Questions on Ancestors in England 1600's

[waynedholland]

I have just "jumped the pond" from Philadelphia, PA to England looking for my ancestors.  My Holland ancestors were very early settlers of Pennsylvania, it started when Joshua Holland bought 5,000 acres of land from William Penn in 1683.    My particular problem is this.  When Joshua and his son John are first mentioned in 1683 they are referred to as shipwrights from Chatham in  the County of Kent,  I have found Joshua's Will in 1690 in a book "American Wills Proved in London" and it refers to Joshua as having land in Shadwell, Middlesex and leaving this land as well as land in Pennsylvania to his son John.  John's widow Maria produced a will from him dated 29 May 1695 saying he was from Pleaston, Essex, which i have not even been able to find such a place,  she and Johns son John Jr produced this will which at the time is noted it was not proved in 1720 in Pennsylvania.  John Jr at this time was stated as being John Holland vintner from London.

My questions is, where in the world do I look for records for them?  Should i search all the places mentioned in the different records?  and what about this place referred to as Pleaston, Essex?   My family genealogy has always thrown me through a loop,  right now I am trying to tie 4 different Holland men into Joshua and John Holland,  they may not be related to them but they all appeared around the same time in Pennsylvania USA,  Thomas Holland probably born around 1700,  Henry Holland born around 1710, Thomas Holland and his wife Maria die in Pennsylvania in 1695 and 1705 respectively, Robert Holland born around 1720 and my GGGG Grandfather Benjamin Holland born around 1758 who I believe is Roberts son, but all of that is for Pennsylvania records and ive gotten a bit off track.

I would love any advice of what my next step should be, thank you

[norfolkandgood]

just a thought, could Pleaston be Plaistow ?

[PrueM]

I was going to suggest the same - Plaistow was the first place that sprang to mind.  It's a long way from Chatham and Shadwell, though 

If John Jr was a vintner in London, you may find some records relating to him at The Vintners' Company:  http://www.vintnershall.co.uk/index.php  Worth a try!

Cheers
Prue

[waynedholland]

Thank you for the Vintners link, i will check that out, would be interesting to see if John is mentioned

[Gardener]

Joshua's will is also available online from the National Archives.

Searching for surname Holland and place Shadwell gives four wills, perhaps they would help you?
I searched from the Canterbury wills link on this page:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/willsdeathduties.asp



You could try this site too
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/
it links to archives around the UK and you can limit your search in various ways.

[Little Nell]

Plaistow in Essex is now within the greater London area: it's on the north bank of the Thames and so not impossible to imagine that someone who had land in Shadwell might also have interests in Plaistow.  Chatham of course is on the south side of the river, but further out to sea along the estuary than either of the other two.  All good sea-faring places - I wouldn't rule it out.

Nell

[waynedholland]

Thank you for the links to the archives pages!  I downloaded the will of Joshua, Thomas and John, the one for Joshua was definently my Joshua, the other two though they might be related its in a way i have not found yet.  I noticed in the transcript and saw it again in Joshua's will he talks about his son's John Holland, Thanks Holland, and Francis Jackson.  It seems odd to me that Joshua Holland's son Francis Jackson would have a different surname.  Any ideas on why this would be?  The will doesnt say  it just refers to him as his son.

Thank you again for all the help,  I will have to see what records I can find for Plaistow as well as Shadwell, and Chatham, to see where Joshua and his children might appear in the parish records.

You guys have been great

Wayne

[PrueM]

Just a thought - could Francis Jackson be what we would now term a son-in-law?  They seemed to be very liberal with the meanings of relationships in earlier times...

[behindthefrogs]

It was usual at that time in wills to refer to a daughter's husband as my son Francis Jackson.  A son in law would be the son of a spouse by a previous marriage.

David