Lewis Wood (abt. 1568 - bef. 1626)

Born about 1568 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Holmes) Wood — married 20 Jul 1593 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England

Descendants

Died before 15 Apr 1626 before about age 58 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England

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This profile is part of the Wood Name Study.

Biography

Based on the date of Lewis Wood's marriage, it is assumed that he was born about 1568, probably in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, as the Wood family figures in the Nuneaton parish register from its earliest surviving pages. He must have apprenticed to become a brazier and pewterer, if he did not learn that trade from his own father.

There is no basis for believing that Lewis Wood's father was a "Lewis Francis Wood." It was illegal for English commoners to have multiple given names in that period, so it is doubtful that any such person even existed.

It is, however, conceivable that Lewis Wood's father was the Robert Wood who had a son christened at Nuneaton 7 October 1581. There was also a Robert Wood who married Alice and had children christened at Nuneaton in the 1590s; perhaps a Robert Wood Jr. Significantly, Lewis and Margaret (Holmes) Wood named their second oldest son Robert.

Lewis's trade, as noted above, was that of a brazier and pewterer. Use of pewter was common from the Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) until the various developments in glass-making during the 18th and 19th centuries. Pewter was the chief tableware (cups and plates) until the making of porcelain (in the 1700’s). Pewter was also used to make jewellery and church items. The constituents of pewter were first controlled in the 12th century by town guilds in France. By the 15th century, the Worshipful Company of Pewterers controlled pewter constituents in England. Pewter consisted of tin with as much copper as it could absorb, which is about 1%. Sometimes lead was added.

Lewis Wood e married Margaret Holmes on 29 Jul 1593 in Nuneaton , Warwick, England.

His wife Margaret was buried 8 Oct 1595 at Nuneaton.

Lewis must have married a second wife, Alice, in 1596, as he had a son Robert christened in early June, 1597. Sadly, the boy lived at most just a few days, as he was buried on June 5.

The following year, Alice gave birth to Edward Wood but died from complications of childbirth, as she was buried as "Alice, wife of Lewis Wood" on the day of Edward's christening.

Janet Ireland Delorey in The Genealogist Vol 9 (otherwise a splendid article) was confused about the identity of Alice because no one supplied her with the burial record of Margaret (Holmes) Wood. Thus she assumed that "Alice" was probably Edward's grandmother rather than his mother. But what are the chances that a child's grandmother would be buried on the day of his christening, when the parish register shows no further births to the child's mother after the date of said supposed grandmother's burial?

Lewis was buried on 15 Apr 1626 in Nuneaton. Probate was 18 Feb 1628 in Nuneaton.

Children baptized in Nuneaton, Warwickshire:

1. John Wood bpt 1593
2. Elizabeth Wood bpt 20 Sep 1595
3. Robert Wood bpt 1 Jun 1597; buried 5 Jun 1597
4. Edward Wood bp 29 Oct 1598

Sources

• Smith, Dean Crawford. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton 1878-1908 Part III: (Boston, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 2004) p. 472. Borrowed at Archive.org.
• England Marriages, 1538–1973, database, FamilySearch (10 February 2018), Lewis Wood and Margaret Holmes, 20 Jul 1593; citing Nuneaton,Warwick,England, reference , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 501,441, 548,397, 548,398.