Estimated birth year based on Edward’s age of 86 at death in Nantucket in 1690
| 1595 An Edward STARBUCK was named in the Tuition Bond of Thomas PEPPER of Bingham, who placed him with two others in the guardianship of Thomas PEPPER jnr (his nephew).[1] | If this Edward was a young minor in 1595, born c1590 perhaps, there is some possibility he could have been migrant Edward but that would not fit with that Edward’s age at death indicating birth c1603/4. In the laws of the time, the three wards could have been aged up to 25 and all other records point to this being migrant Edward’s father, Edward Sr, born c1581, son of Elizabeth nee PEPPER who was settled (with 3 more husbands) in Bingham from 1588 till death in 1611. This Bond could suggest that Elizabeth’s sons William (if he survived) and Edward were supported more by PEPPER relatives, rather than STARBUCK ones, or their final stepfather Clement CLIFFORD. |
| 1600, 6 Sep Edward STARBUCK and a brother William were named as “sons-in-law” by John WORTHINGTON of Bingham in his Will.[2] | John was the 3rd husband of Elizabeth (nee PEPPER, previously STARBUCK and BLODWORTH), therefore stepfather to Edward and William. He left them half a quarter of barley each for his wife to deliver, a wording that suggests they were not in the immediate vicinity. He also named a brother-in-law Thomas PEPPER (Elizabeth’s brother). Alongside the 1595 Tuition Bond, this Edward surely has to be the son of Elizabeth = Edward Sr, father of migrant Edward. |
| 1601, 11 Sep Edward JOHNSON was baptised at Arnold St Mary, Nottinghamshire, son of William.[3] | We have a family line called STARBUCK alias JOHNSON who were of Toton in Attenborough, Nottinghamshire, near to Arnold, and they sometimes used just the JOHNSON surname, so we have to consider an Edward JOHNSON as a candidate, and this is the right kind of birth date. But none of the plentiful records for migrant Edward in Dover and Nantucket referred to him as JOHNSON, so this one seems unlikely to be him. |
| 1603 Edward STARBUCK married Ann BARNES at Nottingham St Nicholas.[4] | Edward in this marriage would have been born c1580, so far too early to be migrant Edward who died in Nantucket in 1690. This Edward is almost certainly the father of migrant Edward. |
| 1619 Edward STARBUCKE son of Thomas yeoman of Long Eaton was apprenticed to Anthony BRISTOW of the Tylers & Bricklayers Company, London.[5] | Most apprentices started at c14 years old, so this Edward was probably born c1605, so a candidate. But he settled in Cripplegate (alongside a brother George), got married, had children and died in London, and did not head abroad. He also had a father Thomas so could not be the Edward baptised at Derby in 1603/4, son of Edward Sr. |
| 1621, 10 Apr Edward STARBUCK married Susanna HARDWICK at Nottingham St Nicholas.[6] | The only known Edward to fit this marriage is migrant Edward’s father Edward Sr whose wife Ann died in 1620. |
| 1625, 12 Sep Edward STARBUCK married Mary KIRK at Nottingham St Nicholas.[7] | No further records found in the UK for an Edward-Mary couple after this date. It is likely to be a 3rd marriage for Edward Sr, or a 1st marriage for migrant Edward. On balance Edward Sr seems more likely as he disappears from view at this time – he could have gone back to the Starbuck long home in Sawley where few records exist until the 1650s. |
| 1626, 24 Apr Edward STARBUCK, a roper, was presented in Nottingham St Mary for having fornicated with Maria SLATER, who was heavily pregnant.[8] | Nothing more is known about this case or this Edward. Maria had a son John and was still unmarried in 1635 when her father Christopher named her in his Will. So this was either an Edward whose fate is unknown or it was Edward Sr or migrant Edward. With Edward snr having married Mary KIRKE in 1625, at about the time that Maria fell pregnant, it seems more likely this was migrant Edward’s doing. Christopher SLATER had only one son, Hugh, so there’s a small chance a SLATER descended DNA match to migrant Edward could turn up one day. If this is migrant Edward, his roper trade is of interest as a watery profession. |
| 1630/1, 21 Mar Edward STARBUCK baptised a daughter Sarah at Derby St Peter.[9] | While this could be an entirely different Edward to either Sr or Jr, the date matches the calculated birth year for Dover/Nantucket Edward’s daughter Sarah, so the odds are on this being migrant Edward. No further traces of a father Edward over a suitable period or a Sarah STARBUCK of this age have been found in the UK. |
| 1637/8, 28 Jan Edward STARBUCK married Amy PHILLIPS at St George the Martyr in Southwark, London.[10] | There are records in Cripplegate for this Edward before and after this marriage and the location strongly suggests he is the apprentice Edward who settled in Cripplegate. He also buried a daughter Amy on 12 Sep 1640 in Cripplegate – not possible if he was in Dover NH signing the 1640 Combination. He died himself, leaving a Will, in 1659. |
| 1638 Edward STARBROOK was listed in the Derbyshire Musters for Beighton, north-east Derbyshire.[11] | A glimmer of excitement that this might be migrant Edward just before departure was dimmed by finding this Edward having children there in the 1650s. |
Variant possibilities
A few other Edwards in the 1580-1640 period have been spotted with possible variants of the surname:
- 23 Jun 1589 baptism at Stepney St Dunstan, London of Richard STARBLACK son of Edward of Mile End – father Edward was miles too old to have died in 1690.
- 9 Mar 1636 marriage at Abingdon, Berkshire of Edward STARBEY & Mary HAGATTE – marriage year, location far from anywhere associated with the two Edwards and a wife named Mary = nothing to fit with migrant Edward’s life.
- 18 Jan 1639/40 marriage licence of Edward BUCKE of Ranskill in Blyth, Nottinghamshire and Elizabeth SMYTHE spinster of Wyston in Clayworth, Nottinghamshire – BUCK(E) is a known variant of STARBUCK, with some living men named BUCK matching the Y-DNA of migrant Edward’s line. But with migrant Edward being definitely in Dover NH in 1640 and almost certainly before that, this and every other detail of the marriage, makes it unlikely for him.
All other Edwards we found, anywhere in the UK, with or without variant spellings, were born either too early or too late in date to be the migrant to Dover and Nantucket.
Word of caution
The fact of so few STARBUCKs named Edward being seen in Starbucky Territory at suitable dates leads us to suggest that migrant Edward was the one baptized at Derby St All Saints on 27 Feb 1603/4, son of Edward Sr, with mother Ann BARNES and 6 sibs mostly born or buried in Nottingham, as shown in the Edward in England post. We cannot see any evidence to challenge that theory. However…
With Sawley in Derbyshire – and especially its township of Long Eaton – being so clearly an ancestral home to STARBUCKs from early dates, and known from later records to have favoured Edward as a given name, we cannot rule out the possibility that migrant Edward was born and brought up and plied a trade there before emigrating, without leaving any trace. That could have happened during the long period to 1652 that Sawley parish and probate records do not exist and property or manorial records are scant.
Therefore, while we can confidently rule out any known challengers to our theory of migrant Edward’s family and origins, there always remains the chance that an unknown Edward from Long Eaton/Sawley – or any other Starbucky parish without parish registers before 1640 – was actually the right guy.
Author: Celia Renshaw
Morganhold blog: www.morgansite.wordpress.com
© April 2023
[1] Nottinghamshire Archives ref M/1434 (1595) Admon of Thomas PEPPER of Bingham; and pdf copy of original Tuition Bond (1595) of Thomas PEPPER of Bingham, in Nottingham Archdeaconry Act Book on film at the Borthwick Institute in York (visited 21 Oct 2021).
[2] Nottinghamshire Archives ref PR/NW (proved 1602, written 1600) Wills & Administrations proved in Archdeaconry of Nottingham – John WORTHINGTON husbandman of Bingham, Notts
[3] Nottinghamshire Archives – Arnold St Mary parish registers, originals held at the Archives, images available at Ancestry – Nottinghamshire Church of England Baptisms, Marriages & Burials 1538-1812
[4] Nottingham St Nicholas Parish Registers Vol 1 (1562-1645) held at Nottinghamshire Archives. Image available at Ancestry: Nottinghamshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages & Burials 1538-1812-parish ‘Nottingham’, image no.97, viewed 19 Jan 2024.
[5] Findmypast – London Apprenticeship abstracts 1442-1850 [originals held at Guildhall Library, London]
[6] Nottingham St Mary Parish Register no.1 (1566-1624) held at Nottinghamshire Archives. Image available at Ancestry: Nottinghamshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages & Burials 1538-1812-parish Nottingham St Mary, image no.89, viewed 19 Jan 2024
[7] Nottingham St Mary Parish Register 2 (1600-1636) held at Nottinghamshire Archives. Image available at Ancestry: Nottinghamshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages & Burials 1538-1812-parish Nottingham St Mary, image no.35, viewed 19 Jan 2024
[8] Ref AN/PB 302/307 Nottingham University Library Manuscripts & Special Collections – Nottingham Archdeaconry Collection – Presentment Bills 1620-43, Nottingham Deanery 1620-29, Easter 1626.
[9] Derby St Peter Parish Register held at Derbyshire Record Office ref D1792/A/PI/1/1 (1558-1692). Image available at Ancestry: Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages & Burials 1538-1812-parish Derby St Peter, image no.42.
[10] Findmypast – Surrey Marriages (transcript only)
[11] The Derbyshire Musters of 1638-9 Part 2, Vol 47, ed by Victor Rosewarne (Derbyshire Record Society, 2021)
