John Underhill (abt. 1574 - 1608)

Born about 1574 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Lenora (Pawley) Morris — married 1595 in Lelant, Cornwall, England

Descendants

Died 1608 at about age 34 in Brabant, Spaanse Nederlanden

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Biography

John, the second son of Thomas Underhill, was granted administration of his father’s estate in DEC 1597.

As John’s mother failed to apprentice him with her other two sons in London, and as documentary evidence is lacking about his occupation, the probabilities are that he became interested in the sea adventures of Dudley, and there is every reason to believe that John Underhill was with him on his exploring voyage to the West Indies for when Dudley reached England toward the end of May 1595.

John Underhill married Lenora Pauley at St. Ives in Cornwall, in the parish of Lelant.

The Underhill family of England escaped to the Netherlands after Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, led an abortive coup d'état in 1601 against the government of Queen Elizabeth I, for which Robert Devereux was executed for treason. The Underhill family relocated to Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands which was a heavily fortified city.

John Underhill was sergeant in the company of Captain Roger Orme. He is mentioned in Orme’s company in 1608, in an account of lodging or service money. In January and February it is noted that he was absent from the muster and in October of that year he is listed as “dead.”^[1] There was only one church in Bergen-op-Zoom at that time, the Church of St. Gertrude, still standing in the Central Market place, and there can be but little doubt but that John, the father of Capt. John Underhill, was buried here.

Research Notes

Middle names were very unusual in this time period, and there is no reliable source for the middle name Edward.

Sources

1. ↑ Frost, Josephine C. Underhill Genealogy, Vol. I (Myron C. Taylor, 1932) p. 13.

• Underhill Society of America.
• FamilySearch profile: John Edward Underhill.
• Wikipedia:John_Edward_Underhill.