Elizabeth (Bread) Wheeler (abt. 1564 - aft. 1584)

Born about 1564 in Westoning, Bedfordshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died after 1584 after about age 20 in England [uncertain]

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Biography

Not the wife of John Wheeler of Cranfield

While John of Cranfield's wife was known to be Elizabeth, her surname is not known.

This profile, Elizabeth Bread of Westoning married a different John Wheeler of Westoning on 15 Oct 1584; this John does not appear to be researched yet. Westoning parish baptisms begin in 1562, no Bread children appear in those very early years so it's possible that the Bread family moved in from another parish. Several children of Bartholomew Wheeler ("Senior", as a generation later a Bartholomew "Junior" married Elizabeth Lane/Land) are listed from that year forward so perhaps that was the father of John Wheeler of Westoning. Elizabeth Bread's brother John was noted as "of Flittwicke and Westoning" so perhaps they were born at Flittwicke about a mile from Westoning.

Whatever the fate of Elizabeth Bread, it has apparently not yet been discovered beyond her 1584 marriage. Several Wheeler baptisms appear in the Westoning parish register after 1584 but unfortunately they don't list the father's name and Bartholomew Wheeler (presumably "Jr" ) married an Elizabeth Lane in October 1585 so sorting out the children would be difficult. The 15 Oct 1584 marriage date is also questionable, in the parish register transcription the dates in that section are out of order. Possible children include:

1. Richard bap 5 Feb 1584/85
2. John bap 21 Jul 1588
3. Bridget bap 18 Dec 1589
4. Ann bap 2 Sep 1593

Wheeler burials after her marriage date at Westoning include:

1. Elizabeth 8 Jan 1585/86
2. John 10 Dec 1588
3. Joan 12 Jun 1591 (1597-1601 missing)
4. Thomas 26 Aug 1617
5. Widow Wheeler 10 Dec 1620
6. Thomas 13 Oct 1626

Research Notes

Elizabeth Unknown, wife of John Wheeler of Cranfield has been asserted to be the daughter of John Bread and Clemens (Unknown) Bread. The marriage of an Elizabeth "Bread" (spelled in similar ways ) to a John Wheeler on 15 Oct 1584 in Westoning, Bedfordshire about 12 miles from Cranfield where all their known children were christened has been asserted as the marriage of this couple.^[1]

However, the main problem with this is that their first known child was born in about 1597 in Cranfield giving a 13 year gap between marriage and first child. The next main problem is that the last child was born in 1619 so if Elizabeth was 20 at her marriage, i.e. born in 1564, this would make her 55 at the birth of her last child. Ahem.

The final main problem is that given how many John Wheelers were running around near Cranfield, this 1584 marriage is almost impossible unless John married two Elizabeths and the first one gave him no known children. This is possible, but it is much simpler to assume that the 1584 marriage, and therefore her surname of "Bread" is simply not the right marriage. It is worth noting that 2 men named Wheeler married women named Elizabeth in Westoning in 1584, John to Elizabeth Bread and Bartholomew to Elizabeth Lane or Land. The next earliest Wheeler marriage was a Bartholomew, a widower in 1563 (his prior marriage of 1562 was sadly very short, possibly he was the father of the Bartholomew who married in 1584). In 1585 an Elizabeth Wheeler was buried and in 1588 a John Wheeler was buried in Westoning but with no supporting detail, it is impossible to say who they were. About 4 Wheeler children were baptized from 1584 through 1600 but spaced widely enough that they could have all been from one family, or from two.^[1]

The list of John of Cranfield's children is based on the the most current and definitive work on the Wheelers of Cranfield, the "Wheeler Family History" published in 1993 by Raymond David Wheeler and Gordon Boyce Wheeler listing this family on page 5^[2] which took into account, updated and corrected earlier works by Brainard, Jacobus and Coddington all of whom made valuable contributions to the history of these families. This work includes primary sources such as parish records and town clerk records in addition to referring to articles in NEHGR, TAG and other peer-reviewed publications. Since the Cranfield parish registers are available^[3] it is fairly easy to strip out the children who were listed but did not appear in the registers.

In summary, there is no way that the Elizabeth Bread who married a different John Wheeler in 1584 in Westoning was the Elizabeth, wife of John Wheeler of Cranfield who had a child in 1619.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Westoning, Bedfordshire parish registers by Bedfordshire (England); Emmison, F. G. (Frederick George), 1907-1995, editor Publication date 1931 VOl. 20 p. B23
2. ↑ "Wheeler Family History: (Hon.) Stedman Cyrus Wheeler of Waterbury, Vermont and his descendants, including descent from Henry Wheeler (c. 1503-1557) of Cranfield, Bedfordshire" by Raymond David Wheeler and Gordon Boyce Wheeler, published 1993 by Kinsystems p. 5
3. ↑ Cranfield, Bedfordshire parish registers by Bedfordshire (England); Emmison, F. G. (Frederick George), 1907-1995, editor Publication date 1931 Vol. 27 p. 1

See Also