Dear Newsgroup ~
This thread is entitled "Insurmountable problems with the lineage of gateway James Cudworth." The title is surely a misnomer, as few genealogical problems are ever "insurmountable." Such is the case with the Cudworth lineage which can be easily vouched by contemporary records. Without getting into a lengthy discussion, I can certify that the Cudworth-Machell-Lewknor connection is sound.
I do wish to address a couple of points. Burke (who is not entirely reliable) has alleged in print that Matthew Machell, Esq. (died 1593) married a Miss Cotton, by whom he had his son and heir, John Machell [see my citation below]. However, Matthew Machell appears to have had only one wife, Mary Lewknor, who he married by license in 1568. Mary Lewknor was subsequently the mother of all of Matthew's children, including his son and heir, John Machell, who was born about 1581 [minor in 1598, of age in 1602] and his daughter, Dorothy, who was specifically named in her grandmother Lewknor's will dated 1587. Also, as John Brandon has noted to me privately, it was Matthew Machell's brother, John Machell, whose first wife was a Cotton.
Next: It has been claimed that there is no contemporary evidence that Mary Machell, wife of Rev. Ralph Cudworth, was the daughter of Matthew Machell and Mary Lewknor. That claim appears to be false. The marriage record of Mary Machell and Rev. Ralph Cudworth has been located in recent time, which confirms her maiden name. Also Edward Bellasis, Lancaster Herald, wrote a full length book on the Machell family in 1886. In a pedigree found in this book, Mr. Bellasis indicated that Mary Machell, wife of Rev. Ralph Cudworth, was duly recorded as a daughter of Matthew Machell and Mary Lewknor in manuscript sources found in the College of Arms, which he styled "C. 21, C. 26, etc." Such manuscripts typically consist of genealogical pedigrees recorded by earlier heralds. While we lack the precise date of these manuscript sources, they are likely contemporary or near contemporary to the lifetime of Mary (Machell) Cudworth.
Furthermore, it is known that Mary Machell's first husband, Rev. Ralph Cudworth [died 1624], left her certain monies in trust to be used as legacies for their children. This is proven by a contemporary diary entry dated 1635, recorded shortly after Mary Machell married her 2nd husband, Rev. John Stoughton:
Green, Diary of John Rous (Camden Soc. 66) (1856): 79–80 (sub 1635: “In Oct., Doctor Stoughton, of Aldermanbury, in London, who married Cudworth’s widow, of Emm[anuel] and had the same living given by the colledge in the West country, from when a carrier bringing some monyes for his wives children’s portions, he was traduced (as it seemeth) to be a favourer of New England, and a collector of contributions for those ministers there, &c.”). END OF QUOTE.
On Mary Machell's death c.1636 and Rev. John Stoughton's death in 1639, the portions for the Cudworth children appear to have passed to her only brother, John Machell, Gent., who in turn left a sizeable bequest (£125) in his will dated 1646 for the marriage of his niece, Jane Cudworth. It is likely this bequest was not John Machell's own money. Rather, it was presumably part of the monies which had been left by Rev. Ralph Cudworth for his children's portions. The assertion that Jane Cudworth was not the daughter of Mary Machell is simply not sustainable.
For interest's sake, I've copied my current Cudworth-Machell-Lewknor file account in its entirety. This greatly expands the account of this line which I published in my book, Royal Ancestry (5 volume set), in 2014.
Sincerely, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
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15. EDWARD LEWKNOR (or LEWKENOR, LEWKENOUR), Esq., of Kingston Bowsey (in Kingston by Sea) and Hamsey, Sussex, London, etc., Groom Porter to King Edward VI and Queen Mary I, Burgess (M.P.) for Horsham, Sussex, 1553, son and heir, born about 1518 (aged 11 in 1529). He was a legatee in the 1527 will of his father. He married after 8 May 1535 (date of his wife’s father’s will) and before 1542 DOROTHY WROTH, daughter of Robert Wroth, Esq., of Durants (in Enfield), Middlesex, by Jane, daughter of Thomas Haute, Knt. [see WROTH 14 for her ancestry]. They had four sons, Edward, Knt. (of Denham, Suffolk), Thomas, Gent., Stephen, and William, and six daughters, Jane (wife of William Larke, Esq. [will proved 1582], and John Pascall, Esq.), Mary, Elizabeth, Anne, Dorothy [died before 1590] (wife of Benjamin Pellatt, Knt.), and Lucrecie (or Lewcreys) (wife of William Jackson). In 1546 John Slewright, of Westham, Sussex sued Edward Lewkenour, Gent., of London in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt of £100. In 1550 he sold the manor of Ham, Sussex to Thomas Wolder for ₤80. In 1551 the king and Council recommended him for the packership of London, but the City refused on the ground that the yield of the office had been allocated to the poor. In 1553 he was granted the manor of King’s Barns (in Upper Beeding) and an estate called New Park (in Lower Beeding), Sussex by the king. In Feb. 1556 he and his cousin, William West, the disabled heir of the 9th Lord la Warre, were informed by Henry Peckham of the conspiracy being hatched by Henry Dudley, Knt., against Queen Mary I, and asked to procure a copy of the will of King Henry VIII as proof of the queen’s ineligibility to wear the crown. Lewknor sent the document to West’s house in St. Dunstan’s, Farringdon Without, where it was handed over to Peckham. Lewknor was also said to have had meetings with sympathizers both at his house in Sussex and in London, and more vaguely to have been privy to a plot to kill the Queen during a card game. On 6 June 1556 he was taken to the Tower of London and on 15 June following he was tried at Guildhall and sentenced to death for treason. EDWARD LEWKNOR, Esq., died a prisoner in the Tower of London 6 Sept. 1556. Following his attainder in 1556, the Crown granted the manors of Kingston Bowsey (in Kingston by Sea) and Hamsey, Sussex to his widow, Dorothy. Sometime after 1557 his widow, Dorothy, purchased the manor of Charlton, Sussex from Thomas Pellate. In 1559 a private act was passed in Parliament for the restitution in blood of the children of Edward Lewknor, Esq. The same year his widow, Dorothy, and his brother, Anthony Lewknor, appear to have broken the entail on the manor of Kingston Bowsey, Sussex. She was a legatee in the 1573 will of her brother, Thomas Wroth, Knt. In 1573 Dorothy, widow of Edward Lewkenor, Sir Thomas Wroth, and William Wroth, Citizen and mercer of London, granted the rectory of Margaretting, Essex, the advowson of the vicarage, and certain lands to William Larke for life, with remainder to Jane Lewknor (daughter of Edward and Dorothy) for life, and thence to William Larke’s heirs. In 1588 Dorothee Lewknor, of Kingston Bowsey, Sussex, subscribed to the loan raised by Queen Elizabeth at the time of the expected invasion by the Spanish Armada. Dorothy left a will dated 1 October 1587, proved 26 August 1589 (P.C.C. 68 Leicester).
References:
D’Ewes, Journals of All the Parliaments During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (1682): 25, 51. Strype, Eccl. Mems. 3(1) (1822): 494. Minutes of Evidence ... The Petition of Sarah Otway Cave (1836): 249 (“An act to restore in blood the Sons and Daughters of Edward Lewknor, Esquire. Anno Primo Elizabeth, No. 32 ... Edward Lewknor, Thomas Lewknor, Steven Lewknor, and William Lewknor, Jane Lewknor, Maria Lewknor, Elizabethe Lewknor, Anne Lewknor, Dorothie Lewknor, and Lucrecie Lewknor, Sonnes and Daughters to Edward Lewknor, late of Kyngeston Bowsey in the Countie of Sussex, Esquier....”). Gurney, Rec. of the House of Gournay 2 (1848): 469–470 (Lewknor ped.). Nichols, Diary of Henry Machyn (Camden Soc. 42) (1848): 108, 114. Sussex Arch. Colls. 3 (1850): 89–102. Lower, Worthies of Sussex (1865): 287–288 (biog. of Sir Edward Lewknor). Hervey Vis. of Suffolke 2 (1872): 261–271 (Lewkenor ped.: “Edward Lewkenor, of Kingston Bowsey, Sussex, attainted of high treason. = Dorothie, daur. of Sir Robt. Wrathe, of Dureaunce in Enfield, co. Midd’x, Knt.”). Clark & Finnelly, Rpt. of Cases heard & decided in the House of Lords 1838 & 1839 6 (1873): 567–568, 606. Campkin, Sussex Arch. Colls. General Index to Vols. 1 to 25 (1874): 230. Elwes, Hist. of the Castles, Mansions & Manors of Western Sussex (1876): 130–131. Hawley et al., Vis. of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612 & 1634 1 (H.S.P. 13) (1878): 260–262 (1612 Vis. Essex) (Pascall ped.). Benolte, Vis. of Somerset 1531, 1573 & 1591 (1885): 91–93 (Wrothe ped.: “Dorothy [Wrothe] = Sir Edw. Lewknor.”). Waller Loughton in Essex Pt. 2 (1889–1900): 19–21 (will of Sir Thomas Wroth). East Anglian n.s. 4 (1891–92): 230. Sussex Arch. Colls. 38 (1892): 111, 116–118. English Rpts.: House of Lords 7 (1901): 895–924 (Camoys Peerage). Denham Parish Regs.: 1539–1850 (1904): 86–93, 198–219. Benolte et al., Vis. of Sussex 1530 & 1633–4 (H.S.P. 53) (1905): 25–30 (Lewknor ped.: “Edward Lewknor of Kingston Bewsey. = Dorathey d. of Sr Rob. Wroth of Enffeild knight.”). Comber, Sussex Gens. 3 (1933): 148–162. Davis, Anc. of Mary Isaac (1955): 177–178. Sussex Notes & Queries 16 (1964): 114–121. VCH Sussex 6(1) (1980): 132–138; 6(3) (1987): 34–37; 7 (1940): 83–87. Bindoff, House of Commons 1509–1558 2 (1982): 528–529 (biog. of Edward Lewknor). Wilkinson, Cal. of Patent Rolls 25 Elizabeth I (1582–1583) (List & Index Soc. 286) (2001): 109–110. Court of Common Pleas, CP40/1127, image 2327d (available at http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H8/CP40no1127/bCP40no1127dorses/IMG_2327.htm). East Sussex Rec. Office: Archive of Drake & Lee of Lewes, solicitor, SAS-D/105 (available at http://discovery. nationalarchives. gov. uk). Parliamentary Archives: House of Lords, HL/PO/PB/1/1558/E1n32 (available at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk). West Sussex Rec. Office: Holmes, Campbell & Co MSS, Holmes, Campbell & Co/983, 984, 985, and 1087 (available at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk).
16. MARY LEWKNOR, married by license dated 1 July 1568 MATTHEW MACHELL (or MAUCHELL), Esq., of St. Michael Queenhithe, London, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and Shacklewell (in Hackney) and Tottenham, Middlesex, Citizen and haberdasher of London, younger son of John Machell, Citizen and haberdasher of London, Sheriff of London, 1555–6, Alderman of London, 1556–8, by Jane (or Joan), daughter of Henry Luddington, Gent. He was born after 1545. They had one son, John, Gent. (born c.1581 [minor in 1598, of age in 1602]), and five daughters, Dorothy, Jane (wife of Henry Walsh), Elizabeth (wife of John Cave), Ann (wife of _____ Gibbs), and Mary. Sometime the period, 1558–1603, Matthew Machell, Esq. sued James Walton in Chancery to recover rights as lord of the manor; a tenement holden of the manor of Guilden Sutton, Cheshire late the estate of John Machell, plaintiff Matthew Machell’s father, and which on his death descended to plaintiff Matthew Machell. In the period, 1558–1603, Matthew Machell, Esq., sued [John] Machell, Esq., and Elizabeth Bowyer, widow, in Chancery regarding a claim under a will; a messuage at Hackney and land there, holden of the manor of Hackney, Middlesex; also the manor of Guilden Sutton, Cheshire and lands in Sandbach Goserye and Holme, Cheshire, with the tenths of grain, in the parish of Sandbach Goserye, late the estate of John Machell, the plaintiff’s father. In 1570 Queen Elizabeth I sued Matthew Machell regarding money lent by the said Matthew to Thomas Lord Wentworth for the supposed sale of sugar to Lord Wentworth agreed upon by the defendant and Robert Savadge to escape the penalties of the statute of usury. In 1572 Ralph Woodcock sued him in Chancery to protect the plaintiff's title by lease; a messuage and lands in Guilden Sutton, Cheshire, demised by John Machell deceased, father of the defendant, to the plaintiff and others for their life. Their daughter, Dorothy Machell, was a legatee in the 1587 will of her grandmother, Dorothy (Wroth) Lewknor. In the period, 1587–91, John Machell (son of John Machell, citizen and Alderman of London and Jone Machell his wife) sued Matthew Machell regarding the manors of Guilden Sutton, Cheshire, and Burneside [Burnside],Westmorland; and property in London; Tottenham, Middlesex; Hatfield, Hertfordshire; Hinton Admiral, Hampshire; Sandbach, Holmes Chapel and Goostrey, Cheshire; and Dorset. In the period, 1587–92, Henry Masham had a dispute with Matthew Machell, John Machell, and Elizabeth Bowyer. MATTHEW MACHELL, Esq., died 23 August 1593. On 1 Feb. 1598 Francis Harvy was granted the wardship and marriage of John Machell, son and heir of Matthew Machell; with an annuity of 10 from 23 August 1593 when Matthew died, to be assigned from lands in Tottenham, Middlesex, in the parish of St. Michael in Quenehithe within the City of London, and in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. On 3 June 1602 license was granted for John Machell, son and heir of Matthew Machell, to enter his lands, he receiving issues from the time he had attained age 21.
References:
D’Ewes, Journals of All the Parliaments During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (1682): 25, 51. Cals. of the Procs. in Chancery in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth 2 (1830): 247. Sussex Arch. Colls. 3 (1850): 89–102. Burke, Gen. & Heraldic Hist. of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland 2 (1871): 851 (sub Machell) (“John (Sir), who m. Jane Luddington, and by her (who m. 2ndly, Sir Thomas Chamberlain) he had, with other issue, three sons, viz., 1 John, of Hatfield, master of the horse to Queen Elizabeth; 2 Thomas, of Tunstead; and 3 Matthew, of Hatfield, who m. twice, 1st, Miss Cotton, and 2ndly, Mary, dau. of Edward Leukner, Esq. This last named Matthew Machell, of Hatfield, had, by Miss Cotton, his wife, an only son, John Machell, of Tangley ...”). Hervey, Vis. of Suffolke 2 (1872): 261–271 (Lewkenor ped.: “Mary [Lewkenor], mar. to Mathew Machell, of Hackney, in com. Midd’x.”). Hawley et al., Vis. of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612 & 1634 1 (H.S.P. 13) (1878): 441–442 (1634 Vis. Essex) (Machell ped.: “Mathew Machell. = Mary d. of Edward Lewknor of Sussex.”) (Machell arms: Sable, three greyhounds courant in pale argent, collared or, a bordure of the second). Bellasis, Machells of Crackenthorpe (1886): Machell of Kendal ped. at end (author states Matthew Machell married “..... dau. of Sir Wm. Cotton. 1st wife. Some make her the mother of the issue below.” There is no evidence for this marriage. The author further states, however, that Matthew Machell married “Mary dau. of Edward Leukner, of Kingston Bewsey, Sussex, and relict of John Caryll (S.P. according to some authorities), or the mother of the children below, i.e., Coll. Arms, C. 21, C. 26, &c.”). Chester, Allegations for Marr. Lics.: London 1 (H.S.P. 25) (1887): 39 (Marriage license dated July 1 [1568]. Matthew Machell, of City of London, Gent., & Mary Lewckenare, of Broxborne, Spinster; General Licence.). Sharpe, Cal. Wills proved & enrolled in the Court of Husting, London 2 (1890): 655–668 (will of Sir William Laxton, step-father of Joan Luddington). Fry, Abs. of IPMs Rel. London 1 (Index Lib. 15) (1896): 173–174 (inquisition of John Machell). Denham Parish Regs., 1539–1850 (1904): 37 (Date: 22 Oct. 1608. Marriage of John Cave & Elizabeth Machell), 200–204 (author assigns Mary, wife of Matthew Machell, as the daughter of Edward Lewknor and his wife, Dorothy Wroth), 213–215 (Funeral certificate of Sir Edward Lewknor of Denham, Suffolk dated 1605 indicates the standard was borne at his funeral by “Mr. John Machell”; the author supposes John Machell was the son of the deceased’s sister). Benolte et al., Vis. of Sussex 1530 & 1633–4 (H.S.P. 53) (1905): 25–30 (Lewknor ped.: “Mary [Lewknor] ux. Mathew Machell of Hackney.”). Beaven, Aldermen of the City of London (1908): 18, 207. Index of Chancery Procs. (Ser. II) 2 (PRO Lists and Indexes 24) (1908): 68. Philipot et al., Vis. of Buckingham 1634 & 1566 (H.S.P. 58) (1909): 88 (Matchell ped.: “Mathew Matchell of Hatfield in Hartfordshire 2d son. = Mary da: of Edward Lewknor of Okeington Bewsey Com. Sussex.”). Mundy, Middlesex Peds. (H.S.P. 65) (1914): 7 (Machell ped.: “Mathew Machell hath yssue as in Buckinghamshire.”). Walker Yorkshire Peds. 2 (H.S.P. 95) (1943): 279–280 (Luddington ped.: “Matthew [Machell] = … dau. of …. Cotton”) (modern ped.). Boyd, Peds. with index of London Citizens (1954): #9845 [John Machell] & #9846 [Matthew Machell] [found on FHL Microfilm 94550]. Sussex Notes & Queries 16 (1964): 114–121. VCH Middlesex 10 (1995): 51–59. Belcher et al., Sutton House: A Tudor Courtier’s House in Hackney (2004). C.P.R. Elizabeth I (1597–1598) (2009): 30. Hackney Archives: Tyssen Transcript, Copy & Extracted Hackney Recs., D/F/TYS/43/1 (available at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk). Neal & Leighton, Cal. of Patent Rolls 44 Elizabeth I (1601–1602) Pt. 1 (Calendar) (List & Index Soc. 349) (2013): 184. National Archives, C 2/Eliz/M2/38; C 2/Eliz/M6/54; C 2/Eliz/M14/61; C 2/Eliz/W1/54; C 2/Eliz/W14/31; C 3/227/10; C 4/152/6; E 133/1/94; E 133/10/1588 (available at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk).
17. MARY MACHELL, nurse to Prince Henry, eldest son of King James I of England. She married (1st) at St. Mary, Newington, Surrey 18 June 1611 [REV.] RALPH CUDWORTH, D.D., Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. They had three sons, [Major] James, Gent., Ralph, D.D. [Fellow of Emmanuel College, Master of Clare College, Master of Christ’s College], and John, and three daughters, Elizabeth (wife of [Rev.] Josias Beacham/Beachamp), Mary, and Jane. He was born in 1572. He matriculated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Lent, 1588–9, where he obtained the following degrees: B.A., 1592–3, M.A., 1596, B.D., 1603, and D. D., 1619. He served as Curate of Westley Waterless, Cambridgeshire c.1600, and was also a minister of St. Andrew’s, Cambridge. He was instituted Vicar of Coggeshall, Essex in 1604. He was appointed Rector of Aller, Somerset in 1609. He was appointed Rector of Aller, Somerset in 1609. [REV.] RALPH CUDWORTH, D.D. was buried at Aller, Somerset 30 Aug. 1624. He left a will dated 17 Aug. 1624, proved 29 October 1624 (P.C.C. 116 Byrde). His widow, Mary, married (2nd) [REV.] JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D., Fellow of Emmanuel College, younger son of [Rev.] Thomas Stoughton, of Naughton, Suffolk and Coggeshall, Essex, by his 1st wife, Katherine. He was baptized at Naughton, Suffolk 23 Jan. 1592/3. He was admitted sizar of Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1607, where he obtained the following degrees: B.A., 1610–11, M.A., 1614, B.D., 1621, and D.D., 1626. He was appointed Rector of Aller, Somerset 24 Aug. 1624. In 1632 he was appointed curate of St. Mary, Aldermanbury, London. His wife, Mary, was living in December 1634. He married (2nd) at Frampton, Dorset in 1637 JANE BROWNE, widow of [Rev.] Walter Newburgh (will proved 7 Nov. 1632), of Symondsbury, Dorset, and daughter of John Browne, Esq., of Frampton, Dorset. They had two daughters, Jane and Mary. He was prosecuted in the high commission at the instigation of Archbishop Laud. [REV. DR.] JOHN STOUGHTON died 4 May 1639, and was buried 9 May 1639. He left a will dated 4 May 1639, proved 20 May 1639 (P.C.C. 69 Harvey).
References:
Brook, Lives of the Puritans 3 (1813): 527 (“Dr. John Stoughton, D.D. was fellow of Emmanuel college, Cambridge … He is classed among the learned writers and fellows of that college, and is denominated a pious and learned divine.”). Chalmers, Gen’l Biog. Dict. 11 (1813): 104–111 (biog. of Ralph Cudworth [the younger]: “[He] was son of Dr. Ralph Cudworth, and born 1617, at Aller, Somerset, of which place his father was rector. His mother was of the family of Machell, and had been nurse to prince Henry, eldest son of James I. His father dying when he was only seven years of age, and his mother marrying again, his education was superintended by his father-in-law, Dr Stoughton”). Hutchins, Hist. & Antiqs. of Dorset (1815). Chauncy, Hist. Antiqs. of Hertfordshire 1 (1826): 77–78. Coll. Top. et Gen. 1 (1834): 172–173 (re. Beacham fam.). Green, Diary of John Rous (Camden Soc. 66) (1856): 79–80 (sub 1635: “In Oct., Doctor Stoughton, of Aldermanbury, in London, who married Cudworth’s widow, of Emm[anuel] and had the same living given by the colledge in the West country, from when a carrier bringing some monyes for his wives children’s portions, he was traduced (as it seemeth) to be a favourer of New England, and a collector of contributions for those ministers there, &c.”). Notes & Queries 2nd Ser. 7 (1859): 230. NEHGR 14 (1860): 101–104 (letter of James Cudworth dated 1634 addressed to his “very Louinge & Kinde ffather Dr. Stoughton at his howse in Aldermanbury”); 21 (1867): 249–250; 30 (1876): 464; 40 (1886): 306–307 (will of John Stoughton, D.D.); 53 (1899): 433 (will of John Cudworth, Esq.); 64 (1910): 85–86. Bellasis, Machells of Crackenthorpe (1886): Machell of Kendal ped. at end (author assigns Mary Machell, wife of Rev. Ralph Cudworth, as the daughter of Matthew Machell, of Hackney and Hatfield, and of London, and his wife, Mary Leukner). Weaver, Somerset Incumbents (1889): 4. Notes & Queries for Somerset & Dorset 7 (1901): 143–144. D.N.B. 5 (1908): 271–272 (biog. of Ralph Cudworth). Bartlett, Newberry Genealogy (1914): 24–26. Holman, Scott Gen. (1919): 259–262. Burghill et al., Vis. of Rutland 1681–2 (H.S.P. 73) (1922): 19 (Beacham ped.). Venn & Venn, Alumni Cantabrigiensis to 1751 1 (1922): 431 (sub Ralph Cudworth); 4(1) (1927): 171 (sub John Stoughton). Calder & Cudworth, Recs. of the Cudworth Fam. (1974). Emerson, Letters from New England (1976): 138–139, 142–143. Spear, Search for the Passengers of the Mary & John 1630 18 (1992): 39–43; 26 (1997): 101–104 (sub Stoughton). Boaz, Specific Ancestral Lines of the Boaz, Paul, Welty & Fishel Fams. (2014): 480. London Metropolitan Archives online in Ancestry.com, Southwark St Mary Newington 1561-1611, image 55 on r.h. (recto) page (Parish Recs. of St. Mary, Newington, Surrey, England sub June 1611:”Rodolphe Cudworthe minist[e]r, maried to Mrs. Marie Machell ye xviiith day by lisence.”). Parish Regs. of Aller, Somerset [FHL Microfilm 1517680]. Registered will of John Machell, Gent., of Wonersh, Surrey dated 17 Oct. 1646, codicil dated 14 Jan. 1646/7, proved 16 July 1647, P.C.C. 163 Fines [FHL Microfilm 92165] — brother of Mary Machell, wife of Ralph Cudworth; testator bequeaths his cousin/kinswoman [i.e., niece], Jane Cudworth, £125 at her marriage.
18. [MAJOR] JAMES CUDWORTH, Gent., salter, Deputy Governor Plymouth Colony, 1640, 1642; Assistant, 1656–7, 1674–80, Plymouth commissioner to New England Confederation, 1655, 1657, 1678, 1681, Deputy to Plymouth General Court for Barnstable, 1640, 1642, and for Scituate, 1649–56, 1652, son and heir, baptized at Aller, Somerset 2 Aug. 1612. He married at Northam, Devon 1 Feb. 1633/4 MARY PARKER. They had five sons, James, Jonathan [1st of name], Israel, unnamed, and Jonathan [2nd of name], and two daughters, Mary (wife of Robert Whitcomb) and Joanna (wife of _____ Jones). He and his wife, Mary, immigrated to New England in 1634, where they initially settled at Scituate, Massachusetts. He was admitted freeman of Plymouth Colony 1 Jan. 1634/5. He and his wife, Mary, joined the Scituate, Massachusetts church 18 Jan. 1634/5. In 1639 he and his family removed to Barnstable, Massachusetts, but in 1646, they returned to Scituate, Massachusetts. He was sent by Scituate as a Deputy to the Plymouth General Court in 1659, but was not approved by the Court. In 1660 he was disenfranchised of his freedom of the Plymouth Colony, being found a “manifest opposer of the laws of the government” owing to his support of the Quakers. He was readmitted to freemanship 4 July 1673, and on the same day was made magistrate for Scituate. In 1673 he was authorized to solemnize marriages, grant subpoenas for witnesses, and to administer oaths to witnesses. In Dec. 1673 he was chosen to lead a military expedition against the Dutch. In 1675 he was chosen to take charge of the Plymouth Colony military forces. His wife, Mary, was living 17 Dec. 1673. [MAJOR] JAMES CUDWORTH left a will dated 15 Sept. 1681, proved 7 July 1682.
References:
Deane, Hist. of Scituate, Massachusetts (1831): 245–249. NEHGR 14 (1860): 101–104 (letter of James Cudworth dated 1634 names his cousin, [Zachariah] Symmes, of Charlestown, Massachusetts). Pope, Pioneers of Massachusetts (1900): 125 (biog. of James Cudworth). Holman, Scott Gen. (1919): 259–262. Pratt, Early Planters of Scituate (1929): 210–235. Calder & Cudworth, Recs. of the Cudworth Fam. (1974). Spear, Search for the Passengers of the Mary & John 1630 18 (1992): 39–43. Anderson, Great Migration 2 (2001): 249–258 (biog. of James Cudworth). Parish Regs. of Aller, Somerset [FHL Microfilm 1517680].