American Ancestors recommended additional research which Charlie Morgan (US8890) also commissioned. One recommendation was that THFFI encourage its male members with the Hungerford surname to take the Big Y DNA test offered by Ancestry.com. Several of them did take the test the results of which are reviewed briefly in this Report. This document is a copy of that Report which was completed on 5 Nov 2021.
The Report commences by stating the following (footnotes omitted):
"During your assessment round, we identified Anne Leigh, wife of John Leigh of Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts, as a likely sister of Thomas Hungerford. Because Thomas and Anne Hungerford were possibly born in Wiltshire County, England, we researched other individuals with Wiltshire origins who came to Ipswich." That research found Philip Fowler, Christopher Osgood, the Rev. James Noyes, Nicholas Noyes, John Cogswell, Samuel Haines, John Pithouse (Pettice), and John Pike all of whom are then discussed briefly.
The Report then lists other individuals from Wiltshire who were members of the Great Migration: Roger Ludlow, George Ludlow, and Thomas Mayhew. The Report states in reference to those people, in part, as follows:
"Colonial Massachusetts records show Thomas Hungerford’s brother-in-law John Leigh interacting with a few of these Wiltshire men. *** It may be significant that brothers Roger and George Ludlow of Wiltshire County settled in Windsor, Connecticut, and York County, Virginia, respectively, as Thomas Hungerford was in Hartford by 1639 and William Hungerford in Virginia by about 1647."
The Report continues:
"As is clear from our review of Great Migration sources, several Wiltshire men traveled to the colonies aboard the Mary & John within the span of a few years: brothers Roger and George Ludlow in 1630, as well as Philip Fowler, Christopher Osgood, and the Noyes brothers in 1633. It is tempting to surmise that Thomas Hungerford was among the Mary & John passengers emigrating from England’s west country on one of these voyages. However, we do not find evidence of Thomas Hungerford or any other Hungerford aboard the Mary & John. Similarly, Thomas Hungerford may have been among the pioneers leaving Massachusetts in 1635 and 1636 for the Connecticut River settlements, though he possibly did not arrive until after the Pequot War of 1637—he first appeared on the Hartford land inventory in 1639."
The Report observes that "between about 1646 and 1652, George [Ludlow] transported numerous individuals to Virginia." It then reviews George's land holdings in Virginia.
Having researched the Wiltshire men arriving in the colonies during the Great Migration period, the Report then reviewed the extant documentation of Thomas Hungerford’s associates who had not been examined in the initial round of research. First, the Report discusses Peter Blatchford, whom Hannah (Willey) Hungerford would marry after the death of her first husband Thomas. While searching for Blatchford, the Report states that American Ancestors found Hungerfords in Suffolk County Court records from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century including Walter Hungerford of Boston, merchant. The Report then discusses several Walter Hungerfords living during that period.
The Report then states that another Suffolk County court case in 1725 involved nonpayment of a debt owed to John Hungerford of Haddam, Hartford County, Connecticut who the Report states "was likely a son of Thomas Hungerford Jr. and his wife Mary."
The Report next discusses Obadiah Bruen, Samuel Smith, and Robert Roys who inventoried the New London estate of Thomas Hungerford on 01 May 1663. That research was undertaken in greater depth to determine their origins. The Report states that they were from Suffolk County (Samuel Smith and Robert Roys) and Cheshire (Obadiah Bruen) but that there were no apparent connections between them and Thomas Hungerford aside from being neighbors.
The Report continues with an examination of English records pertaining to Thomas Hungerford and children baptized “Thomas Hungerford” in England who are discussed in the THFFI Surnames Database. The notes in the Database speculate that Thomas Hungerford of New London may be the same Thomas Hungerford baptized 03 May 1602 in Bremhill Parish, Wiltshire County, England. The Report reviews the record of that baptism and the baptisms of other Hungerford children in Bremhill within a decade of that of Thomas, two of whom are identifed as children of "John of Cadman," indicating Cadenham Manor. Those children are:
- Frances Hungerford, bp. 7 Sep 1598,Bremhill, daughter of John
- Edward Hungerford, bp. 7 Jul 1600
- Thomas Hungerford, bp. 3 May 1602
- Judith Hungerford, bp. 17 May 1604
- Walter Hungerford, bp. 13 Jun 1605
- John Hungerford, bp. 20 Oct 1606, son of John
The Report states that "Four sons of John Hungerford of Cadenham were educated locally, including Thomas Hungerford, who matriculated at St. John’s College in 1616." The other three sons mentioned in the Report are Edward, Francis, and Walter. The Report continues to discuss the numerous children mentioned in John of Cadenham's will as well as the grandchildren mentioned in widow Elizabeth Hungerford's will dated 29 sep 1649 (and proved in 1650 and 1651), i.e., the children of Edward Hungerford, Frances Keate, Mary Scroope, Lucy Turner, and Robert Hungerford as well as her sons Tomas Hungerford and Francis Hungerford.
The Report discusses several Thomas Hungerfords living at the time and concludes that they cannot be our Thomas Hungerford (SH1). It concludes that further research should investigate the other children of John Hungerford to verify that they did not leave England. But the Report states that "it is interesting to note that in 1671, Hester Garberry of Bristol was apprenticed four years to a Thomas Hungerford of Virginia." The Report discusses the transportation of Hester Garberry further down in the Report.
The Report does state that one "Thomas Hungerford born c. 1621 would seem to be a strong match for your ancestor Thomas Hungerford of New London, Connecticut. Not only was he born during the expected year range, but he also had a sister Ann Hungerford born c. 1622. Other children of Anthony and Anne Hungerford baptized at St. Ann Blackfriars in London:
- Anthony Hungerford, 13 Jun 1618
- Alexander Hungerford, 23 May 1620, d. 29 May 1620
- Thomas Hungerford, bapt. 15 Jun 1621
- Ann Hungerford, 16 Aug 1622
- John Hungerford, 20 Nov 1623
The Report mentiions the note in the THFFI Surnames Database indicating that this Thomas Hungerford died soon after his birth. The Report verifies that Thomas Hungerford's 18 Jun 1621 death is documented in the original parish registers.
American Ancestors found two items of potential significance in the Robert E. Day Collectio of research on the Hungerford family located at the Connecticut Historical Society. First, the Report quotes a document titled "Facts in relation to the genealogy of the Hungerford Family in the United States:
"Thomas Hungerford as I have understood indirectly from my grandmother came from the Parish of Thetford [Norfolk County] in England. To what place or precisely in what year he first came I cannot state. The first authentic evidence I have of him is that he was in this place (Hartford, Conn.) in the year 1639."
Second, the Report quotes from a letter written by Chauncey Hungerford of Mt. Morris, New York on 27 Jun 1857:
"The family originated from Thomas Hungerford, who emigrated from a small town about 40 miles from London, England, and settleed at Haddam, Conn. A branch of the family located at Plymouth now Bristol, Conn."
The Report states that "Robert E. Day’s notes suggest Thomas Hungerford came from East Anglia or Greater London, not Wiltshire. Future research should devote time to investigating these leads."
The Report next reviews Hungerfords in Virginia and Maryland: William Hungerford I who married Ann Smoot, William Hungerford II, and William II's children:
- Barton Hungerford, Born c. 1687
- Elizabeth Hungerford, b. 14 Feb 1691 in Port Tobacco, Charles County
- William Hungerford, b. 12 Jun 1694 in Port Tobacco, Charles County
- Thomas Hungerford
- John Hungerford
- Charles Hungerford
- Ann Hungerford
- Mary Hungerford
The Report then discusses several John Hungerfords without reaching definitive conclusions.
The Report continues by stating:
"Upon searching Bristol, Gloucestershire, England apprentice books during this round, we learned that on 19 Aug. 1671, one Hester Garberry was bound to Thomas Hungerford for 4 years in Virginia. She had traveled aboard the ship Steven, commanded by a “Mr. Scott.”150 In a footnote to Hester Garberry’s entry, the J. Henry Lea, Esq. writes:
'“Thomas Hungerford may perhaps be the Thomas Hungerford of Hartford and Haddam, Conn., son of Thomas of the same who died in 1663. Thomas the son was born about 1648, and so would have been 23 years of age in 1671. The name is so unusual that this might well be the same, although called of
Virginia…There was a Thomas Hungerford, son of Henry and Eleanor (Stevens) Hungerford, baptized at St. James, Bristol, 14 Dec 1616; he was apprenticed 28 Nov 1631, to John Roome Jr., carpenter, and married 20 April 1640, to Mary White at St. James; he had children—Elizabeth, bapt. 10 Feb 1640-1; Ann, 7 Aug 1642, and William, 24 Mar 1643, all at same Church, and after that date his name disappears from the Registers; but he can hardly be identical with the first Thomas of Hartford, unless Savage is in error in locating him there so early as 1639. Perhaps, however, the Thomas of New London, 1650, was another man and if so, very probably identical with the Bristol Thomas…'”
The Report disagrees with that conclusion:
"From our earlier review of English baptismal records, we can verify that Thomas Hungerford, son of Henry, was baptized 14 Dec 1616 in Bristol St. James, Gloucestershire, England.151 Thomas Hungerford married Mary White at that parish on 20 Apr 1640. Another child of Henry Hungerford was christened Hester Hungerford on 26 Jul 1620, though she was buried at Bristol St. James parish on 06 Mar 1634. As for the author’s speculation about Thomas Hungerford of Haddam being the same Thomas Hungerford in Virginia by 1671, this possibility seems quite unlikely. Thomas Hungerford Jr (c. 1648-1714) died in East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut. His children, too, remained in Connecticut. We speculate that Thomas Hungerford of Virginia may be related to William Hungerford who transported himself to Maryland in 1646.
The Report tells us that, the graduate thesis of Gary Tristram Cummins from the University of Montana (1968) "refers to the following prisoner of the English Civil War: 'On 15 December 1643 the Committee at Stafford permitted a Mr. Huggeford to visit both his wife in the village of High Onne and his mother in Wolverhampton.' Possibly, this is the Thomas Huggeford baptized at Solilhull in Warwickshire on 08 May 1621. Of course we cannot assume 'Huggeford' is a corruption of 'Hungerford,' and Thomas Hungerford was living in the colonies, not in England, by 1643. Still, we note the location of High Onne and Wolverhampton near the Welch border, about 36 miles from Obadiah Bruen’s birthplace of Tarvin.
The Report provides a table of Hungerfords living in Virginia and Maryland during the 1700s and concludes: "In summary, the Hungerfords in the table below were living in southern Maryland and the Northern Neck of Virginia during the mid-to-late seventeenth century. John Hungerford is most likely a brother, father, or husband of Elizabeth and Mary Hungerford. He is probably not a son of William Hungerford I, as Charles County court records document the various guardianships of William Hungerford II but not any other Hungerford children. Based upon his year of arrival in Dorchester County (1673), we believe John is likely of the same generation as the William Hungerford I who transported himself to Maryland in 1646."
The Report tells us that the "earliest mention of a Hungerford we find in records associated with the Virginia Colony is in the records of the Virginia Company. In 1607, Sir Edward Hungerford, Knight, served on a council “for all matters, which shall or may conduce to the aforesaid plantations, or which shall happen in Virginia or any of the territories of America, between thirty-four and forty-five degrees of northerly latitude from the aequinoctial line, and the Islands of the several colonies limited and assigned.” The name 'Sir John Hungerford, Knight' appears on the subscription list of the Virginia Company Adventurers in 1610. Men pledging money for the new colony were usually of high distinction and in addition to knights included merchants, baronets, and members of the House of Commons.
***
"Both Sir John Hungerford and John Legate were delinquent members of the Virginia Company in 1612. Could John Hungerford be an ancestor of the William Hungerford who transported himself to the colonies in 1646? We believe this could be the case, as in the 1669/1670 Charles County Court record discussed earlier, a Bridget Legett, wife of John, is (mistakenly) called the mother of William Hungerford II."
Turning to the analysis of the DNA results from the Big Y tests taken by Hungerford members of THFFI, the Report states that there are "two distinct groups, which seems to indicate that Thomas Hungerford of New London and William Hungerford of Virginia and Maryland were not brothers or close relatives.
The Report makes several suggestions for further research:
"When Thomas Hungerford applied for a house lot in New London in 1650/1, the lot assigned to him was 'on the Bank next above Thomas Stanton’s.' Thomas Stanton had married at Hartford before 1638 to Anne Lord, daughter of Hartford founder Thomas Lord and sister of Captain Richard Lord, a trader with Virginia connections. On 06 Feb. 1649, the Hartford General Court had granted Thomas Stanton permission to establish a trading post at Pawcatuck. While Thomas built his trading post, his family remained in Hartford. The Stanton family removed to Pequot [New London] by about 1651 then around 1658 to Stonington183, where Thomas Stanton died on 02 Dec. 1677.184 Dorothy Stanton, a daughter of Thomas Stanton, married James Noyes Jr, son of the James Noyes whose Wiltshire origins were discussed earlier in this report.
"The migration route of Thomas Stanton’s family is identical to that of Thomas Hungerford’s family: Thomas was in Hartford by 1639 and removed to New London by 1650/1, around the same time the Stantons settled there. As Thomas Hungerford certainly owned land in Stonington—referenced in the will of his son Thomas Hungerford Jr—but apparently didn’t live there, we would like to investigate the possibility that Thomas Hungerford was involved in Stanton’s trading outpost. We would also like to review scholarship on the origins of Thomas Stanton in genealogical publications, including The New England Historical and Genealogical Register and The American Genealogist.