Frances (Unknown) Wells (abt. 1620 - bef. 1667)

Wife of Richard Wells — married 1638 in Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died before 1667 before about age 47 in Anne Arundel County, Province of Maryland

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Biography

Frances (Unknown) Wells lived in Virginia.

Frances (Unknown) Wells was an early settler in Maryland.

Writing in 1933, Harry Wright Newman states that Frances' birth name was unknown; he guesses that she was a da. of one of the first settlers of Virginia.^[1]

Frances was married to Dr Richard Wells MD, who was a prominent Puritan in Jamestown. The couple had eleven children that were all born in Virginia. ^[1] Frances' husband was a Burgess, an elected representative of Upper Norfolk County from 1645 - 1647. The family also had land in Charles City County, Virginia.^[1]

In 1652, Richard and Frances Wells, along with their eleven children, move to a 600-acre plantation called "Wells" on Herring Bay in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. ^[2]

Richard Wells was a prominent part of the Puritan settlement in Anne Arundel County he was a member of the Puritan Council and a JP. He left politics after the death of his wife and became a recluse in the years before his death in August of 1667.^[1]

Newman reports that at least three of their children predeceased their parents. Richard Wells named 6 children in his will and did not name his wife, which is expected if she predeceased her husband:

1. Richard Wells, Jr -- received the dwelling and plantation, 600 acres, also "Little Wells" 100 acres, and "Well's hils, 420 acres ^[1]
2. George received 300 acres of "Planters' Delight" and 475 acres of "Well's neck, both in Baltimore County ^[1]
3. John received "Lankford's Neck consisting of 1,500 ares in Talbot County. ^[1]
4. Robert received 350 acres of West Wells in Anne Arundel County ^[1]
5. Benjamin was devisee 280 acres of "Benjamin's Choice", also in Anne Arundel County. ^[1]
6. Martha, Ann and Mary were willed various personalty. ^[1]

Research Notes

Frances Wells was not the da. of Mary Sheldon or Lady Catherine Weston; Newman above says her surname is unknown. Part of the controversy with Frances is there was a Frances White who was transported to Virginia Colony c.1637.^[3] But there is no evidence this Frances was the wife of Dr. Richard Wells.

There are at least three legends about her ancestry. The 1st is she was the da. of Katherine Weston, da. of Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland and a "Richard White" of Essex. However, there's clear proof this is incorrect, this thread neatly covers the details; their da. Frances was 10 years old on April 8, 1642 when she migrated to France with her parents.

The second is Frances was the da. of a different Richard White and Mary Sheldon, da. of Edward Sheldon of Beoley Hall, Worcestershire. Edward Sheldon m. Elizabeth Markham, dau. of Sir Thomas Markham of Ollerton (by 1523-1607) and Mary Griffin, who traces their ancestry to King Edward III. Edward and Elizabeth had children:

1. William Sheldon of Beoley Hall and Weston Park (1589-1659) m. Hon. Elizabeth Petre, with issue.
2. Ralph Sheldon of Steeple Barton, Oxfordshire (c.1595-1659) m. Bridget Morgan, with issue.
3. Edward Sheldon of Stratton, Gloucestershire (1599-1687) m. Mary Wake, with issue.
4. Frances Sheldon, est dau., d. unm.
5. Anne Sheldon m. "Henry Lucy of Pinchburge in the County of Hartford Esqr" [Whom I'm unable to further identify - has anyone else been able?]
6. Joan Sheldon (d. 1625) m. Sir Henry Appleton, 2nd Baronet of South Bernfleet, with issue.

Note no da. Mary - see Smyth, John The Berkeley Manuscripts: The Lives of the Berkeleys... v.2 p. 234.^[4]

The third is Frances White was actually Frances Hanslap, in sources shown as the wife of Richard and Frances son Benjamin but apparently there's some who think she was actually Richard's wife.

Sources which address these legends are Of Sackcloth and Ashes The Wells/White Marriage by Nellie Owings Chaney and A reconsideration of the Wells-White Marriage by James Duvall Trabue, J.D. which should be reviewed.

Anne Arundel County Church Records of the 17th and 18th Centuries, F. Edward Wright, pub 1990, this shows that a Francis Hanslap married Benjamin Wells Richards son.

Early Families of Southern Maryland V3 pub 2000 by Elise Greenup Jourdan, p. 169, may have married Frances White p187 again Benjamin marrying Hanslap

Roberta W. James in 2007 believes Frances was born 1625 in Herring Bay Hundred, VA.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Harry Wright Newman. Anne Arundel gentry : a genealogical history of twenty-two pioneers of Anne Arundel county, Md., and their descendants, Baltimore: Lord Baltimore Press, 1933. pages 631-633
2. ↑ A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789 Vol 2, I-Z, by Edward C. PAPENFUSE, Alan F. DAY, David W. JORDAN, and Gregory A. Stiverson: The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London. p 877.
3. ↑ George Cabell Greer, Early Virginia Immigrants, Evidence for Frances White being transported to the Colony of Virginia, circa 1637. p 355.
4. ↑ Thread on Frances Sheldon

See also:

• White, Jim, "Richard Wells & Frances White Virginia - Maryland 1635 & 1637, c)2009.
• George Cabell Greer, Early Virginia Immigrants, Evidence for Frances White being transported to the Colony of Virginia, circa 1637. p 355.
• A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789 Vol 2, I-Z, by Edward C. PAPENFUSE, Alan F. DAY, David W. JORDAN, and Gregory A. Stiverson: The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London. p 877.
• Article: "Of Sackcloth and Ashes - The Wells/White Marriage," by Nellie Owings Chaney. The Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin; Spring, 1996; Volume 37.2, page 145.