Archive:The Untangling of Two Thomas Whitneys

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On January 20, 1997 Allan E. Green posted a list of Whitney entries to our mailing list. These records were obtained from a transcription of the St. Margaret's Church parish records located in the Society of Genealogists, London. In this data was listed the following burial:

15 Apr 1637, Mr. ____ Whitney

The following note was listed just after this entry, and presumably it was also included in the transcriptions that Allan had located.

(Admon. of his goods, as those of Thomas Whitney, of the parish of St. Margaret, Westminster, granted 8 and 22 May, 1637, to Margaret, his widow and Francis and Robert, his sons.)

The identification of Thomas's sons Francis and Robert and the fact that the burial occurred at St. Margaret's Church pretty well identified this as the Thomas Whitney who had married Mary Bray and who fathered the emigrant John Whitney.

When Allan posted this material, he noted that Thomas's widow was listed as Margaret and not Mary and suggested that further research be undertaken to identify this woman. When I was in London in November, 1997, I spent an afternoon in the Society of Genealogists doing some basic searches through Boyd's Marriage Index. One of the things that I searched for was an entry which might identify this Margaret. I found the following two marriages listed in Boyd's for the parish records of St. Gregory by St. Paul, London:

11 Apr 1631, Thomas Whitney to Mary Griffin

31 Jan 1632[/3], Thomas Whitney to Margaret George

This second marriage of a Thomas Whitney to Margaret George appeared as though it was the record that we had been looking for. If our Thomas had indeed married Margaret George in 1632/3, this would have explained the name of his widow as listed in the note about the probate.

Recent information supplied by Paul C. Reed, F.A.S.G., proves that this Thomas was in fact not our Thomas. Mr. Reed writes:

Thomas Whitney was married at St. Gregory by [Faculy Office 89] license dated 31 January 1632/3 Margaret (Mogge) George, widow of Thomas George, who was considerably older than Thomas if the given ages are correct: Thomas Whitney, of St. Margaret, Westminster, gent., bachelor, 24, and Margaret George, of Same, 42 widow of Thomas George, late of same, butcher. She had married Thomas George at St. Margaret on 19 November 1609, the year Thomas Whitney would have been born! Thomas George was buried at St. Margaret 18 May 1632.

Because Thomas was listed as a bachelor in the 1632[/3] marriage, he was probably not the Thomas who had married Mary Griffin in 1631 (this Thomas is still unidentified). Due to the listed age, it appears that the Thomas who married Margaret (Mogge) George was born about 1609. This and the notation that he was a bachelor make it obvious that he was also not the Thomas Whitney who had previously married Mary Bray. So how might he fit in with the family of Thomas Whitney and Mary Bray? Knowing that he was of St. Margarets and that he was born just four years after the youngest (recorded) child of Thomas and Mary leads one to believe that he could in fact be a previously unidentified son of Thomas and Mary (Bray) Whitney. Mr. Reed writes:

The elder Thomas Whitney had a son named Thomas baptized 25 July 1587, but buried 19 August 1587. His ninth son Robert was baptized 10 November 1605. Given a birthdate of about 1609, the Thomas who married Margaret (Mogge) George could have been youngest son of the elder Thomas.

This still leaves the identity of Margaret, widow of the elder Thomas, as unidentified. Who was she? Again, Mr. Reed has information which solves the problem:

I think it has generally been assumed that the burial of Mr. ___ Whittney on 15 April 1637 was for the husband of Mary Bray. But this cannot be.

The administration of Thomas Whitney, of St. Margaret, Westminster, was granted to Margaret Whitney, widow, relict of the deceased, on 8 May 1637. His estate totaled lvi l. ix s. viii d. [Dean and Chapter of Westminster, Act Book 4, f. 48] This must be the [Mr. ___ Whittney] who was buried on 15 April, and his relict Margaret would be the woman we discussed [Margaret (Mogge) George]. This Thomas would therefore be the one born about 1609.

There is a burial for another Thomas Whitney on 20 May 1637. The administration of the goods of Thomas Whittney of St. Margaret's, Westminster, were granted to Francis Whittney and Robert Whittney, sons of the deceased, on 22 May 1637 [Dean and Chapter of Westminster, Act Book 4, f. 49]. They gave final account on 10 March 1637[/8] and his estate totaled CCxxxiii l. [233 pounds].

So there are two separate administrations for two separate Thomas Whitneys, both of St. Margaret's, both who died in 1637, one apparently the father, the other the youngest son. I see no other way to interpret this evidence, unless something else surfaces. I would be interested to know what others think.

When asked about the short period of time between the elder Thomas's burial on 20 May 1637 and the granting of administration to his sons just two days later, Mr. Reed writes:

Normally it would be a short time, but their father was a merchant, and his business had to continue. His sons apparently lived, or were at Westminster when their father died. They were granted administration at the Peculiar court of the Dean of Westminster, at Westminster, and having grown up there, they probably knew the men who granted it.

With this additional evidence, it appears that Thomas Whitney, husband of Mary Bray and father of the New England emigrant John, was buried 20 May 1637 at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. administration of his estate was granted to his sons Francis and Robert on 22 May 1637 and a final account of 233 pounds was given by them on 10 Mar 1637/8.

Thomas Whitney and his wife Mary Bray are possibly the parents of Thomas Whitney, b. ca. 1609, who married 31 Jan 1632[/3] to Margaret (Mogge) George, b. ca. 1591. She had previously married 19 Nov 1609 at St. Margaret's to Thomas George, butcher, who was buried 18 May 1632 at St. Margaret's. Thomas Whitney was buried 15 Apr 1637 and administration of his estate was granted to his widow Margaret 8 May 1637. His estate was listed at 56 pounds.

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