Descendants of Ralph Jackson, Protestant Martyr burned at the stake in 1556 at Stratford-le-Bow near London, England.

Question

Ralph Jackson, Protestant Martyr burned at the stake June 27, 1556 during the reign of Queen Mary I of England at Stratford-le-Bow near London alongside 10 other men & 2 women. Condemned to a fiery death for their Protestant beliefs, they would become known as the Stratford Martyrs.

Can you help this deserving soul, Ralph Jackson, connect to his descendants? To honor & preserve his memory for generations to come? I have not located a profile for him, yet, on Wikitree. Since it would be a 1500’s profile, I thought it would be best to come to the experts with this one.

It’s believed some of Ralph Jackson’s direct descendants came to America around 1740 & resided in Chester County, Pennsylvania before removing to Rowan County, NC before the start of the American Revolutionary War. Later they are found in Clinton County, Ohio & Tennessee. These Jacksons are said to be the intimate family of Andrew Jackson who became 7th President of the United States.

"Samuel Jackson and his brothers Jacob and John, Quakers from North Carolina, settled on Rocky Fort as early as 1801. They were the sons of Samuel Jackson, Sr, native of Ireland. Samuel Jackson the immigrant was a direct descendant of Ralph Jackson who was burned at the stake, as a martyr, in Stratford, England in 1556. The brothers remained in a crude log cabin for a few years after their arrival. They were all good hunters who had served as Indian spies. They made enough money or equivalent to live by selling pelts." - Highland Pioneer Sketches and Family Genealogies" by Elsie Johnson Ayres: pg.227

Here is the profile for Samuel Jackson, Sr. said to descend from Ralph Jackson who burned at the stake in Stratford, England 1556; also said to be the uncle of Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jackson-3146

 

Comments

Even if true it will be impossible to prove the connection since nothing is known about Ralph Jackson except that he was a serving-man from Chipping Ongar aged twenty-four.

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I have him in my Family Tree. I have copied what i have of him and paste here.

Ralph Jackson

1485–1556  •  KPHP-7JS ​​

  married to

Mary Hudson

1473–1564  •  L81R-Q

Answer 1

Hi Alisha, I think it would be very appropriate to create a profile for Ralph Jackson. It seems he was an ordinary person who made an extraordinary choice, paying the ultimate price.

Unfortunately, I do agree with Matthew's comment above that there is little or no chance of connecting him to the main tree. Ralph was a "serving man", which suggests he came from a modest family that probably did not generate any records of genealogical value prior to the parish registers.

Ralph died before most parish registers commenced. For example, the register for Chipping Ongar, where Ralph was living at the time of his arrest, only started in November 1558. A transcription of the register is available on the Internet Archive. There are no Jackson entries, which suggests that Ralph may have travelled to the parish from elsewhere.

Having said that, I did find one possible clue. In the parish register for High Ongar (a neighbouring parish to Chipping Ongar, transcription on Findmypast), there are entries for the baptisms of Agnes and Rodolphe Jackson (possibly twins?) on 28 August 1551. They were recorded as being children of Radolphe Jackson. Radolphe is a variant of Ralph. If Ralph was 24 years old at his death in 1556, then he would be about 19 years old in 1551, which is rather young to be having children for the serving/labouring classes. But it could be something to investigate further.

Edit: Fixed typo in Ralph Jackson's death year

Answer 2

Samuel Jackson Sr, mentioned in the query is my 4x maternal ggf.  I am trying to find sources for his parents and birthdate.  I have posted a couple of requests for assistance in knowing more about him.  He might be my link to being a Plantagenet descendant. RE: Jackson-3146.

Thank you.

Catherine