Margaret (Dooley) Spencer (abt. 1571 - bef. 1612)

Born about 1571 in Edworth, Bedfordshire, England [uncertain]

Wife of Thomas Spencer — married about 1598 in Edworth, Bedfordshire, England

Descendants

Died before 1612 before about age 41 in England

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Jack Wise [send private message], Michael Spencer [send private message], and Chet Spencer [send private message]

Biography

There is no baptism of a Margaret Dooley in Edworth, nor any Dooley vital event in Edworth.

She married Thomas Spencer before 1601 when Gerard was baptised in Stotfold.

With no marriage found and with his wife not named in any baptism of their children, there is no evidence to suggest that her name was Margaret, let alone Dooley, nor that she was from Edworth. It would seem possible that the "Margaret Spenser, widow," who was buried at Stotfold 19 Dec 1635 could have been the widow of Thomas, but the Rev. Mr. Holding identifies her as the daughter of Thomas who had married Simon Spencer.^[1]How did he identify her without an earlier burial of her husband Simon? But the will of Ann Spencer of Stotfold, widow of Thomas Spencer of Stotfold proved on 29 February 1635/6 (below) raises a number of queries. Was the burial in December 1635 actually that of Anne, not Margaret? As the will refers to Gerard and Anthony being her sons in law ie stepsons Anne looks to have been the second wife. And as Anthony was baptised in London in February 1611 presumably any second marriage would have been after this date, probably in London (unless he was a late baptism).

Will of Anne Spencer dated ? Proved 29 Feb 1635/6 ^[2] In the name of god amen. I Anne Spencer of Stotfold in the county of Bedford Widdow relict and late wife of Thomas Spencer late of Stotfold aforesaid deceased being sick in body but of perfect and disposing memory the lord bee praised doe make my last will and testament in manner and form following. And first I bequeath my soule into the merciful hand of god who gave it ............... at the last days and my body to bee buried at the discretion of my executor hereafter named and of my worldly goods I shall dispose.

Imprimis I give and bequeath to my grandchild Anne Spencer the eldest daughter of my sonne in law Gerard Spencer five pounds lawfull money of England. And I give and bequeath unto Ursilla Spencer and Mary Spencer the two younger daughters of my said sonne Gerard five pounds lawfull English money to be paid them by my executor to each of them fifty shillings apeece.

Item I give and bequeath unto John Spencer my grandchild the sonne of my sonne in law Anthony Spencer the sum of foure pounds lawfull English money. And my will is that my executor shall pay the aforesaid legacies to my said grandchildren when they shall accomplish the age of one and twenty years with all the ....................................................... after my decease till the several days of payment...............................

And I further will that if the said John Spencer dye before he accomplish the age of one and twenty years then his said bequest be paid to and amongst all the children of the said Anthony lawfully begotten equally. And if in ..... the said Anthony have no more issue lawfully begotten by the space of twelve years next after my decease and the said John Spencer not living the said four pounds to be paid to my said sonne Anthony his executors or assigns. And my will is that whichever of the said Anne Ursula or Mary Spencer shall dye before they accomplish the age of one and twenty years then their said legacies and bequests to be equally paid to and amongst the surviving children of the said Gerard Spencer.

Item. I will and bequeath unto my grand child Anne Spencer one black gown and one petticoat and two white aprons one black quaise? and two ....cloths.

And I further will and bequeath to all the rest of my sonnes and daughters in law twelve pound apeece to each of them. And the rest of my goods unbequeathed I give unto my sonne Gerard whom I make and ordain my sole executor of this my last will to see my body buried, my will approoved and my debts paid.

In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand the day and year first above written

The mark of Anne Spencer "A"

It appears that Anne was the second wife of Thomas as she refers to Gerard and Anthony as sons in law ie stepsons. She doesn't mention her grandchildren, children of Margaret, yet they were both alive. Nor does she mention Thomas her son/stepson and Elizabeth who also were alive in 1635, although there's the catch-all final bequest of £12 each to all her other sons and daughters in law ie stepchildren.

Research Notes

There's a profile, Margaret Ward (abt.1575-1635) with no visible links to the Spencers, also claiming the burial on 19 Dec 1635. I have enquired of the PM as to what else she knows. But as there are no other Spencer burials at this time I can't think other than this is Anne whose will was proved two months later, and the parish register is in error describing her as Margaret. If the PM has no other information I propose that Margaret Ward be used to create a profile for Anne as Thomas' second wife.

If we want to be strictly accurate on the facts as known this profile should be changed to Unknown; LNAB Unknown, Birthplace England

Sources

1. ↑ "The Four Spencer Brothers - Their Ancestors and Descendants" Donald Lines Jacobus, M.A., The American Genealogist, vol. 27 pp 83-84 (April 1951) [1].
2. ↑ Undated will of Anne Spencer proved 29 Feb 1635/6. Repository Bedfordshire Archives and Records Service. Transcribed by Cooper-13819

• Title: Ancestry Family Trees

Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created. Please use CAUTION.

• Attached Documents.

• Spencer Family History, compiled by Chet Spencer.

• Lechner Family History, compiled by Michael Lechner, with his father Ted Harrold Lechner. Lechner Family History.

• Wilfred Vasile, firsthand knowledge. Click the Changes tab for the details of edits by Wilfred and others.

• WikiTree profile Spencer-2576 created through the import of Spencer Family Tree 4 2002.GED on Nov 28, 2011 by Chet Spencer. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Chet and others.
• This person was created through the import of grant2.ged on 07 February 2011.

Name

Name: Margaret //

Given Name: Margaret

Couldn't find any valid last name at birth.

Family

Husband: Thomas Spencer

Wife: Margaret Mrs Spencer

Marriage:

Date: ABT 1598

Place: , , England

Could not parse date out of ABT 1598.

Husband: Thomas Spencer

Wife: Margaret UNKNOWN

Marriage:

Date: ABT 1596

Place: Of, Edworth, Bedfordshire, England

Could not parse date out of ABT 1596.

Ancestral File Number

Ancestral File Number: J8JR-3F

Ancestral File Number: 1QP9-82Q