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William Meeks (abt. 1699 - abt. 1797)

William Meeks
Born about in Cliburn, Westmorland, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died about at about age 97 in Virginia, United Statesmap [uncertain]
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Profile last modified | Created 11 Jul 2014
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Biography

Information for William Meeks, who was baptized in Cliburn, Westmorland County, England on May 21, 1699 is highly speculative.[1] The only confirmable record for him is his baptism record. However, there is some evidence that he is the father of William Meeks, born around 1725 in Virginia.[2]

William Meeks was the youngest child of Isaac and Isabel Meeks, He was baptized on May 21, 1699.[3]

There is reason to believe that William joined his Uncle John in Virginia around 1720. By this time his Uncle John was living within St. Paul's Parish in Hanover County.[4]

Since the Cliburn Parish Registers are fairly complete for Isaac's other children, and lack a marriage record for William, its reasonable to assume he left England before he got married. And since the estimated birth year of his son William is between 1720 and 1725, William probably immigrated shortly before 1720

Nothing else about William has been found to deduce what might've happened for the rest of his life. It is generally assumed that he died in Hanover County Virginia.

Notes: Marriage Record for William Meeks and Ann Gilbee

Several online genealogies claim that this William Meeks is the same William that married Ann Gilbee in London on September 9, 1722. Although, this may be possible, there really isn't any reason to believe it is true for the following reasons:

  • Between the years 1680, and 1710, there are a total of 46 christening records of persons named William Meeks that were born in either England or Scotland[5]. Note, these are 46 known records, this does not include those whose birth/christening records didn't survive. With the exception of the ones born after 1704, any one of these persons could be the one that married Ann Gilbee. My guess is he would be one of the several that were born around London.
  • There are three marriage records of persons named William Meeks in England between the years 1621 and 1622. Why was Ann Gilbee chosen over Elizabeth Lemon and Mary Higgins?
  • There are other marriage records between 1740 and 1760 of persons name Meek(s) getting married in London whose parents are named William and Ann Meeks. My bet is these are the children of William Meeks and Ann Gilbee. This would mean that the William Meeks who married Ann Gilbee could not be the immigrant ancestor for this family.
  • Since there is zero evidence that the William Meeks born in Cliburn (near the boarder of Scotland) ever traveled to London, I would conclude that it is way more likely that one of the several William Meeks' born around the London area is the one that married Ann Gilbee

Sources

  1. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LZL4-N4Q
  2. The Meeks Family Saga Page 6
  3. Cliburn Parish Register 1565-1812
  4. The Meeks Family Saga Pages 6 & 8
  5. https://theelusiveimmigrantancestor.blogspot.com/2016/11/so-many-williams.html
  • Grigg, Roland. Cliburn Parish Register 1565-1812, Indexed from the transcription of J F Haswell, Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 1932[1]
  • Meeks, Anthony. The Meeks Family Saga, Salt Lake City, UT, 2017[2]

Information from the Cliburn Parish Records and Newcastle Registers reveal the following about the family of Isaac Meeks, see above link to "The Meeks Family Saga" for more details:

Isaac Meeks (born Meek):

  • Bapt: September 4, 1651 @ Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland
  • Bur: February 13, 1728 @ Cliburn, Westmorland

Isabel (surname unknown),

  • Bapt/birth: unkown
  • Bur: February 14, 1710 @ Cliburn, Westmorland

Children, all events take place in Cliburn, Westmorland:

Leonard Meeks

  • Baptized: March 23, 1684
  • Married: Ann Atkinson on January 24, 1707 (buried May 22, 1726)
  • Married: Ann Warwick on November 16, 1727 (buried November 25, 1744)
  • Buried: February 1, 1758

Elizabeth Meeks

  • Baptized: November 7, 1686
  • Buried: May 25, 1688

Mary Meeks

  • Baptized: August 12, 1688
  • Buried: May 15 1757

Isaac Meeks

  • Baptized: March 5, 1690
  • Buried: July 21 1691

Esther Meeks

  • Baptized: October 23, 1692
  • Buried: February 1, 1705

Isabell Meeks

  • Baptized: March 17, 1694
  • Buried: April 12, 1782

Christiana Meeks

  • Baptized: December 1697
  • Buried: January 5, 1698

William Meeks

  • Baptized: May 21, 1699




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with William by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree: It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with William:

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