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Hi
I am unable to visit Sussex archives and was wondering whether somebody has access to parish registers for Rye?

I am looking for Huguenot baptisms and burials in Rye between 1568-1580s and am struggling to find what I am looking for in transcriptions for Rye parish church (St Mary). My ancestor William (Guillaume) Boucherett came to Rye in 1568 with a wife (unsure of her name) and probably two sons. He died in Rye in 1580 (will dated 22.6.1580, went to probate 21.7.1580), but I would like to find his burial, which presumably took place in Rye. In most records he is Guillaume and in his will William, both first and surname have the usual colourful 16th century spelling variations.
William's will also mentions his 4th son Gedeon (my ancestor), who definitively was born in England and since William stayed in Rye until making his will (and thus probably death) I assume Gedeon was born in Rye. I cannot though find his baptism amongst the transcripts for the parish church, is anybody able to find him?
The family seem to have still been in Rye in 1589 and I was also hoping to find William's widow's burial (she outlived him, but is not recorded in his will by name), her name may possibly have been Joanne (but am not certain).
Thank you for any help

I have been to Lincoln archives many times and do have original copies of all the early Mackinder wills. Unfortunately I cannot publish these copies without permission of the relevant archive, since we all have to sign declarations when taking photographs of original records in England. Digital copies of all of these records though can be obtained from Lincoln Archives and I have included the order codes.

I personally do not feel that there is any definitive evidence to suggest that Artemas Mackinder was the son of Jacob Mackinder (died in 1606), although there is no evidence to say he wasn't either. I have transcribed Jacob's will below as I read it and have also listed the order code for this will (LCC Will = Lincoln Consistory Court Will). The Mackinder book mentioned above also states in regards to Jacob that: 'All his bequests were monetary, so from the will it isn't possible to learn how he lived.' As previously mentioned there is a surviving inventory for Jacob's house, which lists his possessions at time of death. The original record is online: https://www.lincstothepast.com/Inventory---Makender--Jacob--1605-1606--------/1315690.record?pt=S

Transcription of LCC Wills 1606/260 Jacob Makender of Aubourn held at Lincoln Archives:
In the name of God Amen the 29th day of May in ye yeare of our Lord 1606. I Jacob Makender of Haddingts in the pishe of Awburne & Countie of Lincoln husbandman sicke in body but whole in mynd & of good and perfect remembrance (thankes be to god) do make and ordaine this my last Will & Testament in manner & forme following: That is to say first I give & bequeth my soule into the hands of allmightie god my only maker and redeemer and my body to the earth from whence it came. Itm I give to the churche of Awburne ten shillings towards the repare of it. Itm I give to James Ruxton & to Elizabeth Ruxton children of Robt Ruxton my brother inlaw fortie shillings joyntly betwext them. Itm I give to Isbell Ruxton my sister Xs. Itm I give to Willm Gresswell my brother ten shillings. Item I give to Anthony Hewing Vs. Itm I give to Christopher Goodwine my brother ten shillings. Item I give to Elizabeth Wright my sister ten shillings. Itm I give to Elizabeth Gresswell my mother ten shillings. Itm I give to Elizabeth Brand & her sister viiis equally betwext them. Itm I give to Artemas Makender ten shillings. Itm I give to Robt Makender ten shillings. Item I give & bequeth all the rest of my goods unbequethed my Funerall Discharged my debtes & legaces payd, unto Alce Makender my wife making her my whole executrixe of this my last will & Testament. Itm I will & desire John Browne my brother in law to be overseer to see this my last will Discharged & give unto him vs for his paines thesse are witnesses
George Read
Antony Hewing
Willm Gresswell

It may therefore be interesting to look at each of the people mentioned in Jacob's will to get a better picture. This clearly shows that all of his siblings listed appear to have been fairly young people when Jacob died, which would be strange if he was born in 1550 (Artemas was probably in his 40s in 1606), also Jacob's mother (presumably birth mother?) was still alive until 1617/8, which would have made her very old indeed if Jacob had been born in 1550:

William Mackinder the clockmaker was the son of Townson Mackinder (1777-1836). Townson in turn was the son of Charles Mackinder (Born 1728 in Langton by Partney). Charles in turn was the son of John Mackinder (1690-1771) and Ann. John and Ann are my direct ancestors and I descend from their son James (1730-98) who was a yeoman in Spilsby.
This John Mackinder (1690-1771) was the great-Great grandson of our Artemas.  In other words these Spilsby Mackinders were descendants of the Aubourn Mackinders through Artemas.

John Mackinder was born in Washingborough in 1690 and moved to Langton by Partney (just a stones throw from Spilsby). He was the clerk for Burrell Massingberd of South Ormsby manor (the Manor House still exists) and manorial records (cashbook) in John‘s hand writing have survived at Lincoln archives. John earned £20/annum from this work. His wife Ann initially stayed at Reepham near Lincoln, where John had inherited lands and tenements from his father in 1719. Ann must though have followed John to the Langton area by 1726, since their daughter Dinah was baptised that year at South Ormsby and they stayed there.

Now back to Artemas and Aubourn. He did indeed have a son named John - we know this from Artemas’s will. He was in fact quite interesting.  There was a John Macander baptised at Aubourn on 29.8.1591, but the father’s name was not recorded. You can find this baptism in the original Bishops Transcripts (BTS) held at Lincoln archives. I cannot find any other potential baptism for a son of Artemas named John, but of course his will states he had a son by that name. Artemas married his first wife Jane Chamberlain in June 1590, so could absolutely have had a son named John in 1591. This though would have made John his first born child. There is though something odd about John mentioned in Artemas‘s will. John would have been 33 years old when this will was written providing we have the correct baptism! The entry reads: ‘I give unto my sonne John Makender Xiid in full satisfaction of his Childe person.’ This could mean that John was a child, but then where is his baptism? Sometimes indeed parish records are incomplete, but then there would also be a burial missing for the John born in 1591. Or maybe it could mean that John was ‘child like’ in behaviour for example had learning disabilities or he was not deemed sensible, maybe had mental health problems or simply made decisions his father did not agree with. I have an interesting 17th century court case in a completely different branch of my family, where my female ancestor inherited freehold property because her brother (the only son) was not deemed sensible in view of his ‘lunacy’ the poor guy allegedly developed mental health problems after some girl broke his heart (so the court records say). We do have to remember that the 17th century was a very different place. I have at any rate not found what happened to Artemas’s son John after 1624.

There was though another John Mackinder in Aubourn at the time, a yeoman farmer, who died in 1625/6 (buried 27.5.1625/6 in Aubourn). This will will clarify things for you. It is this John who had his children Elizabeth and Frances baptised in April 1611 and Thomas in 1614. I mentioned this John previously, he was the brother of Anthony Mackinder. John’s original will can be obtained from Lincoln Archives order code: LCC Wills 1624-5/417 and I have a copy. The will dated 24.5.1625 even has his own signature showing he could sign his name. This will mentions all of his surviving children and shows that he was born before 1591! His eldest son was William (born 1599 at South Hykeham died 1667, left a will), next son John born in 1603/4 in Aubourn (died 1665, left a will), Thomas (1614-1671 Tailor in Aubourn, left a will and inventory), Mary (eldest daughter according to will, born 1605/6 Aubourn), Frances (youngest daughter according to will). Elizabeth wasn’t mentioned in the will since she died in infancy in 1611/2 (buried 23.2.).

Thomas Makender’s inventory can be viewed online on the Lincs to the Past website reference: INV/173/34. The same website also has original images for the Aubourn inventories of John Makender (1624-5) (INV/129/408), Artemas Makender (1623-1624) (INV/128/317), Jacob Makender (1605-1606) (INV/101/404) and Anthony Makender (2 May 1639) the brother of John who died in 1625 (INV/149/54)

My local archive is Lincoln and I have spent many years searching for original Mackinder records there.

I have a copy of Artemas Makender’s (of Marber (Marlborough) in the parish of Aubourn) will as well and there is a surviving inventory showing the contents of his house too which can be viewed for free online on Lincs to the past. His property was worth £44 18s and 4d. Drawn up by Richard Burrow, Robert Ruxton, Isaac Beverley and William Chamberlane

Inventory - Makender Artemas (1623-1624) IV/128/317

The earliest surviving parish register for Aubourn parish held at Lincoln archives is Aubourn par/1/1, which starts in 1749. so unless a very early 16th century Register for this parish exists at another archive or in private hands there will only be surviving Bishops Transcripts for Aubourn before 1749! These are held at Lincoln Archives and I have viewed these and have copies. There are only 3 surviving BTS records however for Aubourn before 1588 (1562/3, 1565/6 and 1569/70) It is indeed rare to find surviving parish registers for small Lincolnshire parishes going back to the mid 1550s, most did not survive the damp conditions they were kept in, plus the mice etc. Of course as said anything could be in private hands! On 27.6.1823 the Stanford Mercury published a search for some Spilsby solicitors searching for the marriage record of John and Ann Mackinder of Reepham, clearly many have researched the Mackinders before us and records could have gone into private hands!

The BTS record for Aubourn for 1562/3 records Artemas‘s baptism as:‘ Artemas Macant‘r was christened ye XX day of May.’ No parent was recorded with this entry! Unless a surviving parish register can be found though it is impossible to prove whether this is the exact baptism for our Artemas since infants frequently died and later born siblings took on their name.

Jacob Makender husbandman of Haddints (Haddington) in the parish of Aubourn indeed died in 1606 and his will is also held at Lincoln archives (reference Nr: LCC Wills 1606/260) as well as his inventory (INV/10/404). I have a copy of this will dated 29.5.1606 and it does not conclusively show any evidence at all that Artemas or Robert were his sons. Both men were mentioned in the will, but quite far down the list and with no explanation of relationship to Jacob, both getting 10s each, the same amount as most of Jacobs siblings got, but less than Jacob’s nephew and niece!. It is therefore possible that they were his sons, but strange they were listed after most other relatives and without the reference ‘son’! Jacob lists his wife Alice, but doesn’t refer to anybody as his child in his will. He may therefore have died childless! He also mentioned a large number of his siblings/siblings in law as well as his mother Elizabeth Gresswell who was still alive in 1606! There is no record to suggest when Jacob was born (that I have ever seen myself, unless a parish register is found). This and the fact his mother and many siblings were still alive makes me think he was more likely a young or middle aged man when he died, therefore too young to be Artemas’s father). Artemas after all was probably 43/44 years old himself in 1606! Jacob’s mother’s Gresswell surname suggests clearly that Jacobs Mackinder father was dead.  Artemas may have therefore been Jacob’s brother or cousin as well. Jacob listed the following ‘siblings’ (including in laws) the term was used quite widely so of course may include his wife’s siblings, step siblings etc: Isabel Ruxton (sister) and Robert Ruxton (brother in law) and their children James and Elizabeth Ruxton; William Gresswell (‘my brother’), Christopher Goodwine (‘my brother’), Elizabeth Wright (‘my sister’), John Brown (‘my brother in law and overseer of will’) Two other people were recorded without mention of their relationship to Jacob: Anthony Hewing and Elizabeth Brand and her sister, who shared 8d between the two of them.

Jacob’s step father William Gresswell (husband of Elizabeth) died in 1603 (buried 6.3 according to BTS record).

Note also that a Robert Ruxton helped draw up Artemas’s inventory in 1624, which could have been the brother in law mentioned 18 years earlier by Jacob!

Robert Makender was certainly an adult by 1606 since he is one of the men who drew up Jacob’s inventory

Thank you that was very helpful