John Bishop I (abt. 1590 - 1661)

Born about 1590 in England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 7 Feb 1661 at about age 71 in Guilford, New Haven, Connecticut

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John Bishop I migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 31) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Uncertain Origins

Quite a few records can be found between the late 1580s and early 1600s which could refer to John Bishop, none of them exactly from Ipswich. Some from villages surrounding Bury St. Edmunds, also in the county of Suffolk, about 30 miles northwest of Ipswich, some from other English counties. See Research Notes.

At present, it is safe to believe he was probably born in England, although his exact place of birth remains uncertain. The same can be said about the identity and origin of his parents.

Unlikely Relations

Several familial connections have been suggested between John Bishop and other New England early settlers by the same surname. It has been suggested that one of the men called Richard Bishop could be John Bishop's father. Nevertheless, a John Bishop born in the 1580s, 1590s or early 1600s would not have been the son of a Richard Bishop born in the early 1600s. While oft seen in family files, the estimated age of men Richard Bishop (Bishop-1500) and Richard Bishop (Bishop-179) would preclude them to be candidates as the father of John Bishop, early Guilford settler.

It has also been suggested that James Bishop of New Haven, would have been his brother.^[1] This relationship has yet to be confirmed by sources.

Emigration

John Bishop was one of the first settlers of Guilford, Connecticut as can be observed in the Guilford Plantation Covenant. The document is believed to have been written and signed still aboard the Saint John, the vessel which transported 25 men and their families from London to Quinnipiak, which would later become New Haven, Connecticut.^[2]

Marriage

John was married to a woman called Ann. Her maiden name has not been established with certainty. Since all their children seem to have been born in England it is believed that the couple would have also married there, prior to their voyage. Ann's name is also not mentioned in the Covenant, since only the men signed the document.^[2]

Children

Several lists of descendants have been drawn for John and Ann Bishop with varying number of children. Along the years some have been discarded and as of this moment only four of those children are believed to be John and Ann's:

1. Ann (Bishop) Clarke: ANN, b. (say 1620-2); d. at Saybrook, Coon., 1 Jan. 1671/2; in. (i) by 1639, JOHN JORDAN, who d. at Guilford in 1650; m. (2) by 1654, THOMAS CLARKE, who d. at Guilford, bur. 10 Oct. 1668.

2. John Bishop II: JOHN, b. [say 1625); d. at Guilford, Oct. 1683; m. 13 Dec. 1650, SUSANNA GOLDHAM, who d. 1 Nov. 1703.

3. Stephen Bishop Sr: STEPHEN, [say 1627); d. at Guilford, June 1690; m. 4 May 1654, TABITHA WILKINSON of Bermuda.

4. Bethia (Bishop) Steele: BETHIA, b. [say 1630); d. before 1685; m. [perhaps 18 Oct. 1651], JAMES STEELE, bapt. at Fairsted, co. Essex, Eng., 30 Nov. 1622, d. at Hartford, Conn., in or shortly after 1698, son of George and Margery (Sorrell) Steele. He was Commissary in King Philip’s War.^[3]

Life as a Settler

Based on Cone's compilation, John and his family settled in Menunkatuck, which later became Guilford, Connecticut. The lands were purchased from local Native American tribal leaders. John seems to have been actively involved in the establishment of the new settlement as his name appears in several documents, dealing with the purchase of land and settling disputes amongst settlers until the first church was established.^[2] According to the same author, the family owned a plot of seven acres where their home was built and a larger tract of land for farming. John was not made a freeman until about 1647.^[2]In 1657-8 a list of freeman was made in which John appears. His death date also appears as a later addition in the same document.^[4]

Death

According to Cone, John passed away in January 1660.^[2] Also, according to the same author his will has been lost and his date of death is known thanks to probate records in New Haven and Guilford colonial records.^[5]

Research Notes

On John's Birth Records:

Some possible records:

1. John son of Richard Bishop, baptized 3 Jan 1591 in Little Saxham, Suffolk, England. ^[6] For image: ^[7]
2. Johanes son of Johanis Bishopp, Baptized 12 Aug 1599 in Thornton, Suffolk, England.^[8]
3. John son of Thomas Byshoppe, Baptized 13 Jul 1589 in Rye, Sussex, England. ^[9] For image: ^[10]
4. John son of Mathewe Bysshoppe, Baptized 20 Aug 1592 in Leigh, Surrey, England.^[11]

That is to name just a few. There are more than 20 possibilities on Family Search alone in counties like Devon, Cornwall, Shropshire, Kent, Gloucestershire, Dorset and also in London.

See also G2G discussions:

• "Straightening out some Kings and Bishops, early New England immigrants"

• "If John Bishop was born in 1590, how was his father Richard born in 1609?"

• Some family files place a daughter, Mary Bishop, the wife of George Hubbard, in the family of this John Bishop. This association was apparently devised from a passage in the will of Anne Bishop, John's widow. (Her will calls out a grandchild, "Elezabeth Hubbard."). A discussion about why George Hubbard's wife could not have been John Bishop's daughter is found in Nathan Grier Parke II, The ancestry of Lorenzo Ackley & his wife Emma Arabella Bosworth, Donald Lines Jacobus, ed. (1960), pp 98-100.

Sources

1. ↑ Steiner, Bernard Christian. A history of the plantation of Menunkatuck and of the original town of Guilford, Connecticut : comprising the present towns of Guilford and Madison. Baltimore: Steiner, 1897, p. 45
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} Cone, William Whitney & Root, George Allen. Record of the descendants of John Bishop, one of the founders of Guilford, Connecticut in 1639. Nyack, N. Y., J. G. Bishop, 1951, p. ix
3. ↑ Nathan Grier Parke II and edited by Donald Lines Jacobus, (Nathan Grier Parke II, The ancestry of Lorenzo Ackley & his wife Emma Arabella Bosworth, Donald Lines Jacobus, ed. 1960, 98-100.) digital images, Hathi Trust.
4. ↑ Smith, Ralph Dunning. The history of Guilford, Connecticut, from its first settlement in 1639. Albany: J. Munsell, 1877 p. 23
5. ↑ Probate records for John Bishop (transcript): Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1639-1905, Index to births, marriages, deaths 1639-1905 Births, marriages, deaths v. A, 1-2 1/2 1645-1880. Film # 007731271, image 213
6. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NGL6-QXX : 10 April 2021), 1. John Bishop, 1591.
7. ↑ Little Saxham parish registers. Baptisms, p. 4. Film # 007718032. Image 29
8. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5GB-YQ3 : 19 March 2020), Johanis. Bishop in entry for Johanes. Bishop, 1599.
9. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3G2-K29 : 19 March 2020), John Bysshope, 1589.
10. ↑ Parish registers and poor law records for Rye. General register (baptisms, marriages, burials), 1538-1699, p. 58, image 491
11. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3LB-H3B : 20 September 2020), John Bysshoppe, 1592.

See also:

• Cutter, William Richard. Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Boston and eastern Massachusetts, 4 vols. (1908), 4:1687-1692; digital images, Hathi Trust.

• Talcott, Alvan. Families of Early Guilford, Connecticut, Vol. I, p. 76. Maryland, Clearfield, 1997. Free Ancestry Image.

• Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 for Anne Bishop, Hartford, 1676. Probate Packets, Bigelow-Bissell, E, 1641-1880. Free Ancestry Image

• "John Bishop, of Guilford"; collaborative online family file, Geni.com (accessed 2021).