Meghan Markle’s New Hampshire Roots

Did you know that Meghan Markle’s paternal grandmother, Doris Mary Rita Sanders (born about 1920), daughter of Fred George Sanders and Gertrude May Merrill,  was born in New Hampshire? She has a New Hampshire lineage that goes back for another ten generations in New Hampshire!

I won’t give her entire family tree here, since it is easily seen online at the resources listed below, and also since it would be enormous!  But I will tell you a little about Meghan’s New Hampshire ancestors.   The newspapers recently were all aflutter about Meghan’s Wentworth and Hussey shared ancestry with her husband Harry, but that goes back more than fifteen generations before they share an ancestor.  You might be even more closely related to the new royal bride if you match some of this New Hampshire ancestry.

From the lists of surnames below, I can see that I share common ancestors with Meghan through BURNHAM, PAGE, BATCHELDER, SANBORN, TAYLOR, SWETT, STACY and GODFREY, and kinship with a few other New Hampshire surnames.

Are these surnames in your New Hampshire family tree?  If so, you might be a cousin!  I’ve listed the surnames in Meghan’s family tree, and the immigrant ancestors of those surnames.

SMITH from Center Harbor, Meredith and Hampton (immigrant ancestor John Smith abt. 1616 – 1674)

MUDGETT  from New Hampton and Brentwood  (immigrant Thomas Mudgett abt. 1640 – 1701)

DRAKE from Holderness and Hampton (Abraham Drake 1623 – 1709)

MERRILL from Plymouth and Holderness (untraced before 1768)

HUCKINS from Gilmanton, Madbury and Durham (Oyster River) (Robert Huckins 1620 – 1694)

BICKFORD from Newington and Dover (John Bickford 1607 – 1677)

PAGE from Hampton  (Robert Page 1604 – 1679)

HOBBS from Hampton (Morris Hobbs 1615 – 1706)

SHAW from Cambridge MA and Hampton, NH (Roger Shaw 1600 – 1661)

BATCHELDER from Hampton (Rev. Stephen Batchelder 1561 – 1656)

DOW from Hampton (Henry Dow 1605 – 1659)

TAYLOR from Hampton (Anthony Taylor 1607 – 1687)

GODFREY from Hampton (William Godfrey d.1671)

HUSSEY from Hampton ( Christopher Hussey 1598 – 1685)

SANBORN from Hampton (John Sanborn 1588 – 1650)

MEAD (untraced before Hannah Mead m. Joseph Mudgett b. 1731)

SCRIBNER from Dover  (John Scriven (1623 – 1675)

SWETT from Hampton (Benjamin Swett 1624 – 1677)

THOMAS from Durham (Oyster River) (James Thomas (1642 – 1718)

GODDARD from Durham (Oyster River)  (John Goddard (1608 – 1666)

TIBBETTS from Dover (Jeremiah Tibbetts 1631 – 1677)

BENMORE from Dover (Philip Benmore 1630 – 1676)

ADAMS from Durham (Charles Adams (1621 – 1694)

WEARE from Nantucket and Hampton (Nathaniel Weare 1605 – 1681)

ROBIE from Hampton (Henry Robie)

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Some of Meghan’s Essex County, Massachusetts ancestors:

LEE from Manchester

KILHAM from Wenham

LUNT from Newbury

BROWNE from Newbury

EATON from Salisbury and Haverhill

ROWLANDSON from Lancaster and Salisbury

WORTHEN (untraced)

TILTON from Lynn

BURNHAM from Ipswich

FRENCH from Salisbury

STACY from Salisbury

CARTER from Woburn

WHITCHER/WHITTIER from Salisbury, MA and Chester, NH

ELLSWORTH (untraced before Jeremiah Ellsworth 1692 – 1779 m. Hannah Tenney of Rowley, MA)

Some of the many online sources for Meghan’s ancestry:

From NEHGS    https://www.americanancestors.org/Royal-Ancestry-of-Meghan-Markle.aspx  

from Fame Chain  http://www.famechain.com/  

A chart of Meghan and Harry’s shared ancestry:

https://www.americanancestors.org/uploadedfiles/content/features/meghan-markle-chart.pdf

Famous Kin   https://famouskin.com/family-tree.php?name=80923+meghan+markle

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Meghan Markle’s New Hampshire Roots", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 4, 2018, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/06/meghan-markles-new-hampshire-roots.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ BAKER of Ipswich, Massachusetts

BAKER

There were three men named John Baker living in New England in the early 1600s.  One lived in Charlestown, Massachusetts, another in Dover, New Hampshire, and the third was my 10^th great grandfather, John Baker of Ipswich.  He arrived in Massachusetts in 1637.  He was listed as a “grocer” from Norwich, Norfolk, England on the passenger list for the Rose of Yarmouth.  His first three children were baptized at St. Peter’s, Mancroft, Norwich, England.

"Aprill 8, 1637. The examination of John Baker, borne in Norwich in Norffolkke, Grocar, aged 39 yrs, and Elizabeth he wife aged 31 yrs, with three children, -Elizabeth John and Thomas, -and four servants, Marcy Alxasrson aged 24 yrs, Anne Alxarson aged 20 yrs, and Bridgett Boulle aged 32 yrs, and Samuell Arres aged 14 yrs, as all desiroues to goe for Charles Towne in New England ther to inhabitt and remaine." (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 14, page 32.)  Note that he was NOT the John Baker who settled in Charlestown, which often causes confusion!   

John Baker settled in Ipswich.  He was made a freeman there on 2 June 1641 (two men named John Baker were on that list!).  He had a house lot on High Street.  He was licensed to sell wine in 1644 and 1647, and in 1652 to sell beer, and was an inn-holder in 1664, 1665 and 1666. He had three more children born in Ipswich.  

"He appears to have been a man of property, his name standing one of the forty-four highest of one hundred and fifty-seven subscribers to the compensation of Major Denison, the military leader, in 1648." (Hammatt's Papers 1:22.)

John Baker bought land in Topsfield, adjacent to Ipswich, and conveyed a 150 acre farm to his son Thomas Baker in 1661, on the condition that Thomas pay ten pounds a year to his father John; his mother, Elizabeth;  and daughter Elizabeth.  John Baker died in the 1680s, probably in Ipswich.

Some additional BAKER resources:

Ancestry of the Children of Robert Croll Stevens and Jane Eleanor (Knauss) Stevens, Volume II: The Genealogy of John Christian Croll 1707 – 1758, by Robert Croll Stevens, 1985, (unpaginated, families are numbered- Baker is 164) available online at a Family History Center Library.

Great Migration Begins, Volume I, by Robert Charles Anderson, 1995, page 74

Ancestry of Priscilla Baker, by William S. Appleton, 1870, pages 3 – 5.

My BAKER lineage:

Generation 1:  John Baker, son of John Baker, born about 1598 in Norwich, Norfolk, England and died in the 1680s in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married to Elizabeth Unknown, born about 1612.  Six children.

Generation 2:  Martha Baker, born 1643 in Ipswich, died after 1670 in Ipswich; married on 22 June 1670 in Topsfield to Thomas Andrews, son of Robert Andrews and Grace Melburn.  He was born about 1645 in Boxford, Berkshire, England and died 1 April 1724 in Boxford, Massachusetts.  One child for Martha Baker and Thomas Andrews. 

Generation 3: Sarah Andrews m. Joseph Swett

Generation 4: Benjamin Swett m. Elizabeth Norton

Generation 5: Elizabeth Swett m. David Batchelder

Generation 6: Elisha Batchelder m. Sarah Lane

Generation 7:  Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 8: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 9: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ BAKER of Ipswich, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 20, 2016, (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/01/surname-saturday-baker-of-ipswich.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ ANDREWS of Boxford, Massachusetts

ANDREWS

Note:  I have previously blogged about another ANDREWS family from Essex, County, Massachusetts at this post “ANDREWS of Essex, Massachusetts(Ipswich’s Chebacco Parish” – the descendants of John Andrews and Jane Jordan,my 8th great grandparents.    This sketch of Robert Andrews (about 1612 – 1668) of Topsfield and Boxford, my 10^th great grandfather,  is not to be confused with Robert Andrews (1593 – 1634/5) of Ipswich.

Robert Andrews was in Boxford, Massachusetts in 1656, and he owned land in both Rowley and Topsfield.  He died in Topsfield on 29 May 1668.  His will names his wife, sons and daughters.

Estate of Robert Andrews of Boxford (Rowley Village)

Essex Probate Docket # 709

In the name of God amen Know all Christian people this may or shall concearne yt I Robart Andrews of Rowley village in the County of Esex being verey sick & weack of body but blesed be god in prfect cence & memorey doe mack this my last will & testiment revoking all other former will wtsoever.

Impr. I bequeath my soule to Allmighty God that gave it me in whome I trust through the merits of Jesus Christ to be receaived into Eternall happiness forever and my body to the earth from whence it came to be deciently burried in ye burring place of Topsfield according as my wife and Children shall see meet.

It I give & bequeath unto my eldest sonn Thomas Andrews the house yt I now Live in and nine(s)core Ackers of Land being upland & Medow & yt Land yt I bought of Zacheus Gould only my well beloved wife is to have duering her life time, the kiching and hall & Kiching Chamber & halfe the seller & the new feeld & the eight Ackers peeice & halfe the orchard & if ther be not Land enufe for her to manuer then my sd sonn with ye help of my son Robart is to breack her up three Ackers more or let her have three Ackers yt is allready broacken up and the same to injoy duering her life without the Lett hinderanc or molestation of my sd sonn or aney other prson under him and my sonn Thomas is to shingle the house and at my wives deceas the said land orchard and rooms is to returne to my son Thomas & his haires forever my said sonn Paying unto my three youngest daughters Rebeckah, Sarah & Ruth twenty pound pr each when she shall be twenty yeares of Age and if eaither of them shall die before yt time then yt prt shall be equally devided between the other two and allso his is to pay unto my Daughter Mary the wife of Isack Comins five pound three years after my deceas & for the new whip saw and all other Carpenters tools shall be for the use of my wife sonn Thomas & Robert.

It. I give and be bequeath unto my sonn Robart Andrews eight(s)core Ackers of Land from Piebroock to ye clay pits and ye fatti medow and the fishing broock medow & becaus my sonn Thomas & Robart should not wrong one another in wood I desier ther Land may be ped by them selves & two other honest men and Robart is to pay unto my Daughter Elizabeth the wife of Samuell Symons five pounds three years after my deceas and to my daughter Hanah Pebody five pounds fouer years after my deceas.

It. I give unto my sonn John the Lot comonly called the seller Lott and the Medow belonging unto it but the medow shall be for the use of my wife & Thomas untell my sonn John shall be one and twenty years of Age and then to returne to him without aney further truble he paying to my seaven Grandchildren twenty shillings pr each when they shall come to the age of fourteen years.

It. I give unto my sonn Joseph ye Land in the Topsfeeld yt I bought of John Wilds, Senr. with all the previledgs therunto belonging.

It. I give unto my well beloved wife all my Cattell & other moveable goods and the Doung that is now in ye yard & half the barne & Lintos and my sonn Thomas the other halfe and he and his brother Robart is to set up the other Lintoos & Lay in for the use of ther mother eavery year duering her Life twelve Loads of hay and if eaither of my sonns should die before they are married then yt Land yt is given to them to be equally devided amongst the Survivers Leaving my said wife sole Executrix and in Testimony hereof I have Set my hand and Seale this Sixteenth day of May in the yeare of our Lord one thousand Six hundred Sixty & eight.

Robart (his / mark) Andrews, Senr (seal)

Witness:

Robert (his G mark) Smith

James Hanscombe

Proved in Salem court 2: 5m: 1668 by the witnesses. Essex County Probate Files, Docket 709

Inventory of the estate was taken by Frances Pabody, Isack Comings, and Edman Towne. Attested 1:5m: 1668 by Grace Andrewes wife of the deceased

[Source: Essex County Quarterly Court Files, vol 13 leaf 67]

My ANDREWS genealogy:

Generation 1:  Robert Andrews, born about 1612 in England, died 29 May 1668 in Topsfield, Massachusetts; married about 1637 to Grace Unknown.  She died on 25 December 1700 in Topsfield, Massachusetts.  Eleven children.

Generation 2: Thomas Andrews, born abut 1645 and died 1 April 1725.  He married first to Martha Baker, daughter of John Baker and Elizabeth Unknown.  She died about 1670.  He married second to Mary Belcher, and married third to Rebecca Unknown.  One child with Martha Baker.

Generation 3: Sarah Andrews, daughter of Thomas Andrews and Martha Baker.  She was born about 1670 in Boxford, Massachusetts, and died about 1763; married on 20 November 1701 in Hampton to Joseph Swett, son of Benjamin Swett and Hester Weare.  He died before January 1721 and Sarah remarried second to Charles Treadwell, my half 7^th great granduncle in a different lineage.

Generation 4:  Benjamin Swett m. Elizabeth Norton

Generation 5:   Elizabeth Swett m. David Batchelder

Generation 6:  Elisha Batchelder m. Sarah Lane

Generation 7:  Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 8: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 9:  George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ ANDREWS of Boxford, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 13, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/02/surname-saturday-andrews-of-boxford.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ WEARE of Newbury and Hampton, New Hampshire

WEARE / WYER 

The two brothers, Nathaniel and Peter Weare, first settled in Newbury, Massachusetts.  Nathaniel wear was one of the 91 proprietors of Newbury (first grantees of land) in December 1642.  Nathaniel later removed to Nantucket, where he died in 1681, and Peter removed to York, Maine where he died about 1690. Nathaniel Weare (1605 – 1681) was my 10^th great grandfather.

Nathaniel’s daughter, Hester, married Capt. Benjamin Swett in 1647 and removed to Hampton, New Hampshire with her brother, Nathaniel Weare, Jr. and his family.  They settled in what is now Hampton Falls.  Both Captain Swett and Nathaniel, Jr. had been leasing land in Newbury from John Woodbridge.   Hester’s husband, Capt. Swett, died fighting the Indians in 1677, during King Philip's War, and she remarried to Ensign Stephen Greenleaf of Newbury.   He was from the same family as the famous poet Stephen Greenleaf Whittier.  It is a coincidence that the poet Whittier died years later at the same farm in Hampton Falls that was the Swett homestead. 

Nathaniel Weare’s deposition 26 October 1695 “…that about the year of our Lord God 1655 my brother in-law Capt. Benjamin Swett and my self had a lease of the honorable Mr. John Woodbridge of Newberry his farme for seven years, the Northerly or northwesterly side of the sd. Farme was bounded in part with ye land of old Mr. Pike, at the South or the southeasterly corner of the s’ Pik’s land was a springe that was called the watering place nere to which those that had to doe or sd they had to do with ye sd Mr. Pik’s land, did I remember clame a litell pece of land, the quantity or bounds thereof I know not, but the slipe of land, so claymed and the watering place was within the fence of the sd woodbridge’s farme and improved by us that dwelt on the sd farm and by no other as I know of while wee lived on the farm which was to ye yeare 1661 or 1662, and to the best of my remembrance the fence that is betwene the farm of ye sd wood bridge and the sd Pik’s land stands in the same pace as it did for about forty years agoe”.   The signature of Nathaniel Weare, Jr.  [above] is from this deposition at that date.

Some WEARE resources:

“The Swett Family”, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 6 [1852], pages 49 -  61.

“The Nathaniel Weares”, by F. B. Sanborn of Concord, Mass.  Reprinted from The Granite Monthly, 1909, pp.157-166, online at the website for the Hampton Public Library  https://archive.org/details/sim_granite-state-monthly_1909-05_41_5/page/nundefined/mode/1up      

Descendants of Thomas Farr of Harpswell, Maine and Ninety Allied Families, by Edith Bartlett Sumner, 1959, pages 311 – 313. 

Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, by Noyes, Libby and Davis, page 726.

My WEARE genealogy:

Generation 1:  Nathaniel Weare, born about 1605 in England, died 1 March 1681 on Nantucket Island; married about 1629 in England to Sarah Unknown.  Five children.

Generation 2: Hester Weare, born about 1630 in England, died 16 January 1718 at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire;  married on 1 November 1647 in Hampton to Benjamin Swett, son of John Swett and Phebe Unknown.  He was baptized on 12 May 1624 in Wymondham, Norfolk, England and died 29 June 1677 during an Indian raid at Black Point, Scarborough, Maine. Eleven children.

Generation 3: Joseph Swett m. Sarah Andrews

Generation 4: Benjamin Swett m. Elizabeth Norton

Generation 5: Elizabeth Swett m. David Batchelder

Generation 6: Elisha Batchelder m. Sarah Lane

Generation 7: Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 8: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 9: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~  WEARE of Newbury and Hampton, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 6, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/02/surname-saturday-weare-of-newbury-and.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ SWETT of Newbury, Massachusetts

SWETT / SWEET / SWETE

John Swett, my 10^th great grandfather,  was one of the original 91 grantees of Newbury, Massachusetts on 18 May 1642.  He died in Newbury on 13 January 1652.

John Swett’s son, Benjamin, baptized on 12 May 1624 in Wymondham, Norfolk, England, was my 9^th great grandfather.  He married Hester Weare, a daughter of Nathaniel Weare, who was also one of the original Newbury grantees.   The Weare and Swett families removed together from Newbury to Hampton around 1662.  In 1670 Benjamin Swett received a grant of 100 acres from Hampton.   He became the captain of the militia.  During King Philip’s War he was killed at Black Point (Scarborough, Maine) in an Indian raid in 1677.

Benjamin Swett’s widow administered his estate in probate records found in Essex County, Massachusetts.  His estate was valued at 558 pounds, 19 shillings.  The widow remarried to Ensign Steven Greenleaf of Newbury in 1678. 

I descend from Benjamin’s son, Captain Joseph Swett (1658 – 1721) my 8^th great grandfather, who was also the head of the militia and led a company to Saco, Maine in 1703.  He was several times a representative of Hampton to the General Court.   His son, Captain Benjamin Swett (1710 – 1762), my 7^th great grandfather, was also the head of the Hampton militia (three generations!).

Some SWETT resources:

“The Swett Family”, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 6 [1852], pages 49 -  61.

Swett Genealogy:  Descendants of John Swett of Newbury, Massachusetts, by Everett Schemerhorn Stackpole, 1888.

History of Newbury, Massachusetts 1635 – 1902, by John James Currier, 1902.

I found this handy website  “John Swett of Newbury: A Collection of Genealogical Research Papers”  http://swett-genealogy.com/

My SWETT genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Swett, born about 1583 in Norfolk, England, died 13 January 1652; married to Phebe Unknown.  Five children.

Generation 2:  Benjamin Swett, baptized on 12 May 1624 in Wymondham, Norfolk, England and died in an Indian raid on 29 June 1677 in Black Point (now the town of Scarborough), Maine;  married on 1 November 1647 in Hampton to Hester Weare, the daughter of Nathaniel Weare and Sarah Unknown.  She was born about 1630 in England and died 16 January 1718 in Hampton Falls.  Eleven children.

Generation 3: Joseph Swett, born 21 January 1658 in Newbury, died before January 1721 in Hampton; married on 20 November 1701 in Hampton to Sarah Andrews, daughter of Thomas Andrews and Martha Baker.  She was born about 1670 in Boxford, Massachusetts.  Six children.

Generation 4:  Benjamin Swett, born 2 May 1710 in Hampton, died 6 June 1762 in Hampton Falls; married on 20 July 1732 in Hampton to Elizabeth Norton, daughter of Bonus Norton and Mary Goodhue.  She was born 31 March 1703 in Hampton and died 25 March 1759 in Hampton Falls.  Four children.  Benjamin remarried to Mary Green.

Generation 5:  Elizabeth Swett, born 29 May 1742 in Hampton Falls, died 12 August 1769; married on 24 July 1760 in Hampton Falls to David Batchelder, son of Josiah Batchelder and Sarah Page. He was born 13 January 1736 in Hampton Falls, and died 11 March 811 to Hampton Falls.  David remarried to Mary Emery in 1771 in Newbury and had eight more children.

Generation 6:  Elisha Batchelder m. Sarah Lane

Generation 7: Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 8: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 9:  George E. Batchelder m. Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 10: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ SWETT of Newbury, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 30, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/01/surname-saturday-swett-of-newbury.html: accessed [access date]).