Holbrook line: Jeffrey Staple, Immigrant

You win some, you lose some.  I started out planning to write about our immigrant ancestor John Staples, and in reviewing my information for him discovered that his father was actually here, too.  So even though I don't have a lot of information about Jeffrey, I want to write about him.  He was born probably about 1576, to Robert Staple and an as yet identified wife.  Robert was from Halton, Buckinghamshire, England and it is believed that is where Jeffrey (also seen as Geoffrey) Staple (also seen as Staples or Stapless) was born.

Little is known of Jeffrey's life in England.  Halton was a small village.  In 1642, a few years after the family left for Massachusetts Bay, there were just 43 people who were taxed for "contributions" to Ireland, and it was still a very small village in the early nineteenth century. When his father died in 1601, he left Jeffery his lands in Wendover, 20 pounds and 20 sheep "along with the ones he already had", so Robert had some wealth about him, and Jeffrey raised sheep. 

 Jeffrey married Margery Chrismas on May 4, 1607 at Halton, when he was about 31 years old.  We know he and Margery had seven children, some of whom were adults when the family decided to move to the New World.  The last record found in England for Jeffrey was in 1632, when Thomas Martin of Halton left 6 pounds to Jeffrey Staple, his godson.  (Judging by the 1642 tax list, six pounds must have been a significant sum for the family to come by).

Jeffrey seems to be one of the 80% or so of immigrants who seem to have left no record behind as to when he left England or arrived in the New World.  We know that he and Margery buried a daughter at Weymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony on February 17, 1639/40.  100 families had come to Weymouth in 1635 under the leadership of Rev. Joseph Hull and it is possible that the family arrived then (my speculation only).

In a land inventory taken between 1642 and 1644, Jeffrey had 3 acres in the east field, "first given to himelfe", 6 acres in the further end of Harrises Rainges, "first given to himselfe", and 1/2 acre in the west field first given to Mr. Hull.  To have acquired two plots of land, these must have been early grants or dividends, and the fact that Mr. Hill had owned the smallest parcel first shows that there may have been some sort of connection there, whether it was pastor to church member or something else.

Jeffrey, after having lived and worked in the New World for somewhere between 8 and 12 years, died at Weymouth shortly before March, 1647.  His appraisal was done in March and totaled 34 pounds, 7 shillings and two pence.  He had a house with 8 acres of land, but the only clue to his occupation was "workinge toolls".  He also had goats and a calf, swine, and various household goods.  Books were not mentioned.  Margery lived until sometime after December 14, 1663, when she was mentioned as the "widow Staple" in town records.

In looking over the Weymouth town records, I noted several other names that are likely our ancestors, such as Holbrook and Kingman.  It's neat how this all comes together, several generations down when Molly Wright married Amariah Holbrook!

(Most of the material in this post, but not quite all of it, came from the researh of Gail Staples and was published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 161.  I added the bits and pieces about land ownershipm and the speculation that he was part of or close to the Rev. Joseph Hull group.)


The line of descent is:

Jeffrey Staple-Margery Christmas
John Staple-Rebecca possibly Borroridge
Rebecca Staples-Samuel Sumner
Rebecca Sumner-Ephraim Wilson
Samuel Wilson-Elizabeth Hawes
Rebekah Wilson-Jonathan Wright
Molly Wright-Amariah Holbrook
Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants