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Dear Anne,
Cousin George Southworth, a 20th century pioneer in radio and radar, observed “Back in June, 1926, your author set out from New York on the S.S. Republic on what was to be a very interesting voyage. Its main purpose was to unravel some of the mysteries of radio transmission. Engaging as this may have been, there was awaiting him on the other side an even greater interest.” This greater interest was Southworth Family History which he published in 1943. His narrative of his visit to Plymouth, Preston, and Salmesbury Hall takes up about 30 pages in his book sub-titled A History of the Southworths of Northwestern Pennsylvania. He seems to have relied significantly on James Croston and Webber.
The period of the family decline in five paragraphs:
Sir Thomas's son and heir was Sir John who married July 23, 1547, Mary (Ashton) Gouland. He was high sheriff in 1562 and member of Parliament in 1566. He supported three hundred men against the Scots in the reign of Mary and otherwise rendered conspicuous service to his country. This was perhaps the second crisis in the history of the English Southworths for shortly thereafter a decline began which in less than a century led to the complete loss to the family of their huge estates.
Sir John Southworth like his ancestors was a devout Catholic. This as we shall shortly see was his undoing. Hew forces had entered into the government to which north England was slow to accede. When Elizabeth became queen in 1558 and a threat from Spain appeared imminent, anti-Catholic measures were put into effect. Sir John, while loyal to his government, violently opposed the Reformed faith. It became a crime to harbor priests and attending mass or engaging in any of their ceremonies was punishable by fine. It appears that Sir John committed all of these offenses and in 1581 was arrested and taken to Manchester for imprisonment. Later he was taken to London where his son was present to intercede for him. Although he had rendered notable service to his country and had both wealth and friends of influence, he continued to be persecuted. There is evidence that he was released on occasion but in defiance of the queen he repeated his offence only to be fined and returned to prison.
Continued litigation together with high taxes imposed by Elizabeth to pay for her adventures with Spain brought about a rapid decline of the family fortunes. A quotation from Sir John's will made September 17, 1595 reveals an inspiring bit of character. "And whereas allso I am indebted in diverse greate summes of money and doe meane that the same should bee trulie paid to the uttermost penye etc." He died November 3, 1595. Mentioned in the will are no less than eleven grandchildren, all sons and daughters of his eldest son Thomas who had passed on some time previously. Two of the grandsons were Thomas and Edward. The latter is believed to have been the father of the first two Southworths to come to America. However, this fact has not yet been established beyond doubt. In accordance with the custom of the time, the principal part of the estate passed to the oldest grandson whose name was also John. The younger sons were to have received an annuity of six or seven pounds but considering the financial state of the family, it seems doubtful that this was paid.
From grandson John, the greatly attenuated estate next passed to great-grandson John. At this point some nephews and nieces attempted to break Sir John's will and involved the great-grandson in expensive litigation. Mortgages on the estates were followed by still more mortgages. Meanwhile the property passed to Edward Southworth who seemed to have done little better than his ancestors. In April, 1676 for the sum of 576 pounds, Edward deeded to the mortgagee, Richard Walmesley, all that remained of the estates that had been held by the Southworths for no less than three and a half centuries.
Two years later the property was conveyed by the mortgagee to Thomas Braddyll, Esquire.
Concerning the Puritan Leyden connections, George wrote:
We can now be very certain that the first Southworths to come to America were brothers Constant and Thomas who arrived a decade after the Mayflower to become stepsons of Governor William Bradford. Their father was Edward Southworth who together with his brother Thomas had affiliated themselves with the Puritan Movement and had migrated from England to Holland sometime prior to November 4, 1611. There is no positive information concerning their ancestry but there is little doubt that they came from a long line of Lancashire's landed gentry. Further details are reserved for Chapter IX.
The first authentic record of Edward Southworth makes him a witness in Leyden, Holland on November 4, 1611 at the marriage of Isaac Allerton to May Norris. On April 30, 1613 he was again a witness in Leyden, this time at the marriage of Samuel Fuller to Agnes Carpenter. Another witness at the same wedding was Agnes's sister Alice. Four days later we find Edward applying for the necessary license to marry sister Alice. The wedding took place May 28, 1613. A copy of the record at Leyden follows.
This record shows that Edward was a silkworker and that he hailed from England. Unfortunately there is no mention of the Village or the County. Two years later, 1615, there was born to Edward and Alice in Leyden the son Constant who later came to America. Another year later, 1616, still in Leyden, they had Thomas.
Edward Southworth who had returned from Holland to England, possibly because of illness, died in 1620-21. It is known that Widow Southworth left her two sons Constant and Thomas in England and sailed to Massachusetts on the ship Anne in 1623. A few weeks later she married Governor Bradford. It is probable that the two sons were left in England in the care of Alice's sister Julia for it is known that she and her husband George Morton arrived in Massachusetts with the two boys in 1628.
Constant and Thomas Southworth were thirteen and twelve years of age respectively when they entered the household of Governor Bradford.
I hope you found the above ruminations interesting. If there are dates for the eleven children of Sir Thomas and Rosamond Lister, which to seem to include the Puritan brothers, I would like to know where to find them.
Regards, Russ
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