Edward Pettus was born in 1585. He was the son of Thomas Pettus and Cicely King.
Edward was baptised on November 17th 1585 at the church of St Simon and St Jude in Norwich, Norfolk, England. [1][2]
Edward the sonn of Thomas Pettus was Baptized the xvii of November 1585
Edward became a "factor" (a middleman in the purchase and sale of goods overseas) for the Honorable Company of Merchants of East India in October 1615. His petition was accepted on 19 October 1615 at a Court appointed for the choice of Factors: [3]
Oct 19 [1615]... Petition of Edward Pettus for a factor's place; resolution to employ him. 12 or 13 factors to be sent with the next fleet, supposing there would be use for many on the Coramandel coast
Edward wrote his last Will and Testament in July 1620 and he died between then and 6 November 1620 when his Will was proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in London by his executor, his eldest brother William. He was 35 years of age.
A transcription of the Will is here.
In summary the Will mentioned the following family members:
His parents are still alive and named as Thomas and Cicely Pettus [Thomas was actually already dead]
His eldest brother William seems to have heirs [William had seven children with his wife Mary Gleane who he married in 1607, but Edward did not name the children, so this may have been a speculative bequest]
His second brother John is still alive [John had already died in April 1620]
His third brother George is thought to be still alive, although abroad
His fourth brother Theodor is still alive and not yet 21 [the ages of Theodor and Thomas were round the wrong way, Theodor was the youngest]
His fifth and youngest brother Thomas is alive and not yet 21
His sister Elizabeth has married Nicholas Sadler and they have children
His sister Susan has married Geffrey Mite
His sister Fraunces is unmarried - her legacy is to be paid on marriage
His sister Christian is alive (seems not be be married)
His sister Ann is alive (seems not to be married)
Ann was the youngest of the named siblings in the Will. Neither Henry nor Robert were mentioned. Either:
Edward had gone abroad before they were born and did not know about them
He believed they had already died
in his last illness / delerium had forgotten about them.
Research Notes
Unsourced death date of 23 November 1620 in death date field.
↑ Transcription of the parish registers of St Simon and St Jude, Norwich, Norfolk, England made by E.A. Tillett in 1895 Image on Family Search
↑ Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series: East Indies: China & Japan 1513-1616
Great Britain. Public Record Office, William Noel Sainsbury, Sir John William Fortescue, Cecil Headlam, Arthur Percival Newton, Kenneth Gordon Davies
Pub. Longman, Green, Longman & Roberts, 1862 - America Page 436
Thank you to Dawn Griffis for starting this profile through the import of Griffis Ragland Alsford Wrighton Family Tree_2014-01-29.ged on Jan 29, 2014.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Edward by comparing test results with other carriers of his ancestors' Y-chromosome or mitochondrial DNA.
Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree: