THK èfïLWSU F AMI LT IK EKQUSD AH5 ltó»t«?*i by I, B. »TIU*EU* of Soranton« PUBLIC LIBRARY Or THE CITY OF DENVER THE STILLWELL'S IN ENGLAND About the years 445-6 the British Inhabitants of England., de­ serted by the Roman Masters, who had enervated while they protected them, and exposed to the ravages of Plots and Scots from the extreme portions of the Island, called in the assistance of heathen Saxons from the Continent of Europe, The strangers faithfully performed their task and chastised the Northern invaders, then in scorn of the weakness of their employers subjected them to the yoke, and after various vicis­ situdes of fortune established their own power upon the ruins of Roman and British civilization, (Kembles Saxons in England.) They in turn succumbed to the Northern invaders, William the Conqueror, parcelled out much of the land to his followers yet "the acttijal occupants of the soil largely retained possession,M A crowd of well-to-do Thöanj3 and Churls seem to have been left undisturbed (Freeman's Norman Conquest,) Prom such a mixture of blood the earlier Stillwell's sprang, Wauborough, or Wodensbearh, in Surrey County, England, is sit­ uated upon the water-shed, from which flows streams of water to North and South, and running from East to west, divides the county into two nearly equal portions, and wh-fch is known as the "Hogs Pack", It is a little to the North of the Ridge, and very nearly on the summit. The springs (^ells) of water that abound here are very pure and never freeze. Some are high on the hillsides, others are in the low places. Some are bubbling, others still. In all probability it has been a sacred site for every reli;ion that has been received in England (Kemble), i This place early obtained the name of the High Still Wells, and the first record we have of the Stillwell's is here of the Still- well's of the High Still veils. It was applied as a surname to the family then In occupancy, aboxit the year 1450, whose descendants began to spread over Southern England. How the Stillwell came into possession of the large estate it anciently owned here is involved in the mists of antiquity, but it is positive that at one time there was a vast estate belonging to or owned by one person or family of our name. In the process of time this estate came to be divided, most of it being in Witley parish, adjacent to Thursley. A portion was sold and became incorporated with the estate, now called Lea. The other portion was absorbed into Cosford (originally Gowsford) an adjacent estate also belonging to the Stillwell's. The records speak of the Stillwell's of Collopmore, of Squires of Redland, of Longmore and of Brooke, each having its Stillwell head and contain such records as these. In 1553 Elizabeth Stillwell of Squires was christened. In 1555, Thomas Stillwell of Longmore was marr­ ied to Jane Ohetwood. In 1561, April 25th, Thomas Weller buried & man "whoe died upon ye hihe wale by John Stillwell of SquiresIn 1592, John Stillwell of Collopmore paid duties on ,oods as did John Stillwell of Brooke, By marriage with an heiress of the family of Shudd, there was brought to the Stillwell's of Cosford the estate of Mousehill (ancient­ ly Mowshill) a small manor In the parish of Witley, of which Robert Court was Lord I of Henry IV to Henry V. From the Courts, the estate passed to the Shudds, of which Richard Shudd, Fsq., was Lord in the 27 of Henry VIII» This f-lchard Shudd died and left a widow Mary, who married John Stillwell, and a son, John Shudd, The estate passed to Thomas Shudd, who held his first Court 14th, of James, 1616, Thomas Shudd had a son of the same name, who appears as Lord in 23 of Charles II, 1671, He left an only child, Joan, who carried the estate in marriage, as "before mentioned, to John Stillwell of Cosford, and held a Court in the name of Joanna Stillwell, widow, in 1701, John Stillwell was succeeded by his son John, who in turn was succeeded by his son John, to whom he gave Cosford and the Manor of Mousehill, but the land of Mousehill, he gave to his son Edmund, The last mentioned John had an only son named James, who in 1785 while retaining Cosford, conveyed the Manor to his cousin John Stillwell, son of Ed­ mund and then the owner of the lands at Mousehill, so that they became reunited, and so descended to John Stillwell, Esq., who by his wife Mary, daughter of Mr, Fielder of Killinghurst in Chiddingfold, became heir to her brother on his death without issue in 1791, The house at Mousehill, with its surroundings was much improved and was occupied by John Stillwell, Esq., until the year 1824, when he sold the same to Lord Middleton, in whose family it still remains and by whom It is rented (1890) to Mr, Kingslake, a Barrister, After selling the Mousehill estate, John Stillwell, Hsq., with­ drew to Killinghurst, which has been in the possession of his wife's family—the Fielders—since 1630, with a history dating back to the time of Henry III, 1220, Here his Grandson, J.J.R,Stillwell, now resid­ es, improving his estate, and interested in collecLing data for the history of Chiddingfold parish. He with his two sons represent the Stillwell's of High Still Wells, Mousehill, Cosford and Killinghurst 3 once a numerous family, but now nearly extinct* Mr, Stillwell has tak­ en much interest and has expended large amounts of money in restoring and rescuing from the oblivion the memorials of his ancestors in Thursley churchyard. Close to the church there is a row of extremely large sarcophagi, which until recently were overgrown with ivy, and while picturesque were undecipherable and rapidly decaying. The front of a large one bears the inscription "The Family Vault of the Stillwell's of High Still Wells, Cosford, Mousehill and Killinghurst" and its side bears the inscription "The Tombs of High Still Wells Cosford, Mouaehill and Killinghurst (in this church-yard) were reno­ vated June, 1889, by John James Russell Stillwell, t heir representative" Besides these Thurley churchyarå. contains monuments in memory of the following persons of the Stillwell name: John Stillwell of Cosford, died January 17, 1767, aged 77 yrs. Joanna Stillwell, his wife, daughter of James and Joanna Inwood of Vvauborough, died May 10, 1762, aged 71 years, and was buried in the Quaker burial grounds at Alton church, Mary Hawkins, their daughter, wife of John Hawkins of Alton; died February 16, 1793, aged 72 years, and is buried in the Family Vault at Alton Church, John Stillwell, Esq., of Mousehill and Killinghurst, died October 50, 1854, aged 73 years, Edward Lamden of London, died January 6, 1774, aged 55 years, Mary, his wife, daughter of Edmund and Mary Stillwell, died May 14, 1781, aged 52 years, Edmund Stillwell, of Mousehill, in the parish of Witley, died July 1, 1788, aged 62 years, 4 Mary, his wife, died November 23, 1762, aged 41 years. Mary Fielder, their daughter, died, December 8, 1762, aged 2 mos. Mr. John Stillwell, of Cosford, died January 14, 1732, aged 70 years. Margaret Stillwell, his wife, died March 19, 1722, aged 45 yrs. The following is a brief history of our genealogy of the Collopmore branch of the Stillwell family in Surrey, England: I. John Stillwell. of Collopmore, born l.c15. Died 1558. Wife, Joan, died 1585. Issue, John 2, born 1539. Robert 3, 1541. Henry 4, 1545. Katharine 5, 1549, Winifred 6, 1551. 2* John Stillwell. Married Jane Parle, Issue John 7, 1562. Jane 8, 1563; married Thomas Foster. Richard 9, 1565. Nicholas 10, 1570. 7. John Stillwell, born 1562, died 1610? wife Elizabeth, died 1640, Issue, John, 11, 1590, Emma 12, 1591, Elizabeth 13, 1594; mar­ ried Peter Darby; Henry 14, 1597j Temperance 15, 1595 and Stephen 16, 1604. 9, Richard Stillwell, married Elizabeth Peake; issue Elizabeth, 17 1580j Nicholas, 18, 1582; Elizabeth, 19; Edward, 20; John 21; Joan 22; Richard, 23; Mark, 24. 10« Nicholas Stillwell. born 1570; wife Alice. Nicholas dJed 1607. Issue Emma, 25, 1595; Elizabeth, 26, 1597; Edwin, 27; Jasper, 28; Nicholas, 29; Mabel, 30; John, 31, II, John Stillwell, born 1590; died 1655; married Jane Constable, inherited Collopmorei Issue, Jane, married Edward Pouch, Joanne Mary, married !ir. Holton, 14, Henry Stillwell, born 1597; issue John, who died young; Mary, who married Nicholas Lewis, and Jane, 5 16, Stephen Stillwell, torn 1604, Married Jane Elliott, who died 1632. Issne: William, 32j Marie, 35; horn 1634. Elizabeth, 34, born 1637; Jane, 35, born 1640, died 1673;: Stephen, 36, born 1643. 27. Edwin Stillwell, married Elizabeth Naakes, who died March 19, 1636. Issue: Edwarc, 37; John 38; Daniel, 39. 28. Jasper Stillwell, married Sarah Hertes. Issue, Susan, Elizabeth Sarah and Jane. Jasper emigrated to America. 29. Nicholas Stillwell. Name of wife unknown. Nicholas emigrated to America in 1638. 30 Mabel Stillwell. Married Robert Cooke. Issue: John Cooke, the Regicide. 31. John Stillwell: married Mary Taylor, issue: Mary, 1664; John, 1667; Elizabeth, 1669, who dies the same year.. 34. Edmund Stillwell; married Catharine Burger, died 1668. Issue:John 40. John Stillwell, born 1670, died 1703. Married Mary Mansfield of Dorking. Issue, William, born 1702. Thomas Stillwell, married Msrtha Gillian of Dorking. Issue, John, 45; James, 46; Thomas, 47; William, 48. 42 William Stillwell, torn 1763.