FAMILY DOCUMENTS AND STORIES
Using the Seal of John Parker of Sibertsworld, Kent, England
It was not so important for June to research the history of the Parker family prior to the arrival of Elisha Parker in the new England. June wanted to make sure that we had it correct from 1634 down to the present. However, when I (mz) got interested in the family history, I became obsessed with finding the names of the parents and the birth place of Elisha in England. Over the years, I have searched through libraries and geneology centers throughout England both in person, via email and the Internet. Following is what we know (some would say: "what we don't know") about the parents and birth place of Elisha Parker 1630.
1] It is well documented in the records of Rev Lathrop: "In 1634 thirty members led by their pastor John Lathrop emigrated on the Ship Grifin and located in Scituate. Joined by thirteen others who had previously arrived and were part of the Plymouth Colony congregation, the majority moved to Barnstable five years later."
2] We can not find any ship records or manifest documenting the arrival of Elisha or Robert Parker to the new world. We do know that the ship Griffin arrived in America in 1634 with the Rev John Lathrop from Kent, England. The ship sailed from England with about 100 passenger. However, after extensive searching on both sides of the Atlantic, the only "Griffin" documentation available lists 41 passenger. The rest of the passenger list has been lost. No Parker name is shown on the remaining manifest. A search of EVERY ship manifest arriving from the Mayflower to 1655 fails to show either Elisha or Robert's name.
3] In 1634 we know that Elisha was 4 years old.
We know that Elisha was recorded as being in Barnstable by 1650.
So how did Elisha get to Barnstable?
June wrote a note to me in 1996 after researching in the Falmouth library: "The Parker's came from Kent, and used the seal of John Parker of Sibertswold. I never found out what that meant, but your English friends should be able to find out easily enough. "
We know that Sibertswold was an Ancient Parish in the county of Kent, in England. It was also known as Shepherdswell and it was part of Dover.
My "English friends", Norman Hopkins (a geneologist expert on Rev John Lathrop) and Martin Webb (Egerton Family History) both confirm that the phrase ( "used the seal...") was common in English ancient parishes to denote a legal transaction. In this case, the transaction was (likely) that Elisha and Robert were to be sponsored by John Parker (or to serve in apprenticeship). The implication being that Elisha and Robert's parents placed the boys in John Parker's care for the trip to America and that the parents did not accompany the boys on the voyage. (It may be that the parents had died. It may be that the parents followed at a later date or that the parents remained living in England.)
We have begun to research the John Parker who accompanied the boys on the voyage and to research the records of Sheperdswell. We hope to have more information before the end of 2008.
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