Frances (Grimsditch) Hunt (1621 - abt. 1716)

Born 16 Jun 1621 in Cripplegate, London, England

Ancestors

Wife of Richard Hunt — married 28 Mar 1643 in St Margarets, Lee, Kent, England.

Descendants

Died about 1716 at about age 94 in Port Royal, Southampton, Bermuda

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Biography

Frances (Grimsditch) Hunt was an early or significant Bermudan.

"Francis" (Frances), daughter of Thomas Grimsditch, was christened June 16, 1621, in St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, England. ^[1]

A brother Robert was baptized and buried at St. Giles, Cripplegate in 1624.^[2]

Her parents had four children baptized at Haslemere, Surry in the 1630s.

"Sir Nathaniel Rich had a sister named Jane, who married Thomas Grinsditch of Haselmere in Surrey, England. Thomas and Jane Grinsditch, the aforesaid sister of Nathaniel Rich, had a daughter named Frances who married Mr. Richard Hunt, merchant in London [who came to Bermuda in 1635 and located on one of the shares of land, before mentioned, near Port Royal Church, which had been granted to Nathaniel Rich and bequeathed to them by his will. --A.W.S.] The said Richard Hunt and Frances his wife had a son Richard and two daughters: Judith married Henry Durham and Sarah married Thomas Gibbs."^[3]

Name

Julia Mercer's book, Bermuda Settlers of the 17th Century: Genealogical Notes from Bermuda, inaccurately gave "Vesey" as Frances's maiden name when reporting on the will of her husband Richard Hunt. Mercer apparently confused the maiden name of the wife (Vesey) of Richard Hunt's son Richard (Jr.) with the maiden name of Richard's own wife. Richard Hunt's actual will simply gives her name as Frances, without mentioning her maiden name.^[4]

Frances Grimsditch's parents were buried within two weeks of each other in the spring of 1641 in Haslemere, Surrey.^[5]

Two years later, "Richard Hunt of S. Peter-the-poor and Frances Grimsditch of S. Margaret's, Lothbury" were married on 28 Mar. 1643 in the church of St. Margaret, Lee, Kent.^[6][7]

Husband: Richard Hunt

Wife: Francis Grimsditch

1. William Hunt
2. Judith Hunt
3. Nathaniel Hunt
4. Judith Hunt
5. Richard Hunt
6. Sarah Hunt
7. Nathaniel Hunt
8. Nathaniel Hunt^[8]

Research Notes

Inaccuracies

The website Bermuda's History states that, "1647. Richard Hunt and his wife Sarah, of Bromley, Kent, England, arrived in the Bermuda Islands and took possession of the estates, etc. of the then Earl of Manchester in those islands in which he was one of the proprietors. Sarah Hunt was one of the nieces of the Earl. He had devised by his last will his landed property in the Bermudas in trust to the Earl of Warwick, Lord Holland and Sir Nathanial Rich, his executors, for the benefit of one of his nieces deemed the most worthy. Richard and Sarah Hunt brought with them a daughter, also named Sarah."^[9] This repeats some of the inaccuracies found in Mercers book, Bermuda Settlers of the 17th Century: Genealogical Notes from Bermuda. Mercer names Richard's Wife and first child as Sarah.^[10]

She is noted to be "the niece of Sir Nathaniel Rich and the Southampton lands the Hunt's lived on was formerly Rich's property."^[11] This is interesting as Mercer states that Nathaniel Rich was one of the executors of the Earl of Manchester's Will and that Frances was the niece of the earl. (see above) Further to this...Richard Hunt's Will refers to his wife as Frances. Nowhere does he call her by last name nor "nee Vesey" as put forth by Mercer.^[12] Her birth record states that she is Francis. Her marriage record states that she is Frances.

As to her death, Bernhard, in her Slaves and Slaveholders, gives information about Frances living and having 6 surviving children. In a footnote to this information page is the comment, "his (Hunt's) wife's death is not recorded."

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch ([1] : accessed 14 September 2015), Francis Grimsditch, 16 Jun 1621; citing ST GILES CRIPPLEGATE, LONDON, LONDON, ENGLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 380,199. For an account of the church and neighborhood, see Records of St. Giles without Cripplegate, by William Denton (1883).
2. ↑ [https://familysearch.org/search/collection/results?count=20&query=%2Bsurname%3AGrimsditch%7E&collection_id=1473014&birth_year1=1600%7E1620 "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JM79-4J8 : 6 December 2014), Robert Grimsditch, 18 Aug 1624; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 380,199.
3. ↑ Extract from a paper written by Copeland Stiles of Bermuda, dated 21 Oct. 1789, quoted in The Stiles Family in America by H. R. Stiles (1895), p. 662 footnote.
4. ↑ Will of Richard Hunt, 22 Feb 1683, proved 31 May 1687, Southampton, Bermuda, Port Royal Will Book 3, part 1, page 1
5. ↑ The Registers of Haslemere, Co. Surrey (1906)
6. ↑ [https://archive.org/stream/registerofallmar00chur#page/4/mode/2up The register of all the marriages, christenings and burials in the church of S. Margaret, Lee : in the county of Kent from 1579-1754 (1888), p. 5.
7. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch ([2] : accessed 14 September 2015), Richard Hunt and Frances Grimsditch, 28 Mar 1643; citing Saint Margaret,Lee,Kent,England, reference ; FHL microfilm 942.23 L2 B22 LE.
8. ↑ Thompson Family 001_2011-11-30.gedS26 Ancestry.com, Public Member Trees, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Provo, UT, USA, 2006R1 [www.ancestry.com] Record for Richard Hunt
9. ↑ Bermuda's History from 1500 to 1699, How it is linked to events in Europe, the United States of America, United Kingdom and Canadaa, By Keith Archibald Forbes.[3]
10. ↑ Bermuda Settlers of the 17th Century: Genealogical Notes from Bermuda, p.95, Julia E. Mercer, Genealogical Publishing Com, 1942.[4]
11. ↑ Slaves and Slaveholders in Bermuda, 1616-1782, p.125, by Virginia Bernhard University of Missouri Press, Jan 1, 1999.[5]
12. ↑ Hunt, Richard. 22 Feb 1683, proved 31 May 1687, Southampton, Bermuda, Port Royal Will Book 3, part 1, page 1