THE ANCESTRY OF JOHN 1VHITNEY SIX HUNDRED COPIES PRINTED FAC81MII,E OF PATENT ROLL, r, HENRY IV. (1404), FIRST PAltT No. 372. SITOWJNO GRANT OF CLIFFORD AND GI,ARBURY TO ROBERT WHJTENEY. WEITNEY OJ.' WH.l'l'NEY. ..4.rn'HI, A.zur•~, n t'.J.'.!)~=:c cbequy or nr.td g,.lh~H . (trtflt. A hull'~ ·hoa(\ cCJ\llh~d t;a.hln~ a.:i·uu~rt. arf(eut-, tlU! _poi11'-~ gult'f-1. A~ T't~~i~U?.x-t-d in. rhc... Colle.;;c. ◊f Arxu$. THE ANCESTRY OF JOIIN WHITNEY WHO, WlTH HIS WIFE ELINOR, AND SONS JOHN, RICHARD, NATHANIEL, THOMAS, .AND JONATHAN, EMIGRATED FROM LONDON, ENGLAND, IN THE YEAR 1635, AND SETTLED IN WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS ; THE FIRST OF THE NAME IN .AMERICA, AND THE ONE FROM WHOM A GREAT MAJORITY OF THE WHITNEYS NOW LIVL'IG IN THE UNITED STATES ARE DESCENDED, BY HENRY l\IELVILLE, A. M., LL. B. OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK NEW-YORK PRINTED AT THE DE VINNE PRESS 1896 Copyright, 1895, by H)iNRY MELVILLE. TO THE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN WHITNEY WHO HONOR THEIR FOREFATHERS AS THEY HOPE TO BE HONORED IN TURN BY POSTERITY THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED PREFACE AT the beginning of the work the results of which appear in the following pages, Mr. JosEPH C. WHIT­ NEY, of Boston, with great courtesy placed freely at my disposal a mass of memoranda accumulated in the course of several years of investigation by his late father HENRY AusTIN WHITNEY. They sug­ gested clearly the parentage of the emigrant, and only the discovery of the register of his baptism at Westminster and the entries in the records of the Merchant Taylors Company, connecting W estmin­ ster with Isleworth, was necessary to complete the chain of proof. Finding that he was the son of Thomas Whitney, "gentleman," of Westminster, there was at once available the manuscript Whitney pedigrees of the British Museum, in which the said Thomas is mentioned. Acknowledgment of indebtedness for kind assis­ tance is also especially due to the Reverend HENRY DEW and Miss JANE B. DEw, of Whitney; the Very Reverend Archdeacon BEVAN, of Hay Castle; Mrs. yfj Vlll Preface MARY DAWSON, daughter of the said Archdeacon, and wife of Colonel DAWSON of the British Army; the Reverend WALWYN TRUMPER, of Clifford; the Rev­ erend H. J. R. MARSTON, of Icomb; the Reverend DAVID ROYCE, of Nether Swell ; and Enw ARD NASH, Esq., clerk of the Merchant Taylors Company. HENRY MELVILLE. New York, November, 1895. WHITNEY HERALDRY THOMAS FULLER, in his famous " History of the Worthies of England," states that the arms of Sir Robert \Vhitney, of Whitney, Knight, who was sheriff of Herefordshire in the first year of Richard II. (13i7), were "Az. a cross cheeky or and Gules." How long these were borne by the family before that date is not known, but, from their nature, it is supposed that they originated during the early cru­ sades. The records of the various Herald's Visita­ tions, found in the College of Arms and among the Harleian l\Ianuscripts in the British Museum, show that they remained unchanged till the emigration of John Whitney in 1635. The same authorities describe the crest that went with the arms as " A bull's head, couped sa. armed arg. the points gu." Fairbairn's " Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland," revised by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Edinburgh, 1892, gives the motto of the Whitneys of Herefordshire as "Magnanimiter cru­ cem sustine" (gallantly uphold the cross). It also indicates that all the Whitney families in Great Brit­ ain have retained the original crest substantially un­ altered; for example: "WHITNEY, of Merton, Wexford, a bull's head couped sa., the horns arg., the points gu. ix X Whitney Heraldry WHITNEY, of Cheshire, in Gloucester, same crest. "WHITNEY, of Hertfordshire, same crest. "WHITNEY, of Shropshire, a bull's head sa. attired per fesse gu. and arg. "WHITNEY, Benjamin, Esquire, of Upper Fitzwil­ liam street, Dublin, Ireland, a bull's head couped sa. armed arg., tipped gu. gorged with a collar chequy or. and sa., and charged upon the neck below the collar with a cross crosslet arg. "FETHERSTON-WHITNEY, Edmund Whitney, Es­ quire, of Neopass, County Westmeath, Ireland- I, a bull's head couped sa., horned arg., tipped gu., gorged with a collar chequy arg. and gu. (for Whitney); 2, an antelope statant arg., attired or. (for Fetherston)." The originals of the two colored plates, showing respectively the Whitney arms and crest alone, and a shield with sixteen quarterings, were prepared by Charles H. Athill, Esquire, Richmond Herald, at the College of Arms, London. The third plate, with sixty­ four quarterings, showing the impalement to which the great-grandparents of the emigrant were entitled, is the work of Mr. Gildersome-Dickinson, of London, and should be compared with a chart, arranged by him, which appears as an appendix. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION . • • 1 CH.APTER I ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE WmTNEY F .AMILY 7 Location and description of the parish of Whitney and the river Wye. Derivation of the name Whitney. Earliest mention. Origin of Whitney as a surname. Turstin the Fleming and Agnes de Merleberge. The grant of land to the Monastery of St. Peter. Origin of the name De Wigemore. Change from De Wige­ more to De Whitney. Description of the Marches of Wales. Probable Character of the early Whitneys. Origin of the Whitney arms. CHAPTER II THE WHITNEYS OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY, 41 Table of the reigns of the Sovereigns of England. The Testa de Nevill, 1242. Robert the earliest his­ toric Whitney. John de Wytteneye, overseer of the King's Castle at Bristol, 1252. John de Wytteneye, assassinated in Hereford, 1272. Sir Eustace de Whitney confirms grant of his ancestors to St. Peters, about 1280; Lord of Pencombe, Little Cow­ arne, and Whitney, 1281 ; granted Free Warren in Pencombe, Whitney, and Caldwell, 1284; summoned to military service beyond the seas, 1297; tenant of part of the Manor of Huntington, 1299; summoned to Scottish War, 1301. iii zi Xll Table of Contents CHAPTER III PA.GE THE WHITNEYS OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 51 The first Whitney in Parliament, 1313. John de W ytteneye, the monk of Westminster, 1303. John de Wytteneye, adviser of Edward II., 1314. Sir Eustace de Whitney, Member of Parliament, 1351-52. Sir Robert de Whitney in retinue of Duke of Clarence, 1368; Member of three Parliaments, 1376, 1379, 1380; Sheriff of Herefordshire, 1377. Sir Robert Whitney, Commissioner to negotiate treaty in Flan­ ders, 1388; Member of Parliament, 1391. Commis­ sioner to France, 1393 ; Knight Marshal at Court of Richard II. ; sent to Ireland on the King's business in 1394; killed" at the capture of Edmund Mortimer," 1402. CHAPTER IV THE WHITNEYS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 74 Grant of the Castle of Clifford and the lordships of Clifford and Glasbury to Robert Whitney on ac­ count of the services of his father. Description of Clifford. Connection by marriage of the Whitney and Oldcastle families. Sir Robert Whitney, Sheriff, 1413 ; Member of Parliament, 1416 ; Captain of Fortress of Vire, 1420 ; Member of Parliament, 1422; Sheriff, 1428, 1433, 1437; died, 1441. Thomas Whitney at Agincourt, 1415; granted land in France, 1419. Sir Eustace Whitney ; marriages; adventure as Royal Commissioner in Wales; Member of Par­ liament, 1468. Robert Whitney attainted as a York- ist, 1459; Sheriff, 1476; marriage to Alice Vaughn; her ancestry; Epithalamium by Lewis Glyn Cothi ; marriage to Constance Touchett ; her descent from William the Conqueror. Table of Contents xiii CH.APTER V PAGE THE WHITNEYS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 116 James Whitney; his mamage to Blanche Milbourne; her ancestry and possessions. Description of !comb. James Whitney, Receiver of Newport, 1521-22. James Whitney, Sewer of the Chamber, 1516; Re­ ceiver General, etc., 1530. Robert Whitney of !comb; marriage; in charge of estate of Duke of Bucking­ ham, 1523; Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1527-1530; nominated Knight of the Bath at Coronation of Anne Boleyn, 1533 ; pensioned from Monastery lands, 1535 ; " Attendant upon the King's person," in war of 1536, supplying forty men ; death, 1541 ; will. John Whitney, the "bedfellow" of Roger As­ cham. Robert Whitney, knighted, 1553; summoned by privy council, 1555, 1559 ; in Parliament, 1559; marriage; ancestry of his wife, Sybil Baskerville; quarterings of Whitney Arms; Inquest post mor- tem, 1567. James Whitney, knighted, 1570; Sheriff, 1574, 1586, 1587; Suitor for hand of Barbara Ga­ mage ; death 1587; will. CHAPTER VI THE LAST OF THE WHITNEYS OF WHITNEY 181 Eustace Whitney, Sheriff, 1596; marriage and family. Sir Robert Whitney, knighted, 1617; Sheriff, 1639; officer in Cavalier Army at Worcester; marriage to daughter of Sir Thomas Lucy, and family. Constance Whitney's monument at St. Giles. Lucy Booth's monument in Hereford Cathedral. Sir Thomas Whitney, knighted by Charles II.; the last, of the· Whitneys of Whitney. Disposition of the, estate; Chain of title; present condition. Whitney Castle. Whitney Court. XlV Table of Contents CHAPTER VII PA.GE COLLATERAL WHITNEY FAMILIES • • • • • • 196 The Whitneys of Coole Pilate. Geoffrey Whitney, Poet. Thomas Whitney of Hay, Soldier. William Whitney of Abergeoir, Soldier. John Whitney of London, friend of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Geoffrey Whitney of London, Merchant Taylor. Walter Whitney of London, Plasterer. Sir William Whitney, Baronet. Thomas Whitney of Dieulacres, Abbot. Captain James Whitney, "Highwayman." Captain Thomas Whitney, "Pirate." CHAPTER VIII THE ANCESTRY OF JOHN WHITNEY • 207 Robert, third son of Sir Robert Whitney. Thomas Whitney of Westminster, son of Robert; his mar­ riage, children, death, and estate. John Whitney, son of Thomas, shown to have been the emigrant by the records of the Merchant Taylors Company.