John Griswold (bef. 1730 - aft. 1755)

Born before 1730 in Aston juxta Birmingham, Warwickshire [uncertain]

Husband of Ann Mayo — married 8 Apr 1744 in Birmingham

Descendants

Died after 1755 after age 25 in Aston juxta Birmingham, Warwickshire [uncertain]

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Biography

It is known that the John Griswold who was christened in 1755 had a father who was also called John (shown as John Greeswould in the christening record).

Although a definitive link has not been established, the only person of that name who can be located is a John Greswold, who married Ann Mayo in the Church of St. Martin in Birmingham on 8th April 1744. (see Note 1 below).

Note 1:

Until the middle of the 18th century marriages could take place anywhere provided they were conducted before an ordained clergyman of the Church of England. This encouraged the practice of secret marriages ("clandestine marriages") which did not have parental consent and which were often bigamous. It also allowed couples, particularly those of wealthy background, to marry while at least one of the partners was under age. In 1753, however, the Marriage Act, promoted by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Hardwicke, declared that all marriage ceremonies must be conducted by a minister in a parish church or chapel of the Church of England to be legally binding. Accordingly "our" John Griswold may have opted for a clandestine marriage which would not have been recorded.

Note 2:

The Griswold family first appears in Warwickshire in the 13th century. The name was spelled various ways. Most early Griswolds spelled their name Greswolde. The origin of the Griswold or Greswolde name is given in several ways. The family name appeared at a time when Norman French and English were commonly intermixed. “Grès” is “sandstone” in French. “Gris” is grey; griser is to give a grey tint to. “Wold”, however is clearly English, most likely from a Saxon form and is understood to mean “wood” or “forest”. Thus, one of the most common interpretations of the meaning of the name is “Grey forest”. An alternative to the French meaning and a little farfetched (or perhaps less “tasteful”) is that the “Gres” stood for the English “grice”, which meant “pig.” This has caused the name to be variously interpreted as “Wood where the pigs live” or (and far more poetic) “Wood where the wild boars live.” The scholarship on the first interpretation is considered more probable than the second. Only those family members who emigrated to North America took the spelling “Griswold”. If the variation on the name Greswolde of Griswold did not show up until the 17th century, when the family emigrated to North America (and then only amongst the ones who emigrated), it is rather difficult to derive the “grice” interpretation. Another reason to accept the “grey” interpretation is that for centuries the Greswoldes had greyhounds on the various forms of armorial bearings (coats of arms in common parlance). They are found running, not sitting or rampant, and the motto often seen is “Swift and Sure”. Greswoldes were found in a number of towns in Warwickshire, the most well-known of which is Solihull (now a suburb of Birmingham), where the church of St. Alphege contains many Griswold/Greswolde burials.

Sources

MARRIAGE

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "International Genealogical Index (IGI)," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:MKS3-V57 : accessed 3 November 2019), entry for John Greswold, batch 7435239, sheet 52, serial 00175; citing FHL microfilm 935,300; submitter not specified.