William Parker (abt. 1606)

Born about 1606 in Bradkirk Hall, Kirkham, Lancashire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Biography

While living in Kirkham, Lancashire, England, William had two sons, John before 9 May 1632 and Ellis before 28 February 1636.

No baptismal, birth or burial records were found on Family Search, Ancestry, Find My Past or FreeReg.uk which could definitively be this specific William Parker of Bradkirk, Kirkham, Lancashire, England as of date (1 Aug 2018). Family Trees on Ancestry, which are not backed with sources, do cite William to be the son of John Parker but differ on who was his mother, Alice Mason or Margaret Parker (daughter of Anthony Parker of Redham Park, Yorkshire). He is seen to have been married to either Helen Beesley or Mary Christian. With Helen, he is thought to have had four children: William, John, Ellis, and John, while with Mary, he purportedly only had one child, Ellinor (1671 - 1674). While birth dates on these trees appear to concur that his birth date was circa 1606, his date of death and place of death vary widely from 1642 at Kirkham to 1687 at Malow, Isle of Man.

The Parker pedigree in Dugdale's Visitation of 1664/5 shows William to be the son of John with his first wife, Alice Mason, and to have married Helen Beesley of Brookes, Lancashire. They purportedly had three children, William, Richard, and Alice.^[1] This parentage concurs with Darryl Lundy's website, The Peerage.com, while he cites William's wife to have been Mary Christian of the Isle of Man. ^[2] If William had married Mary Christian, it would have been after 1664/5. This Parker family was not included in St. George's Visitation of Lancashire of 1613 which may have clarified William's birth mother.

FreeReg.uk does cite a William Parker, father John, being baptized at Saint Michael, Kirkham in 1635.^[3] Other records, however, do indicate our William was born much before this date of 1635. A record of a land transaction, 1627/8, clearly involves William. ^[4] In 1652, the heir and grandson of John Parker, William (son of our William), took legal action to reclaim his inheritance.^[5] This grandson, appears to be the same William Parker cited in Dugdale's Visitation to have been 28 years old at that time. This lends credence to an early birth date as well as to an early death date for our William Parker.

Records online as of date (2 Aug 2018) do not provide a definitive death date or place of death. Several burials at Saint Michael, Kirkham of a William Parker are cited on Find My Past during the 1600s. Ancestry holds a record of an Ellin Parker, father William Parker, who was buried at Malew, Isle of Man 30 Jun 1674. As well, a will of Mary Parker of Malew, Isle of Man, aka Christian, probated 1725 is extant. ^[6] It may be possible William did pass away there versus at Kirkham.

Research Notes

Further research would be to further access the parish records at Saint Michael, Kirkham. Family Search, as of date, does not hold the pertinent parish records (only 1732 onward). Further clarification might be found in "Genealogy Notes on the Christian Family of Mill Town, 1422 - 1776", compiled by J. Quayle held in the Manx Archives, Isle of Man Family History Society records, and in "Iliam Dhone: Patriot or Traitor?" by Jennifer Kewley Draskau.

Sources

1. ↑ "Visitation of the County Palantine of Lancaster made in the year 1664/5", Part III; Sir William Dugdale, knight, Rev. F.R. Raines ed, Chetham Society Volume 88, Charles S. Simms, Manchester, 1872: page 227 Google Books
2. ↑ The Peerage.com, Darryl Lundy, 2018 Website, accessed 1 Aug 2018
3. ↑ Saint Michael, Kirkham, Lancashire, England, Unspecified register, File line number 1073, Baptism 17 May 1635, William, father John Parker, Place of abode: of Kirkham: Free reg.uk Website
4. ↑ "Bradkirk Hall - The Parker Connection (1653 - 1723), Mike Parker Website accessed 1 Aug 2018
5. ↑ 'Townships: Medlar-with-Wesham', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London, 1912), pp. 153-157. British History Online Website Accessed 2 August 2018.
6. ↑ "The Isle of Man Family History Society", Wills Index: Surnames beginning with P Website Accessed 3 Aug 2018

See Also:
Saint Michael, Kirkham, Lancashire, England, Unspecified register, File line number 554, Burial 10 Feb 1639/40 Margret Parker, Place of abode: of Kirkham: FreeReg.uk. Link broken.

"The History of the Parish of Kirkham in the county of Lancaster", Chetham Society Volume 139, 'Old Halls and Old Families', pg 172 - 200, Henry Fishwick, Manchester, 1874 https://archive.org/stream/historyofparisho00fish/historyofparisho00fish_djvu.txt

Acknowledgements

• This profile has been improved by a member of the England Project's Orphan Trail