The Fletcher family of Lenton

[fletch001]

Good Afternoon all,
As usual, asking for any help which may help in my research. I am trying to trace a William Fletcher born around 1563/4 supposedly from Lenton, Nottinghamshire. He married Anna Finnye (Finney) in Oct 1587 at Lenton Priory.
Trying to go further back on both families and also to trace their children.
I have found their wedding information but all other information is very sketchy or non existant.

Thanking you all for any information anyone can give
Kind Regards
Mike Fletcher

[Vance Mead]

Do you know what social class they were in? Gentry, yeomen, labourers?

There was a Fletcher family in Stoke Bardolph, Notts, on the other side of Nottingham, about 6 miles from Lenton.

In 1554 in Common Pleas, there is Fletcher, Robert, of Stoke Bardolf, Notts, gent; Margaret, his wife
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no1157Cty.htm
original
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/M/CP40no1157/bCP40no1157dorses/IMG_1524.htm
This was an indenture, for land near Stoke Bardolph.

In the Visitation of Nottingham there's a Francis Fletcher of Stoke Bardolph who married Francis Molineux. Probably their son Robert, Bottom (right side):
https://archive.org/details/visitationscoun01britgoog/page/n84/mode/2up?view=theater

Robert must have died before 1580. Here is a record in Common Pleas where Francis Fletcher of Gedling is the executor of Robert Fletcher of Stoke Bardolff.
https://waalt.uh.edu/index.php/CP40/1373-4:_K-Z

[fletch001]

Vance,
I have a possible death for William Fletcher, sketchy as stated, for Feb 1636. His possible father was William Fletcher Esquire, in those days it was below a Knight and above a Gentleman.

[fletch001]

All,
This is the William Fletcher a lot of Americans have in their FT's related to Robert Fletcher of Concord Mass USA, one of the first settlers. Some also have William as the son of Sir Lancelot Fletcher and Lady Ellen Patrickson, but that has been disproved by ancestors of that line.

Hope this helps
Mike

[QueenoftheWest]

I personally discount other people's family trees when going this far back and instead work solely on primary sources. Incorrect information is copied from tree to tree over and over again until it becomes so muddled that it actually becomes detrimental to the family historian, rather than beneficial.

As Vance Mead has already mentioned, the social class of the family will basically determine how possible it is to research further back. At this point, you are relying on the family having had assets, in the hope that they distributed them via wills and were included in local land records etc. Unfortunately, a lot of documents this old have been lost to time as well 

Are you descended from this couple? If so, you presumably have a baptism record for at least 1 of their children or some more evidence than you have included to suggest descent?

There is a burial for an Anna Fletcher, wife of William, on 13th August 1606 in Lenton, and then a month later a burial for a William Fletcher on 13th September. Unfortunately, I can only view a transcript so not sure if there is extra information.

See page 5 of this:
http://hausegenealogy.com/source/Article_Finney.pdf

And included within is a transcription of the will of Anna's mother, which mentions Anna's children by William (Henry, Alice, Margery and Anne Fletcher). I can not view this will myself, but I see no reason it should not be an accurate representation of the document.

Interestingly, Anna's mother also died in August of 1606, with her will being written only days before the burial of her daughter, so I am wondering if there was some sort of deadly illness going round.

Queenie 

[Watson]

I have had a similar problem with Lenton, and you have probably worked out that there are no Lenton baptisms before 1598.

One interesting source is a thesis: Lenton after the Priory: a survey of life in Lenton betwen 1540 and 1620 ... by Julia Neville. It makes good use of the records of the Archdeaconry of Nottingham's court. I had a quick look for Fletcher.  The only reference I spotted was on a page showing Lenton families 1540-1589, kinship by marriage.  Fletcher is connected to Finnye, as you would have predicted, but also to Rodes, for some reason.

[fletch001]

Good Morning All,
Queenie, thank you for your reply, you are correct in following FT's, i do not copy any of them, I take a couple of hints from them if I am stuck, then investigate myself. Hence investigating William Fletcher and Anne Finnye (Finney). I have read the pdf of the Finney line which makes that line very solid in facts, its the Fletcher line which is causing problems.
Yes, i am related very far down the line from my cousins in Canada. I will keep going for a while yet on my research.
Kind Regards
Mike

[fletch001]

Hello Watson,
Thank you for your reply, i will certainly try to find this thesis. Yes, like a few other Counties, there are some with no baptisms etc with a few years missing or lost.
Many thanks
Mike

[Watson]

The same thesis notes a 1598 register entry in which Edward Finnye was described as a miller.

I have the impression that the Rodes family was quite low in the social scale, since they made frequent appearances in the Archdeacon's court for such things as slander, being a scold, drunkennesss and fornication.  Of course, impressions can be wrong ...