Nathaniel Whitney (abt. 1626)

Born about 1626 in Isleworth, Middlesex, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

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Nathaniel Whitney migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Birth

Nathaniel was born in England, probably in Isleworth, Middlesex, near Richmond.^[1] He was the son of John Whitney and Elinor. No records of his birth or baptism have been found. The year 1626 for his birth is tentative, based on the age of eight years old his father declared for him on the embarkation list and also on the baptism dates for his brothers Richard and Thomas.^[2] Henry Austin Whitney alerts for the possibility that some of the ages declared by the Whitneys for the journey could be incorrect by a couple of years.^[3] He also observes that the last record of John and Elinor in Isleworth, Middelsex was for the baptism of their son Richard in 1624. After that we find John in Saint Mary Aldermary on the record for the birth of their son Thomas in 1627.^[4][5] Taking all those factors into account it's safe to infer that Nathaniel was probably born between 1625 and 1626.

Immigration

Nathaniel crossed the Atlantic with his parents, brothers and sister on the ship Elizabeth & Ann, in 1635. The ship left London mid-May and arrived in the New World at Massachusetts Bay.^[6]

Death

No death records have been found for Nathaniel. Actually, no records other than the ones relative to the journey between London and Massachusetts Bay. He is not mentioned in his father's last will in 1673, which led some authors to believe he would have died before his father.^[7] Nevertheless, analyzing a transcription of the Watertown records between their arrival in 1635 and John's death in 1673 it's not possible to find any mention of Nathaniel.^[8] He could have moved to another town as a young man, but that alone wouldn't explain his exclusion from his father's last will.

Sources

1. ↑ Pierce, Frederik Clifton. Whitney. The descendants of John Whitney, who came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635. p 18 [1]
2. ↑ Hotten, John Camden. The original lists of persons of quality; emigrants; religious exiles; political rebels; serving men sold for a term of years; apprentices; children stolen; maidens pressed; and others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700 : with their ages and the names of the ships in which they embarked, and other interesting particulars; from mss. preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, England, p. 58.[2]
3. ↑ Whitney, Henry Austin, The First Known Use of Whitney as a Surname: Its Probable Signification, and Other Data (Boston, MA: Henry Austin Whitney, 1875), pp. xvii-xviii. excerpt: Whitneygen.org
4. ↑ Chester, Joseph Lemuel. The parish registers of St. Mary Aldermarry, London, containing the marriages, baptisms, and burials from 1558 to 1754, p. 80. [3]
5. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPJR-28N : 19 March 2020), Thomas Whitne, 1627.
6. ↑ https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Elizabeth_and_Ann%2C_1635
7. ↑ Pierce, Frederick Clifton. Whitney. The descendants of John Whitney, who came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635. p 19. [4]
8. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L979-WW2?cc=2061550&wc=Q4D4-2JZ%3A353350601%2C353885401%2C1006224102 : 22 October 2020), Middlesex > Watertown > Births, marriages, deaths 1630-1851 > image 105 of 336; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston.