By Lester Warren Fish
EARLY FISH FAMILIES IN ENGLAND 7
about the time of the death of his father, died intestate five
years later, and when his estate was administered he was called
"of the Parish of Carlton" in Northamptonshire.
Francis, the fifth son, seems to have left no male heirs. Three
daughters were baptized in Great Bowden. He was afterwards
of the Parish of Gumley in Leicestershire, where no further
search has been made.
John, the youngest son, seems to have been a favorite of both
parents. He was executor of his mother's will. He went to
Wroxhall in Warwickshire, where he located, becoming a near
neighbor of his brother Thomas2, father of the three emigrant
brothers, at Wedgnock Park. John Fyshe of Wroxhall in 1640
had money transactions with Thomas Dexter, an early settler
in Lynn and Sandwich, Mass., which was settled in 1637. He
had also loaned money to Rev. Ephraim Huit of the Wroxhall
Church, who through persecution by the Bishop of Worchester
for non-conformity, was driven from his church and from Eng-
land and migrated to Hartford, Conn., where he died in 1644.
The money for the payment of the debt to John Fysh of Wrox-
hall, 60 pounds, seems to have been turned over by the Huit Estate,
and held by the Colonial Treasurer as late as 1686. As this
money had not reached its proper destination, the Huit heirs
claimed that it should be returned to them, but the General
Court of Connecticut formally refused "because this court are
informed that there is a nephew of Fish that doth demand it."
A question of some interest is the identity of this nephew, who
might have been William3 of Windsor or John3 of Stonington,
Conn. No record of his marriage or death, or of offspring, was
found.
2 AUGUSTINE2 (AUSTIN) FISH (John1) church warder, eldest
son of (1) John and Margaret (Cardock?) Fyshe, was bapt. June
11, 1578. (From 1577 to 1580 Sir Francis Drake was circum-
navigating the globe and plundering Spanish ships on his voyage.)
Austin continued to live in Great Bowden as indeed did all the
male line of his descendants for many generations. In 1620 he
was a church warder. He m. Christian _______. (There is no record
at Great Bowden of their marriage but their children were
baptized there.) He d. Apr. 29, 1646. In his will he mentions
his son William, to whom he gave 5 pounds if he should return to his
home land. William was in Windsor, Conn. in 1642.
Children:
15 Anne3, bapt. Jan 27, 1602.
+ 16 John, bapt. Feb. 6, 1604/05; d.Aug 15, 1663; m. Hannah ______.
8 THE FISH FAMILY
+ 17 Thomas, bapt. Aug. 15,1607; d.Mar. 9, 1665/66; m. Millicent ______.
18 Margaret, bapt. Sept. 10, 1609.
19 Jarvis, bapt. Oct 13,1611
20 Dorothy, bapt. Feb.11, 1613/14.
+ 21 William, bapt. Sept. 15, 1616.
22 Bartholomew, bapt. July 6, 1618. Nothing more known of him.
23 Katherine, bapt. Apr. 22, 1621.
24 Christian, bapt. Feb 24, 1622/23.
25 Elizabeth, bapt. Oct 27, 1625.
The daughters were married and scattered, as is indicated in
the wills of their father and mother.
16 JOHN3 FISH (Augustine2, John1), yeoman, eldest son of (2)
Augustine and Christian Fish, was bapt. at Great Bowden Feb.
6, 1604/05 (one year after James VI of Scotland became James I
of England, thus uniting the crowns of England and Scotland.)
He m. Hannah _____, to whom three sons and five daughters
were born. They remained in Great Bowden, where he d. Aug.
15, 1663, at the age of 58 (one year before New York passed from
Dutch to English control).
Children:
26 Samuel, bapt. May 12,1639; d.May 13, 1640.
27 Hannah, bapt. July 11, 1641.
28 Margaret, bapt. Sept. 25, 1642
+ 29 John, bapt. Feb 4, 1643/44.
30 Mary, bapt. Dec 10, 1646.
31 Samuel, bapt. Apr. 4, 1655
32 Susanna, bapt. July 12, 1658.
29 JOHN4 FISH (John3, Augustine2, John1), son of (16) John
and Hannah Fish, was bapt. in Great Bowden Feb 4, 1643/44,
the year our ancestor Thomas3, settled in New England. He was
the senior of the family in direct male line of descent, in which
the names of John and Augustine were so frequently alternated.
In 1667 (two years after the Great Plague in London and one
year after the Great Fire of London which lasted one week and
burned over an area of 450 acres), he was made a Church Warder
of Great Bowden Parish and his children were all baptized there.
(The first fire insurance company was organized in 1667)
Children:
34 Elizabeth5, bapt. Oct. 29, 1668.
35 Mary, bapt. Aug 25, 1670
+ 36 Augustine, bapt. Mar 21, 1671/72.
37 Hannah, bapt. Feb 4, 1673/74.
38 William, bapt. Jan 10, 1675/76.
EARLY FISH FAMILIES IN ENGLAND 9
36 AUGUSTINE5 FISH (John4,John3, Augustine2, John1), oldest
son of (29) John, was bapt. Mar 21, 1671/72. He was apprenticed
in his youth to learn the tanner's trade, then an important in-
dustry in that part of England. He was the head of the Great
Bowden branch of his family. It was he who erected on the
Chancel Wall of the Great Bowden Church, the monument to
his wife, which still remains in good preservation.
TO THE MEMORY OF HENRIETTA, WIFE OF AUGUSTINE FISH, GENT.
DAUGHTER OF SIR EDWARD FARMER OF KENSINGTON
IN THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, KNIGHT
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 13TH DAY OF DEC. IN THE
29TH YEAR OF HER LIFE A.D. 1703, AND LEFT ISSUE
CONSTANTIA, MARY, HENRIETTA, JOHN AND SUSSANA
17 THOMAS3 FISH (Augustine2, John1), son of (2) Augustine and
Christian Fish, sometimes called "Thomas the Elder," by his
will left to his three daughters, Dorcas, Deborah, and Christian,
the land which he received by will of his father Augustine, called
"Waters, his Close."
21 WILLIAM3 FISH (Augustine2, John1), son of (2) Augustine and
Christian Fish, was bapt. in Great Bowden Sept. 15,1616,
and his nameis referred to in his father's will as being of New
England. His name is found at Windsor, Conn., in 1642 at the
age of 26. He is again mentioned in 1662 and became a freeman
in 1669. No descendants have been found.
3 WILLIAM2 FISH (John1), church warder, son of (1) John and
Margaret (Cradock?) Fyshe, was bapt. Mar. 9, 1580/81 (three
years before Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition to Virginia). He re-
mained in Great Bowden where he apparently was twice married,
the second time to Anne Parsons in 1620. At this time (while the
Pilgrims were setting sail for America,/i>), he and his older brother
Augustine wer Church Warders. He d. Sept. 13, 1658.
Children (all bapt. at Great Bowden):
39 Edmond3, bapt. Aug. 15, 1606.
40 Bridget, bapt. Dec 17, 1608; m. Miles Smith, 1627.
41 Anne, bapt. Sept 16, 1612; m. Richard Bronson, 1642.
42 Katherine, bapt. Apr 2, 1615.
43 Margaret, bapt. Dec 21, 1617; d. Jan 8, 1642/43.
44 Susanna, bapt. Oct 14, 1621.
+ 45 Thomas, bapt. Sept. 7, 1623; d.Oct 7, 1665; m. Mary ______.
46 Hester, bapt. Mar 23, 1625/26.
47 John, bapt. July 1, 1631.
48 Daniel, bapt. Feb 10, 1632/33.
10 THE FISH FAMILY
49 Hanna, bapt. Aug 7,1636; m. George Beckett, 1654.
50 Joseph
45 THOMAS3 FISH (William2, John1), son of (3) William and
Anne (Parsons) Fish, was bapt. Sept. 7, 1623. He m. Mary _________,
who d. in 1671. It is thought that he was killed in the "Granett
Pitts" as he was buried on Oct. 7, 1665, the same day as one
Thomas Robinson who was killed in there. He was 42 years old
at the time.
Children:
51 Abraham4, bapt. July 13, 1651; d. Mar. 23, 1651/52
52 May, bapt. Sept. 19, 1652.
53 Anne, bapt. Apr. 18, 1655.
54 Elizabeth, bapt. Aug. 3, 1657.
55 Thomasine, bapt. Jan 16, 1659/60.
56 Susan, b. Apr. 11, 1662.
57 William, b. Aug 28, 1664.
THE THOMAS2 LINE
5 THOMAS2 FYSHE (John1), son of (1) John and Margaret
(Cradock?) Fysh, was bapt. May 8, 1584; d. at Warwick Jan.
12, 1673/74; m. at Leicester in 1609 (the year Henry Hudson
entered the Hudson River) Mary Sprigge, dau. of William Sprigge
of Lubenham, Leicestershire, where she was b. Jan 24, 1585 (two
years before the birth of Virginia Dare, the first white child born
in America). He was the father of the three brothers, Jonathan,
John, and Nathaniel, that were early settlers of Sandwich, Mass.,
on Cape Cod.
Thomas seems to have lived for a time at Lubenham, then in
East Farndon, and finally in Great Bowden, the three towns
all lying within a small circle. Just when he moved to Wedge-
nock Park in Warwickshire, where he was a tenant of the Earl
of Warwick, is not known, but he apparently had a business
enterprise in the city of Warwick, and in 1643, he was living in
Good Rest House, a historic home within the limits of the Park.
(When Richard Whitehead "of Windsor upon the Connecticut
River in New England," returned to his native land for a visit,
he became a guest of T. Fysh of Good Rest House, was taken ill
and died there, and his will, dated Apr. 26, 1645, was witnessed
by two of Thomas' children, Cradock and Hester Fishe.)
Children:
58 Cradock3, bapt. Aug 9, 1612 at Lubenham; m. Elizabeth _______.
59 Ambrose, bapt. Oct 18, 1613 at East Farndon.
+ 60 Jonathan, b.1610, bapt. Feb 16, 1615/16 at East Farndon; d. 1663;
m. Mary _______.
EARLY FISH FAMILIES IN ENGLAND 11
+ 61 John, b.1616(?); bapt. June 20, 1619 at East Fardon; d. 1663;
m. Cecelia ________.
+ 62 Nathaniel, b.1618 (?); bapt. June 20, 1619 at East Farndon; d.
1693; m.(1) ______; m.(2) Lydia Miller.
63 Esther, bapt. Dec. 12, 1622 at Great Bowden.
64 Hannah, bapt. Oct 5, 1625 at Great Bowden.
Jonathan3 Fish was the immigrant Puritan ancestor of a line
of statesmen, leading down to Congressman Hamilton11 Fish
of New York. At an early age he decided to try his fortune in
the new colony of New England, and with his younger brothers,
John and Nathaniel, he landed at Lynn, Mass., in 1635, at the
age of 25. (See p. 320).
John3 who was probably 19 at the time, cleared a farm at
Sandwich, where he remained until his death in 1663, age about 47. (See p. 347).
Nathaniel, then about 17, also remained at Sandwich as a
farmer. His estate was inventoried in Plymouth Probate Court
Oct. 4, 1694. (See p. 347).
ALICE2 (FISH) FISH LINE
12 ALICE2 FISHE (John1), dau of (1) John and Margaret (Crad-
ock?) Fishe of Great Bowden, was bapt. Nov 6, 1597; m. Feb. 24,
1617/18, Robert Fish, sometimes styled "mercer" (silk mer-
chant), of Market Harborough in the parish of Great Bowden,
who was bapt. Aug. 12, 1593. He was son of (65) Thomas1 Fishe
who probably also was a descendant of Edward Fishe of Har-
borough, and perhaps was a brother or a cousin of John1 of
Great Bowden. These relationships are suggested by the fact
that the name "Austin" was given to one of Thomas' sons, a
name so often used in the family in its other form, Augustine.
The registers of Market Harborough give the records of two
generations of this branch of the family in England, though no
record of the marriage has been found, and Robert's family
seems to have disappeared from the records of that neighborhood.
CHILDREN OF (65 THOMAS1 FISH
Children:
66 Thomas2, bapt. Mar. 10, 1585.
67 Austin, bapt. Apr. 22, 1590; d. May 22, 1590.
+ 68 Robert, bapt. Aug. 12, 1593; Dec 20, 1639; m. (12) Alice2 Fish.
69 William, bapt. Nov 16, 1595; d. Nov 16, 1595.
70 William, bapt. Mar 27, 1597.
71 Jeffrey, bapt. Oct 28, 1599.