Martha (Bulkeley) Mellowes (abt. 1572)

Born about 1572 in Odell, Bedfordshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Abraham Mellowes — married about 1595 in Odell, Bedfordshire, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Leila Schutz [send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], and Magna Carta Project WikiTree [send private message]

Magna Carta Gateway Ancestor Descendant of Magna Carta Surety Baron Saher de Quincy (see text). Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

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

Biography

Martha Bulkeley was the daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkeley,^[1] and Olive Irby.^[2] Her date and place of birth are unknown and are estimated to be about 1572 at Odell, Bedfordshire, England (see Research Note below).

Martha married Abraham Mellowes^[3] about 1595,^[2] presumably in the vicinity of Odell, Bedfordshire.^[1] They had three sons and three daughters:

• Oliver,^[2] born about 1595, married first to Mary James and second to Elizabeth (Hawkredd) Coney^[1]
• Abraham,^[2] buried at Boston, Lincolnshire on 29 January 1615/6^[1]
• Edward,^[2] baptized at Odell, Bedfordshire 10 September 1609, born 24 August, married Hannah Smith^[1]
• Elizabeth,^[2] buried at Boston, Lincolnshire on 8 February 1618/9 "spinster"^[1]
• Catherine, wife of William Newland,^[2] born about 1607 ^[1]
• Anne, wife of John Smith,^[2] born about 1611^[1]

Abraham Mellowes and family were living at Boston, Lincolnshire, by about 1615, when Abraham became a parishoner of Rev. John Cotton.^[1]

Martha and her family immigrated to New England in 1633, and settled at Charlestown, Massachusetts.^[2] In 1633, the Church in Charlestown admitted Abraham and Martha Mellowes,^[2] along with their son Edward, "on the nineteenth day of a month late in 1633, probably October".^[1]

Martha's husband, Abraham died before 30 December 1638 and his will was delivered to the Suffolk court on 4 June 1639.^[1][2] Martha's date and place of death are unknown.

Research Notes

Estimated Birth

Where and when was the birth of Martha Bulkeley? Her father Dr. Edward Bulkeley was rector of Odell, Bedfordshire from about 1571 to 1609. It would seem most likely that Martha was born at Odell, which is also where she was married, and where her parents were both buried. Richardson offers no birth date for Martha, but her younger sisters were born about 1577 (Dorcas) and 1579 (Elizabeth). An estimated birth date of 1572 seems reasonable for Martha. Lewis states that Martha died in 1639, but this would be the year after the death of her husband, Abraham Mellowes.^[4] There is no death date for Martha given by Richardson.^[2]

Disputed Children

Sons Richard Mellowes and Abner Mellowes were detached as children of Abraham and Marta the only "source" linking them as the children of Martha and Abraham Mellowes was an unsourced Ancestry.com tree. Research notes were placed on those profiles so, in the event a source is found, they can be reconnected.

Incorrect Death Record

A Martha Mellowes died 25 Feb 1642/3 at Charlestown, Massachusetts. See the record in Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988. on Ancestry.com. However, the Martha in this record was the daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Mellowes and not this Martha.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Robert Charles Anderson, et al. The Great Migration Begins, Immigrants to New England, 1620-1634, Vol. 2, G-0, Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995. Online at Ancestry.com, pages 1248-1250: Abraham Mellowes.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011, vol. I, page 347 BULKELEY 15.ii.
3. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, et al. The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Vol. 1, A-B, Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999. Online at Ancestry.com, page 463: Peter Bulkeley.
4. ↑ Lewis, Marlyn. Martha Bulkeley entry in Our Royal, Titled, Noble and Commoner Ancestors & Cousins database online, accessed 19 Feb 2020. Cites Richardson's works.

• Anderson, Robert Charles, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Vol. 1, A-B, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999). Online at AmericanAncestors.org (online database extracted from print volume at NEHGS), pages 459-465.
• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011). See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013). See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry.

See also:

• Richardson. Royal Ancestry, (2013), Vol. II, page 9.
• "U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s." Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Provo, UT. 2010. Place: Charlestown, MA; Page: 1248, Record for Abraham Mellowes at Ancestry.com: cites GMB, no additional info.

Acknowledgements

Click the Changes tab to see edits to this profile. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed and approved by Thiessen-117 on 19 February 2020.

Martha (Bulkeley) Mellowes is listed in Magna Carta Ancestry as a Gateway Ancestor (vol. I, pages xxiii-xxix) and is in a Richardson-documented trail to Magna Carta surety baron Saher de Quincy (MCA I:346-348 BULKELEY). This trail was project-approved/badged in Feb 2015 by a Magna Carta project member and was re-reviewed in Feb 2020. See the Magna Carta Trails section in the profile of her father, Edward Bulkeley, to see the profiles in this trail.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".