Edward Starbuck was English and if our suggested family tree for his parents and grandparents is correct, he probably spent his 35 years or so before migration in the part of England which we call Starbucky Territory.
English records dating from 1550 to 1640 prove that almost all the Starbucks of the time (and some variant Bucks and Starrs) were resident in this area or, if living further afield, had moved away from families here.[1]
Most Starbuck roots were in this watery part of the English East Midlands covering south-east Derbyshire, south-west Nottinghamshire and north Leicesterhire, where three rivers flow and meet: the Erewash, Derwent and Trent, with many other streams, marshes, water-mills and flood plains. Y-DNA testing and family-tree building of modern Starbuck men strongly support this area of origin.
The Territory holds close to a hundred settled locations within 70 or so parishes, and Starbucks have been found inaround 30 of those locations in the 1550-1640 period. Of those, two held the highest Starbuck concentrations: Long Eaton in Sawley parish in Derbyshire, and Toton village in Attenborough parish, Nottinghamshire.
Long Eaton and Toton are immediate neighbours barely a mile apart, separated only by the slim river Erewash which forms the county border. There is little doubt these modest settlements were the heart of Starbucky Territory in England.
Key locations in Starbucky Territory (1550-1640) with links to more detailed descriptions:
In Derbyshire
- Sawley parish and manor and its settlements: Sawley village (with the parish church of All Saints), Long Eaton, Draycott, Little Wilne (with its chapelry of Wilne St Chad), Breaston, Risley (with neighbouring Sandiacre), Hopwell, Wilsthorpe & Woodhall Park
- Heanor and Codnor
- Derby, the county Town, with its five parishes of St Alkmund, All Saints, St Werburgh, St Peter and St Michael.
In Nottinghamshire
- Attenborough parish and its villages of Toton and Chilwell
- Toton Manor, which once encompassed Attenborough
- Bingham and Bunny
- Nottingham, the county Town, with its three parishes of St Mary, St Nicholas and St Peter.
In Leicestershire
- Lockington and Hemington (once part of Sawley Manor)
- Kegworth
- Great Bowden and Market Harborough
also London and Kent, especially:
- Cripplegate St Giles, where some Long Eaton Starbucks settled
- Gravesend, Kent, where some Starbuck alias Johnsons (originally of Toton) settled
Author: Celia Renshaw
Morganhold blog: www.morgansite.wordpress.com
© April 2023
[1] Edward’s grandparents were probably born c1550, and 1640 is the latest date that Edward could have settled in New England, when he signed the Dover Combination document.
