Elizabeth (Unknown) Bailey (abt. 1613 - aft. 1684)

Born about 1613 in England

Descendants

Died after 1684 after about age 71 in Portsmouth, Aquidneck Island (Present Newport County), Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations [uncertain]

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Biography

Elizabeth (according to some sources was an Elizabeth Lewis). She married William England and the couple migrated to the new world in about 1638. The couple settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where they had a child Eleanor in about 1643..

After William England died, his widow Elizabeth married secondly John Wood about 1645.^[1]

Mrs. Elizabeth Parsons was not the mother of Grace Parsons who was born no later than 1637 based on a marriage date by 1653 before Grace gave birth to her son John Bailey. ^[2] The birth of Grace by 1637 also rules out the probability that her father was the Hugh Parsons of Springfield as he did not marry until 1645, too late to be her father.

Children

1. William England (b. 1641).
2. Josiah England (b. abt. 1642).
3. Eleanor England (1644 - 1691); married 27 Jul 1665, Jeremiah Westcott.

Research

The early publications mentioned below do not document that Elizabeth Unknown wife of William England is the same Elizabeth Unknown who married John Wood and Hugh Parsons. The most recent scholarly examination of these issues was by Henry B Hoff, Mayflower Descendants, 54:1 p 27-28 (2005), who states that Elizabeth Unknown is the mother of Elizabeth (Wood) Doty and Susanna (Wood) (England) Carpenter and confirms the 1966 Bertha Clark (a noted genealogist) research that their father is John Wood. He does not make Elizabeth who married William England the wife of John Wood or Hugh Parsons. Most of Clark's work from 1966 can be found at Family Search and also appeared in NEHGR 1966 [citation to vol and pg to be added]. Testimony in the Rebecca Cornell murder trial does not provide any source record evidence of any relationship between Elizabeth and William England. The Tim Stretton citation currently on this profile is in fact not referencing this person, but says "Elizabeth Hall married John Wood" and with no source record indicating that this is "John Wood of Portsmouth". Thanks to Mike Wood for invaluable input in revisiting these relationships. T Stanton, Rhode Island Project Coordinator, 17 Aug 2019 10:27 UTC

Several earlier publications incorrectly identify (the wife of Hugh Parsons of Portsmouth) as Elizabeth (b. 1613;^[3] d. after 1684), widow of William ENGLAND. The family of Elizabeth ENGLAND suggests that she married Hugh Parsons no earlier than 1650, but certainly by 1662. Since Hugh's daughter Grace was born by about 1645, and daughter Hannah, whose first child was born in 1670, was probably born by 1650, it appears that they were children of a first marriage by Hugh Parsons. The provision in his will that the residue of his estate goes to Elizabeth's daughters suggests that the estate included property brought to the marriage by the widow Elizabeth ENGLAND. This conjecture is supported by the sale of 18 acres of land in 1662 by Hugh and his wife Elizabeth, and by Hugh referring to Elizabeth as his "present wife" in the 1672 bond addendum.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Stretton, Tim. Women Waging Law in Elizabethan England. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 120.
2. ↑ Gerald James Parsons, "Parsons Families of the Connecticut Valley," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 149 (January 1995) 69-70.
3. ↑ Testimony 11 Apr 1673 - Rebecca Cornell Murder Trial - "Elizabeth ye wife of Hugh Persons of ye Towne of Portsmouth, Aged sixty yeares or thereabouts being According to ye Law Engaged, & sworne, Deposeth, & Testifieth yt shee being wth Goodwife Earle, desired to lay forth ye Body of the Deceased Mrs Rebeca Cornell..."
4. ↑ The will of Hugh Parsons was dated 10 Jan 1683 and proven 14 Mar 1683. In it, he mentions his wife Elizabeth, his daughter Hannah Mattison, his grandson Hugh Bailey, his granddaughter Hannah Mattison, under age 16, his wife Elizabeth's two daughters living on Long Island, viz: Susannah (Wood) (England) Carpenter and Elizabeth (Wood) Doty.

See also:

• Doty, Ethan A. The Doty-Doten Family in America: Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620. Brooklyn, N.Y: E.A. Doty, 1897. Print. Page 499. It states that Elizabeth was born in 1613 and died soon after her second husband (Hugh Parsons) died in 1684.
• Internet Archive (www.archive.org): Doty, Ethan A. The Doty-Doten Family in America: Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620. Brooklyn, N.Y: E.A. Doty, 1897. Print. Page 499.
• Geni (www.geni.com): Elizabeth Parsons (unknown).
• We Relate (www.werelated.org): Elizabeth Unknown.
• Taylor, Janice. “Elizabeth ENGLAND.” Janice's Genealogy, RootsWeb, 14 Oct. 2013.