John Mildenhall (abt. 1560 - 1614)

Born about 1560 in England

Died Jun 1614 at about age 54 in Ajmer, Rājasthān, India

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Biography

John Mildenhall is Notable.

Birth and Early Life

John Mildenhall (or Midnall as he was known in his correspondence with the Levant Company of London) was born in England. His parents, immediate family and birthplace are as yet unknown - neither March in her entry for Mildenhall in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ^[1] or Prasad's work Early English Travellers in India ^[2] refer to any early life events. (See Research Notes for the loss of early parish registers of interest).

In a description of his journey to the East Indies he described himself "of London" although that was where he was in 1599 and may not have been his place of origin: ^[3]
The twelfth of February, in the yeere of our Lord God 1599 I John Mildenhall of London, merchant, tooke upon me a voyage from London towards the East-Indies, in the good ship called the Hector of London, Richard Parsons being master..."

The dating of this letter may have been altered for publication at a later date, as it follows New Style New Year conventions 150 years before its introduction. The salient dates given in the document as printed are:
12 February 1599: Set sail from London
27 April 1599: arrived at Zante
29 October 1599: arrived at Constantinople
1 May 1600: stayed in Constantinople until that date, travelled apparently overland to Scanderone [Iskanderun, now Alexandretta]
24 May 1600: Arrived in Aleppo overland. Stayed for 42 days
7 July 1600: departed from Aleppo

Sir John Mildenhall in the court of the Grand Mugal Akbar: from the Illustrated London News - The Birth Of Our Indian Empire - pub. 1903 (information from Getty Images) Note that this picture was drawn about 400 years after the event. There are no known contemporary portraits of Mildenhall

The Levant Company

In June 1600, "John Midnall" was listed as one of the 83 Freemen of the Company of the Levant in the list compiled for Robert Cecil (Cecil Papers ^[4]). His servant was named as John Brokhouse - whether this Brokhouse travelled with Mildenhall on the voyage starting in February 1599/1600 is not recorded in this list; Mildenhall stated that there was only one other Englishman on the latter part of the journey from Aleppo, a preacher named John Cartwright.
Also recorded in the Freemans' list were various members of the Staper family of merchants with whom Mildenhall apparently had an association. The Levant Company had been in operation for 12 years at that time, and the names of those who had died in the service of the company were also recorded. No other Mildenhalls or Midnalls are recorded.

Mildenhall's name was not included on the September 1599 list of initial subscribers to a venture to the East Indies, although the list did contain the name of Richard Staper with stake of £500, and also one of the directors of the project (State Papers, East Indies 1599 ^[5]). A further note stated that additional venturers had to stake at least £200, but no individual names are listed. The voyage was postponed for at least a year, as preparations were still being made in September 1600 (State Papers, East Indies ^[6]), by which time Mildehall claimed he had already left London on the Hector.

The Hector had returned to London by 25 September 1600, as it was minuted in the records of the East India Company that this ship was one of four to go on the this first expedition. ^[7] Richard Staper was to stand surety for George Parsons as purser of the Hector, which was assessed for 100 men and 300 tons. (Note Richard Parsons was Master on Mildenhall's voyage.) A Captain Middleton was master and Chief factor.

In 1607, Abraham Hardret, a jeweller with a patent to supply the Royal Family of James I, wrote to the Earl of Salisbury (Robert Cecil) asking for assistance with his great debts (itemised, losses of over £2000), amongst which was a broken contract with Mildenhall: ^[8]
One Midnall in Turkey broken where I lost 118£.

Death

From Mildenhall's Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry, his estate in England was administered in London by "Maurice Abbot, East India Company merchant, and Nicholas Seaton."^[1]
The quoted Administration Act Book covers the period 1615 January - 1618 December. The transcription of the Administration Acts book on Ancestry gives the following entry: ^[9]
Mildenhall, Mildenall, Jn., d. overseas. To Maurice Abbot and Nich. Leate, creds. 1615 , p. 33.

It is likely that Maurice Abbott was the same person as the Levant Company and East India Company trader who was later knighted and served as Lord Mayor of London in 1638.

Nicholas Leate (rather than Seaton) was Richard Staper's son in law, married to Staper's daughter Joane. He was an ironmonger and had been an investor in the Levant Company and East Indies Company since 1599.

Children in Persia

John Mildenhall is documented to have had two children, a boy and a girl, while in Persia with their mother stated to have been Indian. Their names are presently unknown and whether he had married the mother is unknown though his wife in England would appear to have been alive at the time they were born.

The children and what occurred immediately after John's death are documented in the records of the East India Company. Thomas Keridge of the East India Company writing 20 Sep 1614 after the death of Mildenhall refers to the children as bastards and that the Frenchman (unnamed) who was named executor of the estate was to marry the girl and raise the boy as his own. It also states Mildenhall [Midnall] had bequeathed goods to the children though it appears to be in question if the goods were Mildenhall's to give.^[10][11]

Research Notes

Disputed Birth and Parentage

John Mildenhall was said to have been born in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, England, the son of John Mildenhall or Myldenhall and his wife whose name is not known. The parish registers for Great Bedwyn are good and legible from 1539, but the baptisms are deficient 1558-January 1563/4 where the clerk has written "Desunt permulta" ("missing many"). This covers the period "about 1560" when John was said to be born in Great Bedwyn.

No contemporary records link him to Wiltshire.

Disputed Wife

John's alleged spouse Elizabeth Bates is said to have been born in Little Bedwyn in 1562. The parish registers for Little Bedwyn do not survive before 1722, and the Bishop's Transcripts start in 1591.

Disputed Son

Thomas Mildenhall said to be the son of John Mildenhall, was said to be born in Marridge Hill in 1580. The parish registers for Ramsbury (which includes Marridge Hill) do not survive before 1678. Also of 6 children currently attached to Thomas ranging from 1606 to 1624, four are said to be born in Ramsbury.

Not a Knight

Many online trees call him Sir John Mildenhall. There is no reference to a John Mildenhall being knighted in Shaw's Knights of England, and while this is not a perfect compendium, neither are there any contemporary records referring to him as a knight.

Early English Travellers in India Prasad, Ram Chandra reprinted 1980 Google Books, limited view. Prasad's original 1959 manuscript in typewritten form, free to download from Edinburgh Research Archive. The chapter about Mildenhall starts page 76. Accessed 11 May 2022.

Akbar the Great Mogul, 1542-1605

Hakluytus posthumus, or Purchas his Pilgrimes: contayning a history of the world in sea voyages and lande travells by Englishmen and others

The above link includes transcripts of letters from John Mildenhall

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Mildenhall [Midnall] John (d.1614) Jenny Marsh, in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, pub 3 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/47044 (Accessed 11 April 2022) citing Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Related Probate Jurisdictions: Administration Act Books The National Archives, Prob 6/9, folio 33r
2. ↑ Early English Travellers in India Prasad, Ram Chandra reprinted 1980 Google Books, limited view. Prasad's original 1959 manuscript in typewritten form, free to download from Edinburgh Research Archive. The chapter about Mildenhall starts page 76. Accessed 11 May 2022.
3. ↑ Early Travels in India 1583-1619 William Foster pub. London 1921 page 52, citing documents transcribed by Purchas in "Purchas His Pilgrimes" ed. 1626 part i, book iii chapter i from the papers of Richard Hakluyt, who may have obtained them from Staper. Internet Archive Accessed 11 April 2022
4. ↑ 'Cecil Papers: June 1600, 21-30', in Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House: Volume 10, 1600, ed. R A Roberts (London, 1904), pp. 191-217. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-cecil-papers/vol10/pp191-217 [accessed 11 April 2022].
5. ↑ 'East Indies: September 1599', in Calendar of State Papers Colonial, East Indies, China and Japan, Volume 2, 1513-1616, ed. W Noel Sainsbury (London, 1864), pp. 99-102. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/east-indies-china-japan/vol2/pp99-102 [accessed 12 April 2022].
6. ↑ 'East Indies: September 1600', in Calendar of State Papers Colonial, East Indies, China and Japan, Volume 2, 1513-1616, ed. W Noel Sainsbury (London, 1864), pp. 105-106. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/east-indies-china-japan/vol2/pp105-106 [accessed 12 April 2022].)
7. ↑ 'East Indies: September 1600', in Calendar of State Papers Colonial, East Indies, China and Japan, Volume 2, 1513-1616, ed. W Noel Sainsbury (London, 1864), pp. 105-106. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/east-indies-china-japan/vol2/pp105-106 [accessed 12 April 2022].
8. ↑ 'Cecil Papers: Miscellaneous 1607', in Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House: Volume 19, 1607, ed. M S Giuseppi and D McN. Lockie (London, 1965), pp. 397-521. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-cecil-papers/vol19/pp397-521 [accessed 11 April 2022].
9. ↑ Probate: "UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975"
   Ancestry uk Record 1610 #1675045 (accessed 12 April 2022)
   Mildenhall, Mildenall, Jn Maurice Abbot Nich Leate probate.
10. ↑ Danvers, Frederick Charles, et al, Letters received by the East India company from its servants in the East, London: S. Low, Marston & company, 1896, p 105
11. ↑ Colonial Records. Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, London: Longmans, H.M.S.O, II:320-21

See also:

• Mendenhall Family Association John Mildenhall is person 136463 in their database. The events in England (birth, marriage, child) are not sourced.

• The Mendenhalls: A Genealogy, Henry Hart Beeson, 1969 Full text at Family Search online books accessed 11 May 2022. This genealogy states that Thomas Mendenhall (died 1682) of Marriage Hill, Wiltshire was the earliest known ancestor of the Mildenhalls / Mendenhalls of Pennsylvania.

• Wikipedia contributors, "John Mildenhall," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Mildenhall&oldid=1076944225 (accessed May 11, 2022).