Francis Stoughton (abt. 1531 - 1557)

Born about 1531 in St. Peters, Sandwich, Kent, England

Ancestors

Husband of Agnes (Trignall) Stoughton — married 1554 in England

Descendants

Died 30 Sep 1557 at about age 26 in Sandwich, Kent, England

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Biography

Francis Stoughton was born in 1530 Parish of St. Peters, Sandwich Francis, eldest son and heir of Edward Stoughton of Ash, died as quite a young man, only two years after his Uncle Richard, sixteen years before his father, and fifteen months before Protestant Elizabeth succeeded her Catholic sister Mary upon the throne. However, there is no trace of papal leaning in the will of Francis; in fact, we read into this will the seed of non-conformity which was later to be the bone and sinew of the life of his only son, Rev. Thomas Stoughton.^[1] He died between 28 July and 30 September 1557.^[2]

A Lawsuit initiated about 1556 Confirms Francis Stughtons parentage "against Edward Stoughton and his sons Francis and Thomas over the “detention of deeds relating to the manor of Exherst in Staplehurst, bought of John Monnynges, of Dover, gentleman, and Margery his wife.” The case refers to the two deeds cited above and confirms this Richard Exhurst was the father of Edward Stoughton’s wife Mary, mother of Francis Stoughton." ^[2][3]

"Francis ' will is largely concerned with provisions for his wife Agnes, his only son Thomas and his sister Alice. To Thomas, his brother, known as Thomas Stoughton of St. Martins, Canterbury, " all my lands, tenements (etc.) until my son Thomas is 21.” His son Thomas was to have “ £ 3.6.8. yearly to keep him in school.” There is no bequest to the church for any purpose. He directs that he be buried in the Chancel of St. Jones ( Johns ) in the Church of St. Peter, “ if I die there.” He lived in the Parish of St. Peter, Sandwich, as a country gentleman, having land in Ash and elsewhere ."^[1][4]

Francis was listed in the Visitation of Kent, 1574^[5] (p. 35) as "Frances sonne and heire" of "Edward Stockton" and "Mary daughter of Richard Exherst", Edward listed as the son of "Thomas Stoughton of Dartford". This Visitation (1574) describes the Stoughton arms as "Argent, on a chevron gules between four door staples sable an escallop or, in dexter chief point a mullet of the last"; however, the Visitation of Kent in 1619^[6] (p. 18) describes the Stoughton arms (quartered with Wilde, Norden and Cliderowe) as "Argent, on a saltire gules between four door-staples sable a crescent in fesse point or", which are consistent with the Coat of Arms attached to this profile that also appear on the tomb (1701) of Francis' great-grandson Gov. William Stoughton of Dorchester, Massachusetts; and on the memorial brass for Francis' brother Thomas Stoughton (d. 1591) in the church of St. Martin, Canterbury.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Turner, Ethel McLaughlin. The English Ancestry of Thomas Stoughton, 1588-1661, And His Son Thomas Stoughton, 1624-1684, of Windsor, Conn., His Brother Israel Stoughton, 1603-1645, And His Nephew William Stoughton, 1631-1701, of Dorchester, Mass.. [Waterloo?, Wis.: Art Craft, 1958, pg.58
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Exhurst Ancestry of the Stoughton Siblings, New England Historical Genealogical Register, vol. 165 (2011) pg. 252
3. ↑ Mayney v Stoughton. Plaintiffs: Walter MAYNEY. Defendants: Edward STOUGHTON, 1/1450/16-19
4. ↑ Canterbury Cathedral Archives, CCA-U3-175/1/A/1, St. Peter, Sandwich, Kent, Composite Register, 1538-1616, image 67
5. ↑ The Visitations of Kent taken in the years 1574 and 1592 by Robert Cooke, Clarenceaux, edited by W. Bruce Bannerman, 1924, London, p. 35. https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/106237/?offset=0#page=47&viewer=picture&o=&n=0&q=
6. ↑ The Visitation of Kent taken in the years 1619-1621 by John Philipot, edited by Robert Hovenden, 1898, London, p.18. https://archive.org/details/visitationofkent00camd/page/28/mode/2up