Newest Discovery
For 2023, I’m writing responses to the 52 Ancestors in 52 Days prompts provided by Amy Johnson Crow on her ”Generations Café” website and Facebook page.
My newest discovery occurred on September 17, 2022 when I discovered that I’m descended from Rowland Taylor (1510-1555), who was one of the first of the “Marian Martyrs” during the brief reign of Queen Mary I (daughter of King Henry VIII and half-sister to Queen Elizabeth I.
I found Rowland during the three-week genealogy research trip that my husband and I took in September of 2022. We roamed around the English countryside, finding the villages that my 17th century immigrant ancestors had lived in before they came to the colonies. One of the villages we visited was Hadleigh (in Suffolk), where I knew my 10th great-grandfather, John Taylor, had lived before coming to Virginia in the 1640s. In the course of my research, I discovered that John was also in my husband’s family tree; we’re descended from two of John’s sons who were both born in Hadleigh but came to Virginia with their parents.
As you can imagine, we had both encountered difficulties in trying to identify where “our” John Taylor came from – or even if they were actually the same John Taylor. This is a very common name, and we both had so much information on other family lines that we hadn’t push this line more deeply into the past. Hadleigh was on our list of villages that we might visit, but it was of lower priority than some other places where our information was much more concrete.
But while we were in England, Queen Elizabeth II died, and our plans were upended at bit. Not too badly, as it turned out, but as we shifted things around we found ourselves with a day that had some free time. We looked at our options, and decided to visit Hadleigh.
Well, that was a good decision. We were pleasantly surprised to find St. Mary’s in Hadleigh open and fairly busy. People had gathered for lunch, and the rector welcomed us when we entered the church. When we told him we were there because our ancestors had been members of this church, his first question was “Was is Rowland Taylor?” We were surprised, to put it mildly.
Here’s what we found out about Rowland. He was among the first “Marian Martyrs” of the religious strife in the 1650s in England. After Henry VIII died in 1547, the crown went first to his son Edward VI, England first Protestant ruler. However, after Edward died in 1553, the crown went to his Catholic half-sister, Mary I. Mary repealed all religious legislation passed under Edward VI, and protestants (including Rowland) faced a choice: exile, reconciliation/conversion, or punishment. The number of “Marian Martyrs” is thought to be as high as 287. Rowland was among the first four men executed by Mary. They were all clergy, but the executions soon extended to other members of society.
This was an impressive church.
The church featured many references to Rowland Taylor.
As an aside, one of the benefits of “finding” Rowland was that the church had information about the family that had come to Virginia – including our ancestor John. It had been hard to identify the “right” John Taylor among the many men with that name who came to the colonies in the 17th century; this find confirmed that we were on the right track.
It is not surprising that Rowland’s descendants decided to leave Hadleigh and go to America. John came to Virginia with his wife and children in 1648, settling in Lancaster County (on the Northern Neck on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay). He accumulated hundreds of acres of land and was a prominent and powerful figure in that small community.
Terrific luck and information. I wonder why the minister chose that name instead of another? Family resemblance? But how hideous to die that way by those who thought they were doing so to god’s glory and the crown. I just don’t know which could possibly be worse, though I know I would pray for a fatal heart attack before the flames licked me. Then I would return to haunt the entire clergy. I’m so wicked. Guess where I’m going? 🧙
Good morning! How interesting it is to read yet another story about your family. Thank you. Enjoy your day!! 😎