Richard Gray (1598 - abt. 1698)

Born 8 Oct 1598 in Little Sampford, Essex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Joane (Batten) Gray — married 4 Aug 1636 in Downton, Wiltshire, England

Descendants

Died about 27 Nov 1698 at about age 100 in Londonderry, County Londonderry, Ireland [uncertain]

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Biography

This profile is part of the Gray Name Study.

NOTE: Robert Gray was born October 8, 1598 in Harwich, Essex County, England. He passed away the following month. His burial was November 27, 1598. This profile was originally started with his birth information without any mention of his dying young. The bulk of this profile seems to belong to Richard Gray who married Joanne Batten. A new profile will be created for Robert Gray using the original data from here and then editted to show his infant death.^[1]

NOTE: All the information below should be confirmed: Was the Richard born 19 Jan 1599 the husband of Joanne Batten (marriage at 37?)?

Richard Gray was born on or before his baptism on January 19, 1599 in Little Sampford, Essex, England.^[2][3] [1,2]

He married Joane Batten on 4 Aug 1636, Downton Parrish, Wiltshire, England.^[4] [3]

Robert and Joane relocated on or before 1640 to Londonderry, Londonderry County, Province of Ulster in Northern Ireland, the birthplace of their son John Gray (Sr) that year.^[2] [1]

Robert and Joane were part of the state-sponsored settlements (colonization) or Plantation of the Province of Ulster in Northern Ireland, which had started in 1609. This scheme, instituted by James VI of Scotland when he became King of England, " ... was intended to confiscate all the lands of the Gaelic Irish nobility in Ulster and to settle the province with Protestant Scottish and English colonists on confiscated land."^[5] [4]

Robert Richard Gray passed away in 1699 in Londonderry, Londonderry County, Province of Ulster, Northern Ireland.^[2][3] [1,2]

Historical Perspective

... The new landowners were explicitly banned from taking Irish tenants and had to import workers from England and Scotland."... [5]

Of " ... major influence on the Plantation was the negotiation among various interest groups on the British side. The principal landowners were to be 'undertakers', wealthy men from England and Scotland who undertook to import tenants from their own estates.They were granted around 3000 acres (12 km^2) each, on condition that they settle a minimum of 48 adult males (including at least 20 families), who had to be English-speaking and Protestant." ... [5]

Colonization " ... was subsidized by the England’s twelve great guilds. Livery companies from the City of London were coerced into investing in the project, as were City of London guilds, which were granted land on the west bank of the River Foyle, to build their own city on the site of Derry (renamed Londonderry after them) as well as lands in County Coleraine." [5]

Robert and Joane Gray would have been present in Ulster during the Irish Rebellion of 1641 when the Ulster Catholics staged a rebellion and The subsequent arrival of 10,000 soldiers sent by the Scottish Parliament to quell the Irish rebellion in 1642. They would also have witnessed – if not participated in – the British settlers in-fighting in Ulster in 1648–49 over the issues of the English Civil War. [5]

In light of the above context, Robert Gray, who was from Essex (which was still in 1640 under the Archdiocese of London), may have beem affiliated with the English guilds coerced into bodily supporting the Ulster Plantation initiative – especially since Robert and Joane also relocated to the guild-granted land of Londonderry where their son, John, was born in 1640.

Research Notes

Further research and documentation is required to determine whether Robert Richard Gray was an "Undertaker" – i.e., those wealthy men from England and Scotland who undertook to import tenants from their own estates – or whether he was among those English from Essex who were recruited by the Undertakers for the colonization.

Sources

1. ↑ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 34: Page 253 Robert (baptized 8 Oct 1598 - buried 27 Nov 1598) was son of Thomas Gray and Katharine Miles.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} nrubydr's Ancestry family tree: Biographical details for Robert Richard Gray (1600 Harwick, Essex, England - 1699 • Harwick, Essex, England) Ancestry Profile citing
   

   • Baptism of Richard Gray: 19 Jan 1599 in Little Sampford, Essex, England citing source with broken link; Ancestry Record 9850 #13244 from Ancestry Profile.
   • Richard Gray marriage to Joane Batten: 4 Aug 1636 in Downton, Wiltshire, England citing FHL Film Number: 1279387; Reference ID: 166; Ancestry Record 9852 #27221079.

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} 2. Robert Richard Gray, “Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch.com.
4. ↑ Richard Gray marriage to Joane Batten cited by Ancestry family tree created by nrubydr.
5. ↑ 4. “Ulster-Scots” Ulster Scots people.
6. ↑ 5. “Plantation of Ulster” Wikipedia.

See also:

Sources as added by Mark Todd:

1. Robert Richard Gray , biographical details, Ancestry.com [1]

2. Robert Richard Gray, “Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch.com [2]

3. "Wiltshire, England, Marriages, 1538-1837," database, Ancestry.com [3] (to Joane Batten, 4 Aug 1636, Downton Parrish, Melksham, Wiltshire, England)

4. “Ulster-Scots” Wikipedia. [4]

5. “Plantation of Ulster” Wikipedia [5]

Acknowledgements

• Gray-6147 was created by Jerry Cox through the import of jcoxff.ged on Oct 15, 2013. NOTE: Imported GEDCOM includes Jerry's notes containing parts of his years of family history research. Status Category is "S1 No notes" mentioning Gray-6147 (Research Notes not needed). The information for this profile was moved to a new profile.

• Thank you to Mark Todd for contributing most of the biography to date. Fuller-5853 19:26, 20 January 2020 (UTC)