Morgan Polden (abt. 1510 - bef. 1558)

Born about 1510 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Agnes Agnes (Ogden) Huddy — married 1545 (to 1557) in Dorset, England

Descendants

Died before 16 Apr 1558 before about age 48 in Hammoon, Dorset, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Rodney Polden [send private message]

Biography

Morgan was born circa 1510 (his son was old enough to be an executor in 1557, though not yet 21).

On 13 January 32 Henry VIII (1540), Morgan was leased land at Hammoon.^[1]

Morgan was listed in the 1545 subsidy list for Hammoon, and was taxed £10 for goods.^[2]

His father John Polden of Hammoon made his will 16 February 1545 (old style?), giving the residue of his estate to his son Morgan. It was proved 25 May 1546.^[3]

On 20 November 5 Edward VI (1551), Morgan received a lease for a messuage at Hammoon.^[4][5]

He had:

1. Frances, eldest daughter
2. Katherine, youngest daughter
3. Thomas, b. aft. 1536

At the time of his death he was married to Agnes/Anne. He allowed her full use of his farm at Hamoon for four years, provided she care for his children, and after that it to be given £20 yearly, with some conditions, suggesting that she was not the mother of his children.

The will of John Okeden in 1556 named his daughter Agnes Polden, as well as Frances and Thomas the children of Morgan Polden.^[6]

Morgan Polden of Hammoon made his will the last day of May 1557. He named his wife Anne and son Thomas as executors, and his friends Richard Okeden (his wife's uncle) and John Swayne of Blemford as overseers. It was proved 16 April 1558.^[1]

Research Notes

Okeden, and later Poldens

Morgan Polden named his "well beloved friend Richard Okeden my wifes uncle" as one of the overseers of his will. Richard was the brother of John Okeden. The will of John Okeden named a daughter Agnes Polden, as well as Frances Polden and Thomas Polden, the children of Morgan Polden.^[6]

In 1577 Thomas Polden of Hammoon sold land lying in the parishes of Cranborne and Edmondsham in Dorset (just west of Harbridge and Ellingham, Hampshire, where the Okedens resided) to William Constantine of Merley.^[7] In 1586 Philip Okeden (the brother of Agnes (Okeden) Polden) quitclaim this same land to William Constantine.^[8] This land passed from William Constantine to William Wythington in 1590,^[9] and from William Wythington to Thomas Hooper in 1599.^[10] In 1619, Morgan Polden of Old Castell Towne, Co. Cork quitclaim this land originally bought of Thomas Polden.^[11]

The fact that Morgan Polden's brother-in-law quitclaim land which Morgan's son Thomas Polden of Hammoon sold suggests that Thomas may have been a son of Agnes Okeden, or at least that Morgan acquired land once owned by his wife's family. 40 years after this sale, Morgan Polden of Castletown, Cork, quitclaim this land that Thomas Polden sold. This combined does suggest that Morgan of Castletown's father was Thomas Polden of Hammoon, the son of Morgan Polden of Hammoon.

Subsidy Rolls

In subsidy rolls, every male resident over the age of 16 who possessed land or goods down to a lower limit of £1.00 - as too for widows and spinsters - was assessed, with the purpose of gathering a subsidy for the needs of the state.

Morgan Polden is shown in the 1545 list as having "Goods £10". Though no other information is available from the Tudor Subsidies, the age limit of 16 years at least allows us to know that he was born well before 1529, or maybe decades earlier.

Also at Hamoon in 1545 was Morgan's father John Polden who was taxed £30 for goods.

Will

Morgan's will makes numerous bequeathments. Notably he mentions his farm at Hamoon, which was "late holden of Thomas Trenchard deceased, and granted by his grandefather... by lease made to me Morgan Polden and to my children bearing [the date 13 January 32 Henry the eighth (1540)]". He bequeathed his two daughters £100 each.

He names relatives:^[1]

• his kinsman Thomas Polden, son of Thomas Polden of Hammoon, deceased
• Joane and Margaret Polden, sisters of the said Thomas
• sister Joane Aphowelles (?), the wife of Walter Aphoell of Fattelford
• sister Alice Sawer, wife of Thomas Sawer of Manson (?)
• cousin Kings (?) wife of Gannfielde (?) daughter to Robert Polden of Hamoon, deceased
• wife Anne
• son Thomas
• daughters Frances and Katherine

Friends and acquaintances:

• friends Edmond, Christopher, and John Presley (being brethren)
• friends William Stooki and Symmes
• friend John Longe
• goddaughter Margaret
• godson Morgan
• friend Bilco (?)
• three of his maidservants viz. Jane Benbury and Thothley [sic]
• every one of his godchildren (unnamed)
• neighbours Hawkyns, Edward, Richard, and Alice Persley

The poor of:

• Stommynster St. Newton Castell
• Fitz Payne Okeford
• Shillingleton
• Childe Okeford
• the town of Shaftesbury
• the town of Wymbowne Mynster
• the town of Blenford
• Dorweston
• Stour payne
• Eworne

John Polden's Will:

The 1545 will of John Polden names as relatives his wife Margaret, daughters Joane Burke (?) and Alys Pirkeryne (?), and son Morgan.^[3] Notably Morgan names sisters Joane and Alice twelve years later in his own will, although with different married names.

"_____ Morgan of Peldon" and Gustave Anjou Fraud:

The various Okeden pedigrees give Agnes Okeden as marrying a ____ Morgan from Peldon.^[12] This is a mistake. It is clear by Morgan Polden's will and John Okeden's will that his daughter married Morgan Polden, not a Morgan from Peldon.

This mistake was also propagated into The Ogden Family in America, which was published in 1907 several years after the death of principal author William Ogden Wheeler. Wheeler had not found immigrant John Ogden's English origins, but after Wheeler's death, his book was completed and published by others who "made [the] unfortunate mistake [of] unsuspectingly enlisting the assistance of Gustave Anjou, possibly the most notorious generator of fraudulent genealogical records and pedigrees of recent times."^[13] As a result of Anjou's involvement, the book presented an account of English origins that cited nonexistent parish registers and other records and "have been demonstrated to be without any basis in fact,"^[13] but that may be encountered in Internet genealogies and other works derived from the 1907 book.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Prerogative Court of Canterbury. "Will of Morgan Polden of Hammond, Dorset", ref. no. PROB 11/40/100. The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Digital images of microfilm. (nationalarchives.gov.uk  : accessed 11 June 2023).
2. ↑ "Hammoon Tudor Subsidies." Dorset Online Parish Clerks (https://www.opcdorset.org/HammoonFiles/HammoonTudorSubsidy.htm : accessed 11 June 2023).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Prerogative Court of Canterbury. "Will of John Polden, Husbandman of Hammon, Dorset", ref. no. PROB 11/31/155 . The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Digital images of microfilm. (nationalarchives.gov.uk  : accessed 11 June 2023).
4. ↑ TNA, LR1/1 IND1no7640, m. 2. Anglo-American Legal Tradition. (http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT7/LR1/IND1no7640/IND1no7640v1/IMG_0005.htm : accessed 11 June 2023).
5. ↑ TNA, LR1/1, m. 17. Anglo-American Legal Tradition. (http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT7/LR1/LR1no1/IMG_0035.htm : accessed 11 June 2023).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Prerogative Court of Canterbury. "Will of John Okeden of Harbridge, Hampshire", ref. no. PROB 11/40/87. The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Digital images of microfilm. (nationalarchives.gov.uk  : accessed 13 June 2023).
7. ↑ "Bargain and sale of 3 messuages and cottage in East Worth, 3 closes called Brache Maryhowe and Lytlehowe, Howe coppice, Woodclose coppice, close in Feyrewoode near Pottern Bridge two coppices; Olyvers Coppice in Feyrewoode near Horethorne, all in Cranborne and Edmondsham". Ref. no. 19M56/E/T49. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies. (hants.gov.uk : accessed 13 June 2023).
8. ↑ "Release and quitclaim of lands and tenements in East Worth, Fairewood and Horethorn in Cranborne and Edmondsham known as Manor of East Worth". Ref. no. 19M56/E/T50. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies. (hants.gov.uk : accessed 13 June 2023).
9. ↑ "Bargain and sale of property as in 19M56/E/T49 except close near Pottern Bridge in Fayrewood". Ref. no. 19M56/E/T51. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies. (hants.gov.uk : accessed 13 June 2023).
10. ↑ "Bargain and sale of lands in Rumford, East Worth, Fayrewood, Horethorne, Cranborne and Edmondsham, including messuage in East Worth, 2 messuages, cottage, closes called Brache Mooreyhowe and Littlehowe in East Worth, Howe Coppice, Horethorne Coppice, 5 cottages, Manor of Rumforde". Ref. no. 19M56/E/T53. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies. (hants.gov.uk : accessed 13 June 2023).
11. ↑ "Release and quitclaim of lands of Thomas Hooper in Eastworth, Rumford, Horethorne, Feyrewoode, Cranborne, and Edmondsham bought of Thomas Polden". Ref. no. 19M56/E/T59. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies. (hants.gov.uk : accessed 13 June 2023).
12. ↑ Pedigrees from the visitation of Hampshire made by Thomas Benolt, Clarenceulx a 1530 : enlarged with the vissitation of the same county made by Robert Cooke, Clarenceulx anno 1575 both which are continued with the vissitation made by John Phillipott, Somersett (for William Camden, Clarenceux) in a 1622 most part then done & finished in a 1634. As collected by Richard Mundy in Harleian ms. no. 1544, (London: Harleian Society, 1913), p. 29 "Okeden", citing MS. Harl. 1544, fo. 30. (FamilySearch Book: 614911, archive.org).
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Hart, Frederick C., Jr. "Pressing Rewind, Reconsidering John Ogden Of Rye", The New York Genealogical And Biographical Record, Volume 146 (2015), page 34.