Can more research be done on the Kendall alias Mills family? Of course. That’s always the answer when it comes to genealogical research. We try to exhaust available sources, but most of the time we are exhausted (time-wise and/or funding) before they are. As I write this last instalment in the Mills alias Kendall story, I am moving on to other lines and ancestors, but if anyone wants to pick up this baton there is more searching and analyzing to do.
A lot of big questions about the ancestry of Francis and Thomas Kendall have been answered. Due to the unique alias surname that Francis used (Kendall alias Mills) and a lot of supporting evidence (see the many posts written about the research finds), we have added quite a lot to the family saga. We have found where Francis and Thomas came from in England (Sherington/Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire), who the father of Francis and Thomas was (Ralph), the names of their siblings (John, Richard, Elizabeth, Mary, and Susan), what their general economic status was (well enough off to own a little land), and what occupations the family had (mostly carpenters). However, there are still a few “holes” in our knowledge of the Kendall alias Mills family and their connections. These form suggestions for future research. I have grouped the biggest remaining questions into three categories based on place and time.
Pedigree research:
- Who are Ralph Kendall alias Mills’ descendants today? Research may trace the progeny of Richard and John (brothers of Francis) who had known descendants, and perhaps also find family ties through Ralph’s daughters, Elizabeth, Susan, and Mary.
- Who are the descendants of John Mills & Ann Dancer and their son, James Mills, the ancestors of the Mills DNA tester? Finding living descendants of James Mills (see post titled How Y-DNA helped identify Francis Kendall alias Miles/Mills) will give us a better chance of finding how the ancestors of James Mills connect to the Ralph Kendall alias Mills family.
Research in historical records:
- Where was Ralph Kendall alias Mills from? His first known record is the baptism in Sherington of his son, Thomas in 1616. We did not learn where Ralph was before that, or if he lived in Sherington all his life.
- Who was Ralph’s first wife? We know from his will that his wife Ann in 1657 was from a later marriage. The mother of Francis, Thomas, and their other siblings has not been found.
- Where were Ralph’s daughters, Susan and Mary, baptized and married? Ralph named them in his will as his daughters, but their baptisms have not been found. Mary married Thomas Wheatley or Heatly, but their marriage has not been located.
- What happened to Ralph’s daughter, Elizabeth? Other than her baptism record nothing else has been found for her.
- Who are the parents of John Mills (the ancestor of the Mills DNA tester)? Research on the line of the DNA tester set us on this path (see post titled How Y-DNA helped identify Francis Kendall alias Miles/Mills) and could be pushed back farther.
- How do all the other Kendall, Mills, and Kendall alias Mills families in Newport Pagnell and Sherington in Ralph’s time relate to his family? There are several other families using Kendall, Mills or Kendall alias Mills in those two parishes during the time when Ralph lived there. Research may eventually connect some of them. See ‘The Others’ post.
- What about apprenticeship and other records? Since we know what most of the Ralph Kendall alias Mills family members did for an occupation (carpenters), and what others with that same surname did (mainly butchers), apprenticeship records, if they can be located, may hold more information. In addition, parish chest records such as Churchwardens accounts, parish charities and apprenticeship schemes for poor boys and girls, local trade guilds, wills of local trade Masters, London livery company records, local Council freemen records and searches of local archives’ and libraries’ undigitised indexes and catalogues could be taken on. Though it would be a lot of work, this type of research is exactly how we find the needle in the haystack.
- Were all the probates checked?The quick answer is no. Many sixteenth and seventeenth century Kendall, Mills, and Kendall alias Mills wills from Buckinghamshire courts and the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) were checked. However, no comprehensive probate trawl was completed for all FAN names in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire or Middlesex. The same can be said for Massachusetts. A spreadsheet of probate data already collected can be shared with anyone who takes on this additional task.
- A more complete probate trawl needs to be done to include early Myll(e)s testators outside North Buckinghamshire (especially Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Middlesex), even any Mill(e)s ones in those areas that look interesting, plus Kendalls & variants outside Buckinghamshire, both local & PCC ones, and the searches need to go up to about 1680 to include Ralph or Francis contemporaries who died later on.
DNA research:
- This means finding living testers. We can all encourage anyone surnamed Kendall or Mills to get a Y-DNA test to see if there is a genetic relationship. Even if there isn’t a genetic tie, it will help the wider DNA research community and especially the Kendall and Mills DNA projects.
One method we often use to find more on a target family is to search their FAN club. That stands for Friends, Associates, and Neighbors. Those were the individuals and families our ancestors lived alongside, did business with, married into, migrated or immigrated with, and sat next to in church. By digging deeper into FAN lives, we can often add details to the lives of our direct ancestors. For the Ralph Kendall alias Mills family, the FAN names are:
- Rawlins/Rawlinson
- Hooton
- Ireland
- Mabley/Mapley
- Mitchell
- Mullender
- Rawbone
- Sibley/Stibley
- Smallbones
- Smallbridge
- (W)Heatley
- Cunningham
Particularly in Middlesex:
- Luke
- Smith
- Bristowe
- Claridge
For the Mills DNA tester’s ancestral families (James Mills and John Mills) the FAN names are:
- Dancer
- Puddephat (and its many variants)
- Shepherd
- Whethered and Weatherhead
- Pettit
By delving deeper into these families in familial parishes in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Middlesex we may learn more about the Kendall alias Mills family. Both Celia and I are ready to support anyone taking the research further with supplies of tips and pointers, the benefit of experience with this family, and loads more data. Anyone interested can contact us through the blog’s email, [email protected]. In addition, Celia will be continuing to dig into Newport Pagnell’s sources to document the Scotch Chapmen who passed through or settled there in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. See her blog for more information. https://morgansite.wordpress.com/2023/06/23/newport-pagnell/
