Could somebody please help clear up the confusion about William Wells?

Question

As far as I know the parents of William Wells, father of WIlliam Wells-639 of Southold, have not been positively identified.  There are at this point at least two profiles - Wells-640 & 1087 that will need to be merged and I'm afraid it's getting more confusing rather than less.  There are new connections being made based on online trees.

William of Southold is managed by PGM so there might be information available there.

Could someone skilled in 16th century English genealogy lend a hand here?  It's way above (before?) my pay grade!

Comments

Just who are you looking for? The William of the profile, the prebendary of Norwich? Or the William who migrated?

Answer 1

The English end of this Wells family is pretty much sorted now. The Reverend William Wells of Norwich has had his two profiles merged, and his wife and children added. This includes William Wells/Welles the younger who was also a clergyman in North Elham, Norfolk.

The book by Charles Wells Hayes is inaccurate, and Hayes' assertions have been analysed on the elder William's profile. Unfortunately, it's the book that is quoted all over the interwebs.

Answer 2

The William Wells of Long Island was not the son of the Norwich prebendary, who died in North Elmham Norfolk in 1680, where he was buried 16 October.

Alumni Cantabrigienses vol 4, p. 364 https://archive.org/details/p1alumnicantabri04univuoft/page/364/mode/2up

Comments

Here is the Clergy record for both Williams in England:  https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/search/index.jsp

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I note that the Great Migration Directory does not list a William Wells or Welles

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The confusion is resolved by detaching Wells-639 from Wells-640. There is no evidence this was his father.  The source given in W-639's profile for his emigration: https://archive.org/details/refugeesof1776fr00mathuoft/page/624/mode/2up  is unsourced:  "It is believed"

The actual son William of Wells-640 will need a profile with a disclaimer that he is not the immigrant to Southold.

The immigrant to Southold will be parentless, unless someone can do a search to find him.

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Lois, are you saying that the prebendary's son William remained in England?

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Yes. Per Venn's Alumni. The dates match.  He went into the church like his father and died in North Elmham, Norfolk.

Given the complete lack of evidence for Wells-639's parentage, I think it sufficient to detach him from W-640.

As people keep adding and detaching these relationships, I'm proposing England Project management for W-640 and W-1087, who is the same person and can be merged without all this confusion.

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Oh, and Jillaine - is there any evidence of a John Wells in Maryland about this time?

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Lois, thanks for the clarification.

I'll detach the father from the son (if no one has done it yet). I'll leave it to others to create a profile for the real son.

You'll need to ask Jack Day about John Wells in Maryland-- perhaps a separate g2g thread?

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Wells-640 is under England Project management now, so I'll detach the son Wells-639 if you haven't yet.  Ah, I see you have.  Good.