The genealogy of my extended family
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Name | Alexander SHAPLEIGH | |
Born | 1574 | Kingsweare, Brixham, Devonshire, England |
Gender | Male | |
Migration | Abt 1635 | |
Noteworthy | First landholder in Kittery, Maine | |
Occupation | Merchant, ship builder | |
Will Notes | Various Deeds/Wills on Shapleigh Lands in Eliot and Kittery Various deeds/wills etc on Shapleigh Lands in Eliot and Kittery: The full sequence of land transactions of Alexander Shapleigh's original 900 acre tract in Sturgeon Creek Village (now Eliot) and the 500 acre tract in Kittery Point Village (adjacent to Francis Champernowne's 500 acre tract) follows: 1. Deed 2 June 1633 - Neale to Cammock ( granted unto Gorges/Mason by the President and Counsell of the said Province ((Mayne, within the territtorie of New England)) to Capt Walter Neale, Governor of the Collonies). "a true coppie of the originall Deede recorded at the Generall Courte holden at Saco" on 20 July 1642. ((Source Maine Wills, #1-1640-1760 compiled and edited by William M. Sargent, A.M., of the Cumberland Bar, Member of the Maine Historical Society, of the Maine Genealogical Society, and of the Gorges Society - Portland: Brown Thurston & Co, 1887.) 2. Deed 1 May 1634 of royal land grant from Mason/Gorges to Capt. Thomas Cammock, later sold to Alexander Shapleigh through his agent, grandson John Treworgy. Appears to be a confirmation of earlier transaction in 1 above from Neale to Cammock. "a true coppie of the originall Deede recorded at Generall Courte holden at Saco on 20 July 1642". (Maine Wills #3, by Sargent) 3. Indenture date 20 January 1636 from Cammock to Alexander Shapleigh. "a true coppie of the originall Deede recorded at the Generall Courte holden at Saco on 20 July 1642" - Consideration 20 Pounds Sterling. (Maine Wills #2, by Sargent). 4. Deed 9 July 1633 Governor Neale to Thomas Wannerton and thence Deed 1 March 1637 from Wannerton to Alexander Shapleigh, through grandson, John Treworgy (apparently recorded 20 November 1642) - Consideration 30 Pounds. "A True copy Examd P Wm Pepperrell Clerk". (Pioneers on MaineRivers, by Spencer) 5. Deed 26 May 1642 - recorded 3 July 1650 - from Alexander Shapleigh to James Treworgy due to embarrassing debts outstanding in England. Consideration 700 Pounds. (Probably included Kittery Pt property). Source York County Deeds, Part I, Fol. 7. 6. Deed 2 April 1641 from Treworgy to Nicholas Shapleigh - Eliot and Kittery Pt property. Consideration 1,500 Pounds. York County Deeds, Vol 1, Part 1, Folio 1. 7. Deed 24 December 166 2 from Nicholas Shapleigh to Walter Barefoot all of Kittery Pt property. Consideration 300 Pounds. York County Deeds, Book 8, Fol. 135. The Preface to Sargent's publication reads as follows: "RESOLVE in favor of publishing all Maine Wills recorded prior to the time of the separation of the Counties. Resolved, That if the Maine Historical Society shall cause to be compiled and copied all the wills recorded in this state prior to the time of the separation of the counties, from the records in the county clerk's office, the registry of deeds, and the probate office of York County (a total of 471 wills), and have the same duly attested by the several officers having custody thereof, and have the same printed in one volume complete, with a full index, in form similar to the volumes of Suffolk deeds, lately published by the City of Boston, the governor and council shall purchase for the state two hundred copies thereof, at five dollars per volume, and that a copy of said volume be placed in each registry of deeds and each registry of probate in the state. [Approved February 20, 1887]" Until 1760, the County of York embraced the entire Province of Maine. "In the arrangement of the wills that was adopted, the sequence of the lettered and numbered volumes in the several offices has been followed, rather than an alphabetical, or chronological order, although thereby the sequence in time was necessarily disarranged, the earliest will in point of time, that of Captain Thomas Cammock, dated September 21, 1640, recorded in Book 2 of the Registry of Deeds, being printed at page 53. [http://shapleigh0.tripod.com/shapleighfamilyassociation/id1.html] | |
Immigrant? | Y | |
Historical Notes | he history of the Shapleigh family runs far back into the dim ages of the past. It was one of the early families of England, and though not so numerous as some of the other families, has ever been one of distinction. The origin of the name, Shapleigh, probably dates back nearly ten centuries. In the remote past Saxon men, in common with other men of that period, were known by one name only. When family and neighborhood groups increased in size and a name therefore became more common, two or more men having the same name became distinguished one from another by adding a word or phrase describing a distinctive attribute of the individual, such as his looks, an unusual habit, or dwelling place. Eight hundred years ago, in the Parish of Upylyme (Upper Lyme), in Devonshire, Southern England, which was an important sheep-raising parish not far from Kingsweare, there was a farm, according to old historical records which bore the name, Shapwick. In the Saxon-derived language of those days shap meant sheep, and wick meant farm. A man living on this farm might have been known as John Shapwick (John of the Sheep Farm). Another John, a sheep-raising neighbor whose home was on a nearby meadow, would have the name, John Shapleigh (John of the Sheep Meadow), shap meaning sheep, and leigh meaning meadow, thus distinguishing him from his neighbor, John Shapwick. In this manner the name, Shapleigh, originated. Kingsweare, about thirty miles from the Shapwick farm in Upylyme, which was located on the River Teign, was probably the birthplace of our ancestor, Alexander Shapleigh the Immigrant. We know little about his parents or grandparents, though research in the Parish Records of Dartmouth and Totnes and in the old records preserved in the Guild Hall Library in London would undoubtedly bring to light many interesting facts concerning his ancestors. However, in the "Visitation of Devon, 1620" there are listed numerous Shapleighs bearing baptismal names of Anglo-Saxon origin, names which are still common among the present-day Shapleighs in America. These include such names as Richard, Robert, Thomas, John, William, Mary, Dorothy and Elizabeth. The Shapleighs of England and America have descended from Teutonic barbarians, Saxons who fifteen hundred years ago were hunters, fisherman and pirates, living among the swamps and dense forests in the lowlands bordering the Weser and Elbe Rivers in Northwestern Germany. Extending their raids along the shores of the North Sea and finally to the English Channel, these marauders eventually found in Southwestern England a region of gentle hills and fertile valleys, and a mild and pleasant climate. Its rivers gave easy access to inland areas. Its numerous fine harbors provided safe anchorage for their many boats. Forsaking their dreary northern homeland, these plunderers in quest of booty finally settled here in about 495 A.D. forcing the native Celts into serfdom or driving them into the rugged hills and mountains of Cornwall and Wales. By 577 A.D. the invaders were in full control of the coastal regions of Southern England, their speech and customs replacing those of the Celts. Along the western coast they became known as Weswt Saxons, founding the Kingdom of Wessex. In the village of Kingsweare, located here, Alexander Shapleigh, ancestor of the Shapleighs in America, was born more than a thousand years later. The newcomers soon forsook their pillaging habits, turning to sheep raising, farming and trading. During the following ten centuries, descendants of these intruders, at one time led by their renowned king, Alfred the Great, repulsed invasions by other Northmen and later, after a long struggle, drove their Norman conquerors back to France. The Saxon leaders became great landowners, eventually barons and earls, close to royalty. During the War of the Roses, 1453-1471, the Duke of York and the Peers of the House of Lancaster engaged in a long struggle, the prize being the sovereignty of England. The Shapleighs fought under the banner of the Lancastrians, whose symbol was the red rose. The House of York chose the white rose as its emblem. The war thus derived its name, the War of the Roses. The Yorkists were finally victorious. The Shapleigh nobility lost their titles, wealth and political power. Those who survived turned to trade and commerce, but in their heraldic emblem, the Shapleigh Coat of Arms, they retained the red roses of the House of Lancaster. Devon County, in the West of England, was one of the Shapleighs early homes, and the one from which the American branch of the family emigrated. We find a Robert Shapleigh living at Dartmouth about the year 1500, or shortly thereafter; a John Shapleigh at Totnes, an old man in 1600; a Nicholas at Woolborough; and two or three generations by the name of Alexander and Nicholas at Kingsweare, on the River Dart, opposite the city of Dartmouth. By the late 1500s the Shapleighs living in Devonshire, in the communities of Dartmouth, Kingsweare and Totnes had become citizens of importance, active in local politics and engaged in mercantile pursuits on land and sea. The 15th through 17th Century Mayoral Roll at the Totnes, Devon, Guild Hall lists John Shapleigh who was first elected Mayor of Totnes in 1602. Robert Shapleigh also served in 1642 and 1657. William Shapleigh in 1672 completed the seventy year span of Shapleigh mayoral service. When in 1588 the great Spanish Armada neared Plymouth, a neighboring important seaport, on its way to invade England, we may be sure that Alexander Shapleigh, then a boy three years of age, watched the ships owned by Shapleighs sail from Kingsweare Harbor to join the motley fleet of English merchant and fishing vessels which, with their more powerful guns and superior seamanship, turned back the mighty Armada only a few miles from Alexander's home and finally destroyed it. The Dart River, at Kingsweare, where Alexander Shapleigh was from continues in a narrow channel between the hills of Kingsweare and Dartmouth, on its way to the English Channel. In 1481 a strong defensive tower, known as Dartmouth Castle, was built at the narrow entrance of the channel, from which a heavy chain protecting the entrance was extended across the channel to the Kingsweare shore, In 1501 a similar but smaller tower, Kingsweare Castle, was constructed, as shown on the map. It is said that a winch located in a still visible cave among the rocks near Kingsweare Castle was used to raise and lower the chain, to foil enemy ships or to permit passage of friendly vessels. In this historic setting our ancestor, Alexander Shapleigh, grew to manhood during the reign of Elizabeth, England's great queen. Living during her reign was the great dramatist, William Shakespeare (1564-1616), whose birthplace and retirement home were about one hundred and fifty miles, as the crow flies, from Kingsweare. Shakespeare's real name, according to one writer engaged in literary research, was William Shapleigh! Among other contemporaries of Alexander who were familiar with Kingsweare Harbor were the adventurers, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh, settlers in the New World, Queen Elizabeth's favorites; Captain John Smith, explorer, colonist, writer; Sir Fernando Gorges, astute businessman and Lord Proprietor of the Province of Maine in New England, for whom Alexander Shapleigh, as did also Captain John Smith, served as business agent; and Captain Francis Champernowne, Alexander Shapleigh's friend and associate in business in Kingsweare, who sailed from there only a year after Alexander had emigrated to America, and established his home close by Alexander's house and trading post at Kittery Point. The Dart River, finding its way to the sea through the beautiful countryside of Southern England, narrows its channel as it passes between the two high, steep hills a half mile before entering the English Channel. On the slope of the eastern hills rises the ancient, terraced village of Kingsweare, the English home of Alexander Shapleigh the Immigrant before he came to America. Up the river, just beyond the hills of Kingsweare and Dartmouth, lies the sheltered, deep-water harbor. A busy seaport for many centuries, from this harbor in 1189 the Crusaders, under the leadership of King Richard the Lion-Hearted (Coeur de Lion), embarked for the Holy Land, as did also earlier Crusaders. More than four centuries later the Mayflower, in 1620, on its way to Plymouth Rock entered Kingsweare Harbor for repairs to its sister ship, the Speedwell. And from this seaport Alexander Shapleigh, ancestor of the Shapleighs in America, carried on his extensive maritime enterprises. —— Alexander Shapleigh the Immigrant Alexander Shapleigh, the pioneer of the American Branch of the Family, was born apparently at Kingsweare, about 1574, and was probably the s/o Nicholas Shapleigh, of that place, but of this we are not quite sure. Alexander Shapleigh, as described in available historical records, became a man of importance in Kingsweare. He was a merchant, shipbuilder, and owner of vessels engaged in extensive commerce in Europe and in the New World. There can be little doubt but what he had agents in America and did business long before he purchased land in what was afterwards the town of Kittery. The purchase of land was an afterthought, brought about by the King's grant to the Council of Plymouth and their grant to Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Before that, land in America was common domain, and its use and products were free to the citizens of England. It now became cheaper to purchase land and have the protection of the government than to do a clandestine business. The Shapleighs of Dartmouth and Kingsweare were mostly merchants. Their ships traversed almost every sea, and were especially engaged in commerce between England and America. They would bring over knives, hatchets, coarse cloth and trinkets of all kinds from England and exchange with the Indians for valuable furs and skins, taking back at the same time a shipload of masts and round timber which they could then cut, with very little trouble, almost anywhere. In this way they accumulated quite a respectable property. A large importer of salt from the salt mines of France and Spain, Alexander sold this commodity not only to English markets but also to the numerous European fishing fleets operating during the summer months off the northern shores of North America. These fleets had found their most productive fishing grounds in the shallow sea surrounding a group of islands described at length and named the Isles of Shoals by the famous Captain John Smith during his explorations along the Maine Coast in 1614. Located ten miles offshore from the mouth of the Piscataqua River, where Alexander Shapleigh later settled, these islands became the center of the dressing, salting and curing of fish caught nearby, including the salmon and sturgeon found at that time in great abundance in the Piscataqua River and its many tributaries. Having been appointed an agent of Sir Fernando Gorges, who had already developed extensive commercial operations along the coast of Maine, it is probable that Alexander Shapleigh, in the interests of his employer, came to Maine several times before emigrating to Amerca. During these trips of investigation, which he undoubtedly made, he had ample opportunity to estimate the large profits which he might reap if he stationed a fishing fleet at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, and opened a nearby trading post dealing in furs and supplying the many needs of fishermen, settlers and Indians, including the highly prized firewater. Water-power sawmills could also be built, easily provided with logs of virgin oak and pine floated down the numerous streams. And lumber was at that time in great demand, not only in the coastal colonies but also in the shipyards and cities of England. The prospects for success in such ventures apparently persuaded Gorges' agent to extend his own activities in New England. Accordingly, Alexander Shapleigh came to Kittery, Maine, in 1635, sailing with his neighbor Captain Francis Champernowne in their jointly-owned ship "Benediction" to Piscataqua Plantations, the original name for the Kittery, Maine-Portsmouth, New Hampshire area. One of five original villages of Piscataqua Plantations on the Maine side of the Piscataqua River was named Kittery Point and later became the Town of Kittery in 1647. It is the oldest town in the State of Maine and, until 1820, was known as the Province of Maine. | |
Died | Bef 5 Jul 1650 | Devonshire, England |
Person ID | I6649 | Main |
Last Modified | 16 Oct 2023 |
Family 1 | Jane EGBERE, b. Abt 1618 | |||||||||||||||
Children |
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Last Modified | 11 Sep 2017 | |||||||||||||||
Family ID | F10726 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Family 2 | Margaret BLOEDEL, b. 1585, Kingsweare, Devonshire, England or Lille, Nord, France , d. 1602, England (Age 17 years) | |||||
Married | Abt 1597 | Devonshire, England | ||||
Children |
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Last Modified | 17 Dec 2023 | |||||
Family ID | F11358 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Event Map |
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Pin Legend | : Address : Location : City/Town : County/Shire : State/Province : Country : Not Set |
Notes |
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Sources |
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This website uses dates from the Gregorian calendar (New Style), unless otherwise noted.
For more information on dates, see Wikipedia: Old Style and New Style dates.
I strive to document my sources. However, some people and dates are best guesses and will be updated as new information is revealed. If you have something to add, please let me know.
Updated 23 Dec 2023