620s.
- 3 May 1624 • Stanstead, Essex County, England land record (naming Felix's father, husband, and John Talcott, who was onboard the Lion w Wm and Felix Lewys). Deed, Walter Collins, late of Cardiff, Glanmorganshire "... now of Stanstead, Essex conveys to my son-in-law William Lewys of S., Mesuage, etc, now in the occupation of John Talcott late of Braintree...&c". (see Wm II)
Using these references to Deeds registered in Stanstead, it seems Wm's sons, Christopher & Robert had both moved there, followed in 1623 by Wm II, his wife Felix and their son, Wm III. Wm II departed from London 27 June 1632 for North America with his wife and son. No mention of his sister, Ann, until William Jr's 1675 Attestation as to sister Ann and her husband. In this statement of facts about his sister, Wm Jr confirms that Ann's husband had left Wales for the New World in 1642. But is interesting that John Talcott, the resident so-named in the property Stanstead Deed between Cathcart & Lewys also sailed on the Lion in 1632 and was with Wm Lewis's family in the founding of Hartdford.
Possible appearance in 1592 (Elizabeth 35) in Glamorgan found at WAALT:
- STAC 5/C16/7 - I D B A - 35 Eliz - Glamorgan - John Cook, Morgan William Traherne, Griffith William v Thomas William Lewis, Edward William Lewis et al
- Case Book BL Harley MS 2143 fo. 51v. Costs for breach of privilege. Cooke, plaintiff; Lewes et al, defendants: good costs to the plaintiff for being arrested by the defendant contrary to the privilege of the court. Easter 35 Elizabeth (kk)
- NB: STAC = Star Chamber, 5/C16/7 is a UK National Archives reference but that provides less than the WAALT record here.
There is a death/burial record of 1641 for a William Lewis.[4] This record is a place located 11 miles NW of Penarth, but still in Glamorganshire. [note: hopefully many more Lewis records will be found].
Death
Data Doctoring... see original DOD for William is before 1594 birth of child attached to the record, William Lewis. Changing DOD corrects this conflict. Since the only record attached to this profile also names three other children attributed to William[1], it is reasonable to enter a 'provisional' DOD that accommodates those births as well, at least until better facts are provided. No harm, no foul.
Research
- attempting to verify the "facts" about Lewis/Cathcart from 'North America, Family Histories'...
-searching Nat'l Library of Wales, who have searchable repository of Welsh marriage bonds executed prior to 1820... returned "0" for Cathcart, "0" for Lewis. [5]
-at least one genealogy mentions that Wm Jr, Felix & son Wm III lived in Braintree, Essex County, prior to sailing to North America.
Seems reasonable to search ALL of Essex County, England for Lewis records 1618-1632.
- the genealogies say Wm Sr died 1630 in Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales. If his family was living in Essex County, England, what might bring him back to Penarth? Was it dau Ann, who perhaps stayed in Wales when the family moved to Essex County?
William was born about 1561. He passed away about 1598.
Sources
↑ 1.01.1 North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 for William Lewis from book: The Ancestors and Descendants of Daniel and Lovina (Hovey) Williams of Wethersfield, Connecticut p. 191
↑ Pioneer Lewis Families, Volume 1 by Michael L. Cook, Cook Publications 1978 p. 739
WikiTree profile Lewis-4795 created through the import of Putnam2-1_2010-01-02_2011-02-16_2011-10-11.ged on Oct 12, 2011 by John Putnam. See the Changes page for the details of edits by John and others.
This person was created through the import of grant2.ged on 07 February 2011.
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In the exact words of the author Harriet Barnes (linked in Sources on this profile)...
"This claim has been the subject of considerable discussion, and has been discredited by some genealogists, and the one who makes the claim has written "in regard to the very early Welsh generations, i.e, from about 1000 to 1528, these are, to a very great extent practically hearsays, as the Welsh did not , so far as we know, have any documentary proof of connections at this early date. Lines of descent were carried down from fathers to sons, and appear in the songs of the Welsh bards, and are generally accepted by the Welsh, who probably know more about it than we do. This is not calculated to establish our faith in the early generations, and there is ample room to doubt the identity of William Lewis, of Farmington, Conn, with the William, son of William and Sarah (Cathcart) Lewis, of Penarth, Wales. "There are said to be a number of English marriages from which William of Farmington might have come, and it is noticeable that the names of the brothers William of Penarth, Wales -Christopher and Robert, - do not appear among the descendants of William of Farmington within the first five generations. This would bring up a question as to whether William of Farmington was the one who came on the ship Lion, in 1632, but this has been so universally accepted we would not attempt to dispute it. A suggestion made by Mr. Carl A. Lewis of Guilford, Conn. (publisher of Lewisianna) is that "At Hartford, Conn. among old records, especially the Probate Records, are mentioned papers on file in connection with private controversies. Here is a mine not yet worded to any extent, and yet there have been a few references that there are here Lewis papers both of William, Sr. and his son, Captain William. Possibly here a clue to family connection may yet be found. The line begins in this country of the united states with William Lewis... presumably first son of William and Sarah (Cathcart) Lewis of Penarth, Wales... "
In Fall of 2020, I forwarded the work of a professional genealogist (a published pedigree of Wm Lewis who m. Sarah Cathcart), to the Center for Study of Ancient Wales. They responded pretty much the same as Harriet Barns, that the genealogist's work was commendable, represents a giant effort, but lead not to fathers but uncles, and that no link can be found that William of Farmington was son of Edward Lewis of Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales. These connections, they said, exist only in the family claims of Internet trees.
The Welsh Center also said there are no evidence that Cathcart-9 is dau of William b. 1538 of Penarth; for whom no record show a daughter named Sarah b. abt. 1570.
b Paulson, I'm working on the son William of this profile because he is PGM-curated. One of the things I'm trying to track down is the 1624 Essex deed where Walter Collins conveyed land to William Lewis (first described by Barnes) which also supposedly mentioned John Talcott of Braintree by name. I haven't had any luck yet, did the work you referenced find anything about that? That would at least help strengthen the connection from Wales to Essex, Braintree and the Talcott family who were also on the Lyon in 1632.
Thanks for your response, maybe I can turn up that deed eventually. I did find a court case in the UK National Archives in Glamorgan about 1670 where several Lewis-es were suing each other, i think over an inheritance and the names WIlliam and Edward and at least one other appeared. This would be interesting to see although likely a later generation even if it was the same family. Unfortunately it wasn't digitized.
Lewis-13508 and Lewis-954 appear to represent the same person because: I believe these two may be the same person. They have very similar times and places of birth as well as similar spouses.
"This claim has been the subject of considerable discussion, and has been discredited by some genealogists, and the one who makes the claim has written "in regard to the very early Welsh generations, i.e, from about 1000 to 1528, these are, to a very great extent practically hearsays, as the Welsh did not , so far as we know, have any documentary proof of connections at this early date. Lines of descent were carried down from fathers to sons, and appear in the songs of the Welsh bards, and are generally accepted by the Welsh, who probably know more about it than we do. This is not calculated to establish our faith in the early generations, and there is ample room to doubt the identity of William Lewis, of Farmington, Conn, with the William, son of William and Sarah (Cathcart) Lewis, of Penarth, Wales. "There are said to be a number of English marriages from which William of Farmington might have come, and it is noticeable that the names of the brothers William of Penarth, Wales -Christopher and Robert, - do not appear among the descendants of William of Farmington within the first five generations. This would bring up a question as to whether William of Farmington was the one who came on the ship Lion, in 1632, but this has been so universally accepted we would not attempt to dispute it. A suggestion made by Mr. Carl A. Lewis of Guilford, Conn. (publisher of Lewisianna) is that "At Hartford, Conn. among old records, especially the Probate Records, are mentioned papers on file in connection with private controversies. Here is a mine not yet worded to any extent, and yet there have been a few references that there are here Lewis papers both of William, Sr. and his son, Captain William. Possibly here a clue to family connection may yet be found. The line begins in this country of the united states with William Lewis... presumably first son of William and Sarah (Cathcart) Lewis of Penarth, Wales... "
In Fall of 2020, I forwarded the work of a professional genealogist (a published pedigree of Wm Lewis who m. Sarah Cathcart), to the Center for Study of Ancient Wales. They responded pretty much the same as Harriet Barns, that the genealogist's work was commendable, represents a giant effort, but lead not to fathers but uncles, and that no link can be found that William of Farmington was son of Edward Lewis of Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales. These connections, they said, exist only in the family claims of Internet trees.
The Welsh Center also said there are no evidence that Cathcart-9 is dau of William b. 1538 of Penarth; for whom no record show a daughter named Sarah b. abt. 1570.
answer: no. and I have found no records of Wm in Wales.