John Mobberley

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Venns) Mobberly — married 1655 in Cheshire, England

Descendants

Died before 2 Sep 1684 in St Mary's County, Province of Maryland

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Patrick Garcia [send private message], Jerry Smith [send private message], Cheryl Bostrom [send private message], and Stephanie Ross [send private message]

Biography

John Mobberley was a Maryland colonist.

NOTE: Information regarding John's origins needs to be supported by reference to reliable records..

What is Known

Will and Probate

John Mobberly signed his will on 30 December 1683.
In his will, John names his wife Elizabeth as his primary heir,
leaving her 3 mares and one horse, two steers and 16 or 17 cattle, 5 £, and "all other goods and chattells that I have" , except one bay mare "which I do bequeath to my brother Richard Venns eldest daughter Margaret Venns".
The two steers were at Mr. Thomas Venns, one of them needing a "crop in the taile for I was not there when it was marked".
The 16 or 17 cattle were at Mr. Nicholas Spencer's, and he apparently owed John Mobberly 6£ 5 s 5p and at least two crops of corn.
The 5£ was owed to John Mobberly by Mr. Thomas Venn
Transactions in tobacco were also mentioned.
John Mobberley and the two witnesses, Johanna Hill and Michael Browne, all signed by mark.^[1][2]

The will was entered into probate in St. Mary’s County, Maryland on 2 September 1684.
John was identified as a resident of St. George’s Hundred and an immigrant.
His wife Elizabeth was named as executor, and John Addison and Peter Watts were appointed appraisers.
No inventory was taken for the estate, there was no record of land ownership, and no record of children as potential heirs.^[3]
Further, there was no information regarding his religious affiliation.

There is no record that John received a land Patent, nor that his passage to Maryland was paid for by someone who received a land Patent for paying John’s passage.^[4]

Information That Can Be Inferred From The Records

Immigration to Maryland

With no record of land patents,^[4] it is likely that John Mobberly came to Maryland as an indentured servant. According to Carr (pp. 545-6),^[5] as many as 50% of immigrants paid their own passage to Maryland by serving as indentured servants to merchants and planters raising and marketing tobacco. The custom for those 22 years of age or older was to serve for four years.

Marriage and Children

John referred to Richard Venns as his “brother”.^[1] It is commonly assumed, therefore, that John’s wife Elizabeth was Elizabeth Venns, sister of Richard Venns.

Based on the handwritten note said to be on the cover page for the original will, John and Elizabeth probably had a child,^[1] however the name, age and sex of that child are unknown.

Death

John died sometime between 30 December 1683 and 2 September 1684, probably sometime early in 1684.^[1][3]

Age of Brother-in-Law's Eldest Daughter

Richard Venns’ eldest daughter Margaret was unmarried at the time John signed his will, suggesting that she was probably under the age of 18, and possibly under the age of 16. (Girls reached the age of majority, which was also the usual age of marriage.^[5])

Speculative and Unproved Information

Much of the “information” reported for John Mobberly of St. Mary’s County, Maryland seems to be based on undocumented and unproven speculation.

Birth

John is often claimed to be the son of Edward Mobberly, and to have been christened on 28 May 1633 in Frodsham, Cheshire, England. [1999 Research in Progress by Stephen Lawson]
Note that Lawson also suggested that the Mobberly’s were possibly members of the Catholic Church, that John lived in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland, and was the father of every other known or speculative Mobberly in southwestern Maryland at the time. Nearly all of these claims are highly speculative and without documentation. By March 2006, Lawson had publicly abandoned every one of them, admitting that "information concerning the early MOBERLEY ancestry [was] primarily based on conjecture." ^[6]

A John Mobberly was christened on 28 May 1633 in Frodsham, Cheshire, England, ^[7] but there is no evidence to connect this John Mobberly with the John Mobberly who died in St. Mary’s County, Maryland.

Another claim is that John was born in 1636 in Worcester, England, completely lacking in any evidence or documentation.^[8]

John has also been said to be the son of Edward Mobberly and Ann Osborne without even a hint of documentation or evidence.

Children

John Mobberly of St. Mary’s County Maryland is speculatively said to be the father of all other known or assumed Mobberlys in 17th century Southwest Maryland. [1999 Research in Progress by Stephen Lawson], including William Mobberly (who tradition said married Phoebe Lovejoy); Edward Mobberly, John Mobberly, Thomas Mobberly, and possibly Ignatius Mobberly.

• William (b. 1661, husband of Phoebe Lovejoy) appears to have been the product of a romantic family story that was already discounted in the 1960s.^[9]

• There does not appear to be any information supporting the existence of a Thomas Mobberly born 1669.

• There is no evidence that the Ignatious Mobberly, Edward Mobberly (husband of Rebecca Griffith , or John Mobberly of Anne Arundel County were related to John Mobberly of St. Mary's County, nor that they were related to each other.^[10]

John Mobberly of St. Mary’s County may have had a child – perhaps a son – but the name of such a child is unknown and needs to be documented.^[1] As for other, known Mobberlys in early Maryland, it is unclear why they should all come from one nuclear family. They may be related, but the relationships need to be documented.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Maryland, United States. Maryland, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777: [database on-line]. (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Vol. 4, pp. 51-52 (Liber 4, folio 50) (image 30 of 1055 on Ancestry.com)
   Also available through the Maryland State Archives, see image 53 of 328
   NOTE: This is a transcription of the original will. The original Will is at the Maryland State Archives and is not on-line.

   According to Conn Mobley (email 30 April 2017), it has minor variations from the original. Most significantly, the Cover Page of the original will (not included in the transcription) has the note: "My ffathr’s Last Will & Testament"

2. ↑ Maryland Calendar of Wills, Volume I. Mobberly, John, 30th Dec., 1683; 2d Sept., 1684.
   To eld. dau. Margaret, brother Richard Nennes and his dau. (unnamed), personalty. Wife Eliza:, execx. and residuary legatee. Test: Johanna Hill, Michael Browne. 4. 51.
   NOTE: This is a bad extraction of the transcription. Even a casual reading of the transcription makes it clear that Margaret is the eldest daughter of Richard Venns, not of John Mobberly. As well, a closer reading of the transcription shows a consistent distinction between the capital letter “V” for the Venn family name, and the capital letter “N”.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Carr, Lois Green. St. Mary's County Career Files: Biographical Files of 17th and 18th Century Marylanders. (Annapolis, Maryland, United States: Maryland State Archives, 2009?), Image No: sc5094-2912-1 and Image No: sc5094-2912-6
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Gibb, Carson. The New Early Settlers of Maryland. Maryland State Arichives SC 4341: Gibb Collection, updated 2005. Accessed 17 June 2017
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Carr, Lois Green and Lorena S. Walsh. “The Planter’s Wife: The Experience of White Women in Seventeenth-Century Maryland”. ‘’The William and Mary Quarterly’’. Vol. 34, No. 4 (Oct 1977), pp. 542-571.
6. ↑ Mobley From the files of Stephen M. Lawson, Modified: 3/21/06. Accessed 18 Jun 2017
   Dead link as of Oct 2017 -- see Image from from WayBack Machine
7. ↑ "John Mobberly", England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. database on-line, FamilySearch.org, citing FHL microfilm 0823624 IT 4. accessed 2 May 2017
8. ↑ John Mobberly, Memorial 148807084, Created by: John & Mimi Kimbrough, 7 Jul 2015. Find A Grave
   Note: Like many early Find A Grave Memorials, this is a totally unreliable "source", lacking information regarding the actual burial, lacking a photograph of a gravestone, and lacking any sources for the information claimed.
9. ↑ Hill, George Anderson. Hill & Hill-Moberly connections of Fairfield County, South Carolina. (Ponca City, Oklahoma: Hill, c1961) p. 234
10. ↑ Mobley, Milton C. Mobleys in America. (TS, (1995?)) PDF File available for download

See Also:

• Edward Mobley Will, 1776, Nc Surname: Mobley Record Type: Volume: 20 Number: 4 (December 1993) Periodical Title: Huxford Genealogical Society Magazine
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LJ58-KDW FamilySearch Tree]

Acknowledgments

• Travis Wagner, Apr 25, 2012
• Patrick Garcia
• Gerald Smith
• Scott Ledbetter
• Robin Lee