For many years the ancestry of a Harris family of Ludlow, from which came Major William Harris, has not been known. His ancestry has been submerged beneath a sea of speculation, with various compositions making him derive from a minor gentry family of Essex, or an unknown one of Buckinghamshire, both via Captain Thomas Harris, an early settler in Virginia. Neither were correct. He was certainly of a Harris family of Cruckton, Shropshire, a branch of which settled in Ludlow, 30 miles south of Cruckton.
The ancestry of the Harris family of Cruckton has also been hidden, with various speculations making them the offspring of the Parys family, an administrative, landowning elite, or of a Welsh ap Harry family – both suppositions are wrong. This is made clear by a succession of Shropshire deeds which explicitly chart the lineage of a Harryes family, commencing with Roger Harryes, born ca. 1360, who was gifted property in Ludlow in 1389.
Within this account, a brief note on the ancestry of the aforesaid Captain Harris (of Buckinghamshire) is given, solely to show that he came from an entirely different social/political universe than those closely associated with Major William Harris in Virginia; that almost exclusively came from within a radius of 20 miles around Ludlow, and which shared a vastly intricate familial link with him, and his sister, Mary Harris Ligon, baptised in Ludlow in 1625, deposed to be 64 years old in 1689 (in Virginia).
Although they are clearly shown to be children of John Harris, son of Rowland Harris and Jane Langford, many “researchers” will be led to “the Major” and his sister being children of “the Captain”. (Hereinafter, details of fraudulent land claims and consequent fraudulent claims of parentage are given, exposing the claim that land given to Mary Harris Ligon was given to her “by her father, Captain Thomas Harris.
However much the records can be set straight, a major obstacle to an accurate account is present in the form of A.I. – so called Artificial intelligence, which is a complete misuse of the word intelligence. A.I. is likely to inform those ignorant of the facts that Rowland Harris of Ludlow was the brother of Thomas Harris of Tonge Castle, which is a falsehood, but not according to the contrived “Visitation” record that the A.I. has processed.
When an AI model processes a prompt, it does not “know” history; it predicts the most statistically likely sequence of words based on its training data. This architectural reality creates major blind spots that actively perpetuate historical myths.
The Consensus Engine: If a genealogical fable (like the Captain Thomas Harris myth) has been copied onto thousands of Ancestry trees, family blogs, and digitised 20th-century books, it creates a massive digital footprint. The AI’s training data becomes completely saturated with that narrative. Because the math favors the most frequent pattern, the algorithm defaults to the myth as the “correct” answer, completely burying the records that actually disproves it.
The Confirmation Bias: AI models are heavily tuned via Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) to be helpful, agreeable, and conversational. This means if a user inputs a traditional pedigree, the algorithm’s first instinct is often to validate the structure of the text rather than challenge the integrity of the underlying source, unless explicitly forced to look at the primary evidence
Until algorithms are trained to think like investigative skeptics – valuing a single court deposition over a thousand copied family trees – AI will continue to act as an echo chamber for historical fables
Contrastingly, what follows is derived from origional source documents, which record the true ancestry of Major William Harris, and his sister, Mary (Harris) Ligon. The documents speak for themselves.The facts are self-evident.
THE TRUE ANCESTRY OF MAJOR WILLIAM HARRIS AND MARY (HARRIS) LIGON
*1. Roger Harryes, born ca. 1360.
We, William Haukynes, Philip Lyngeyn & Richard Brugge, have given etc. to Hugh Ferrour chaplain & Roger Harryes 5 messuages in the town of Lodelowe of which the first messuage lies in le Mulestret between the messuage which Roger Coreour holds from the gift of the Hospital of St. John on one side & the messuage which Thomas Baron holds on the other side, which was once Henry Colemon’s; And the second messuage lies in the same street which was once Roger Symondes’s; And the third messuage lies in le Narewelane which lately was Margery de Overtone’s; And the 4th messuage lies at the new mill next to the water of the Temede; And the 5th messuage lies opposite the said mill on the other side of the common road, to have & to hold the 5 messuages with etc. to them their heirs & assigns for ever of the chief lords of the fee for services owed; Witn: Richard Scot then bailiff there, John Parys, Richard Pirefeld, William Orletone, Richard Borewey, William Hereford, William Broke, etc.; at Lodelowe 6 January A.R. 12 Richard II. End: charter of William Hauk’, Philip Lyngeyne & Richard Brugge for 5 messuages. 6 Jan 1389. (Shrop. Arch., LB/5/2/397). L.B. = Ludlow Borough.
Richard Tugford and William Orletone have given, etc to Hugh Ferror, chaplain and Roger Harryes four messuages and four shops in the town of Lodelowe of which the first messuage lies in the street called Galdeford which was once William Carles’s, and the second messuage lies in le Narewe lane between the messuage of Richard Brugge on one side and the messuage of Reginald Skynnere on the other side, and the third messuage lies in le Mulestret which was once Johan Thorlewynd’s, and the fourth messuage lies an Froggelane which lately was Agnes Warewyke’s, and the four shops lie in High Street (alto vico) opposite the High Cross (altam crucem), to have and to hold them to them their heirs and assigns for ever of the chief lords of that fee for services owed; Witn: Richard Scot then bailiff there, Philip Lyngeyn, Gilbert Wallefort, Richard Borham, William Haukynes, Thomas Paunteley, Roger Wilts?, Henry Braye, clerk, etc; at Lodelowe 8 February A.R. 13 Richard II. Endorsed: 8 Feb 1390. (Shrop. Arch.,LB/5/2/89).
The sheer scale of these transaction shows that Roger Harryes was operating at the absolute pinnacle of Ludlow’s commercial and social hierarchy. He and Hugh Ferror (the chaplain) are acquiring four distinct houses (messuages) and four prime retail shops all at once: Owning four shops directly “opposite the High Cross” (altam crucem) in the alto vico is the medieval equivalent of owning prime retail fronts in a major city centre. This was the commercial beating heart of Ludlow, directly adjacent to St Laurence’s Church and the market. The houses are spread across Ludlow’s historic quarters: Galdeford (which connects directly to the 1407 orchard deed, as follows), ” le Narewe lane” (Narrow Lane), le Mulestret (Mill Street, one of Ludlow’s most prestigious streets), and Froggelane (Frog Lane, near the town walls).
Hugh Hoptone of Lodelowe have granted etc. to John Bryddewode, Thomas Hagur chaplains, William Robardes of Stauntone Lacy, Roger Harrys, …. William Colle and John Baudewyn of Leominstre all those my lands and tenements with appurtenances situated …… of Lodelowe between the tenement lately Hugh Cheyne, on one side and the tenement of the Palmers Gild on the other side and stretching from the said street to the town walls, And also one orchard garden outside the town walls in Galdeford which lies between the orchard lately Johan Rye?s on one side and the tenement once William Hulle’s on the other side and stretching to the town ditch; I have also granted to John and Thomas and William, Roger, William, William, and John all those lands and tenements which I lately had jointly with Thomas Haukyns and Hugh Ferrour chaplains from the gift and feoffment of Johan once wife of Richard Asscheford in Seete and Stevyntone as in a charter of feoffment to Thomas, Hugh and me, to have and to hold to them their heirs and assigns of the chief lords of that fee for services owed for ever; Witn: Richard Sybbetone then bailiff … William Parys, Henry Heordeley. John Seete, John Tuppa, John Cocke, Thomas Adys, etc.; at Lodelowe Tuesday after Lady Day A.R. 8 Henry IV. 29 Mar 1407. (Shrop. Arch., LB/5/2/98).
In the 1407 Deed, Hugh Hoptone grants further lands to Roger Harryes and a new group of chaplains. Hoptone explicitly notes that he originally held those lands “jointly with Thomas Haukyns and Hugh Ferrour, chaplains”. The men granting the land and witnessing the deed are a prestigious cross-section of medieval Ludlow’s ruling class:Richard Scot (Bailiff witnessing the deed indicates a highly formal, legal transfer of high-value borough property.William Orletone (Grantor): The Orleton family were wealthy border gentry (taking their name from Orleton, just south of Ludlow). They regularly served as MPs for Ludlow during the 14th century. This proves that Roger Harryes and Chaplain Hugh Ferror were lifelong business partners, acting as the primary institutional trustees for Ludlow’s property network. The Lingen family were high-status marcher knights who held castles and manors across the Shropshire/Herefordshire border.
This deed anchors the family of Roger Harryes as established, wealthy merchant-patricians and legal administrators in Ludlow by 1390. Roger Harryes was not a struggling borderer; he was a man of immense civic capital, wealth, and literacy. This immense urban wealth explains exactly how his descendants down the line (like John of 1465 and John of Cruckton) maintained the elite status required to purchase lands in Ashford Carbonel and marry into the knightly Leighton family.
Feast of St Matthew the apostle, 11 Hen IV. 1. Stephen Hugyns carviser of Ludlow 2. Dom John Heynes and Dom John Meryston chaplains of Ludlow. 1 to 2 burgage in Denham as in 20/7/43 above. to hold of the chief lord of the fee for ever. Warranty clause. Witnesses: Rich. Sybiton of Ludlow, Rich. Dyer, Roger Harryes, Roger Taylor, Thos. Cope and others. tag and part seal. 21 Sept. 1410. (Shrop. Arch., 20/7/44)..
1.1. *John Harryes, b. ca. 1390.
Deed of Henry Warde, John Scheldone, Henry Suttone, John Nicholas, William Boteler and Sir Thomas Kenner Henry Warde, John Scheldone, Henry Suttone, John Nicholas, have quitclaimed etc. to Walter Russhe and John Harryes of Assheford Carbonell chaplains all my right etc. in all those lands and tenements in Ludeford and in the fields of Ludeford which we had by gift and feoffment of William Boterelle which once were John Hory’s; at Ludeford Michaelmas A.R. 4 Henry V. 29 Sep 1416. (Shrop. Arch., LB/5/2/969). Devolved his estate to his nephew, John Harryes.
1.2. *Roger Harryes, b. ca. 1390, d. ante 8 Jan 1426.
We Robert Moylle and Agnes my wife executrix of the testament of Roger Harryes lately her husband and Thomas Chamburleyne co-executor of the said testament have given etc. to John Hory, William Parsones, chaplains, John Laurence junior and Matthew Grene all that our tenement with appurtenances in the town of Lodelowe in le Corvestrete outside the gate situated between the tenement of Henry Herdeley on one side and the tenement of John Clerk on the other side; to have and to hold to them etc. for ever of the chief lords of that fee for services due etc.; Witn: William Moylle then bailiff of the town of Lodelowe, William Mersshetone, Walter Coder, John Boreway, Thomas Dyere, etc. at Lodelowe Tuesday after Epiphany A.R. 4 Henry VI. Endorsed. 8 Jan 1426. (Shrop. Arch.,LB/5/2/598).
Based on his recorded legal activities, historians can reliably estimate that he was born between 1390 and 1410. His presence on recorded panels at Ludlow extends from 1436 to 1443. A birth window of roughly 1395–1405 would make him an established, trusted landowner in his 30s and 40s during this peak civic activity
1.2.1. *John Harryes, b. ca. 1420.
John Baylly and Richard Jaxon clerks have granted etc. to Robert Geffrey clerk all that messuage with close in Assheford Carbonel (2-3 miles from Ludlow) between Gannoweslane and the messuage once held by John Rokhulle which we lately had by the gift and feoffment of William Marsshe brother and heir of Richard Marshe clerk which Richard Marsshe lately had together with John Assheby clerk by the gift and feoffment of John Hall, Nicholas Arnold and John Harryes etc. on SS Peter and Paul A.R. 1 Edward IV; to have and to hold of the chief lords of the fee etc.; at Assheford Monday before Nativity of St. John the Baptist A.R. 5 Edward IV. 17 Jun 1465. (Shrop. Arch., LB/5/2/996).
1465: John Baylly and Richard Jaxon grant it to Robert Geffrey. 1461 Baylly and Jaxon had originally received the land as a gift from William Marsshe (brother and heir of the late Richard Marshe). This occurred on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in the 1st Year of Edward IV (29 June 1461). Before that, Richard Marshe and John Assheby had received it together from three local men: John Hall, Nicholas Arnold, and John Harryes.
There is a clear, multi-layered genealogical and legal connection between the 1416 deed (LB/5/2/969) and the 1465 deed (LB/5/2/996). When read together, these two documents reveal a 50-year chain of property management, family inheritance, and legal networks operating between Ashford Carbonel, Ludlow, and Ludford (which sits directly between the two villages, just across the River Teme from Ludlow.
In the 1416 Deed, John Harryes is explicitly named as a chaplain of Ashford Carbonel. He (alongside Walter Russhe) is receiving the lands in Ludford.In the 1465 Deed a John Harryes is named as one of the original three men (along with John Hall and Nicholas Arnold) who first gifted the Ashford Carbonel property to Richard Marshe. This is almost certainly a close relative of the active “chaplain” (clerk) in 1416. His role in the earlier history of the 1465 property perfectly explains how these specific estates became tied up in the hands of local churchmen.
In the 1416 Deed the land being transferred was originally held by the gift and feoffment of William Boterelle. The Boterelles were a highly influential gentry family in south Shropshire. They held significant lands and frequently acted as overarching “lords of the fee” or high-status trustees for smaller properties in both Ludford and Ashford Carbonel during the 1400s
Priests, chaplains, and clerks who lived out “in the world” (the community). They did not live in monasteries, they answered to the local Bishop rather than an Abbot, and crucially—they were legally permitted to own, inherit, buy, and sell private property As a secular chaplain, Harrys likely did not have a permanent parish parish-priest job (a benefice). Instead, men like him made a living by being hired to say masses for the dead, working for wealthy families, or acting as administrative and legal agents. Managing real estate portfolios for families or guilds was a standard way for a literate, legally savvy secular clerk to earn an income.
As a chaplain in the Ludlow/Ashford area, Harrys was almost certainly tied to the Palmers Guild of Ludlow. The guild hired a large staff of secular chaplains to pray at the guild altars in St. Laurence’s Church, funding their salaries directly out of the rent collected from the exact type of Ashford Carbonel properties mentioned in deeds.
In 15th-century England, when a secular chaplain accumulated wealth, land, or properties, his ultimate goal was almost always to advance his birth family. Because he could not pass land to a son, he would heavily favour his brothers, nephews, and nieces
1.2.1.1. Hugh Harris, uncle of John Harries:
Manor of Ford. Court Magna & Prima held 21 Oct.5 HenryVll before Sir John Grey , Lord Powys Steward. Surrender by Hugh Harries of a messuage and half a virgate in Cruckton to the use of John Westley and Joan his wife and John Harries of Cruckton. John Harries of Cruckton son of John Harries and Agnes his wife admitted. 21 Oct 1489. (Shrop. Arch., 6000/11112)..
N.B. Harries is explicitly distinct from a Welsh patronymic
1.2.1.2. *Richard Harryes, b, ca. 1445.
1.2.1.2.1.*John Harryes, b. ca. 1468.
Manor of Ford. Court held 21 Oct. 5 Henry Vll. recorded that John Harries of Cruckton and Agnes his wife took seisin of a mess & half a Virgate and wer admitted. 21 Oct 1489.
Cother v Hubbold. Plaintiffs: John Cother and Elizabeth, his wife, and John, son of Richard Harryes, whose executors the said Elizabeth and John Harryes are. Defendants: Henry Hubbold, son of Walter Hubbolde, of Ludlow, deceased, whose executor the said Richard was. Subject: A messuage in Ludlow which should have been sold under the will of the said Walter. Shropshire1 486-1493, or 1504-1515. (C 1/128/29, Court of Chancery)..
This record is a legal case summary from the Court of Chancery in England, dating from the late 15th or early 16th century. It documents a dispute over an unsold property in Ludlow, Shropshire, arising from a chain of unfulfilled executorships.The original Executor was Richard Harryes. Walter Hubbolde appointed Richard to execute his will (which included selling the property). However, Richard died before fulfilling this duty.The Plaintiffs were John Cother and his wife Elizabeth, John Harryes (son of the deceased Richard Harryes). The Defendant, Henry Hubbold was the son of the original deceased, Walter Hubbolde, and is likely occupying, holding, or blocking the sale of the property.
According to Walter Hubbolde’s original Will, this house should have been sold. Because Richard Harryes died before selling it, the duty fell to his executors (Elizabeth and John Harryes). They, along with Elizabeth’s husband John Cother, are bringing this lawsuit against Walter’s son, Henry, likely because Henry is preventing the sale or keeping the property for himself against the terms of his late father’s Will. This case was brought to the Court of Chancery rather than a local common law court. At this point in English legal history, the Court of Chancery dealt with equity and trusts. Common law courts were often too rigid to handle complex inheritance chains or the specific execution of a dead person’s will. The plaintiffs petitioned the Lord Chancellor to deliver a fair and equitable solution based on good conscience.
John Harryes and Elizabeth Cother were brother and sister. The document states that Elizabeth Cother and John Harryes are the executors of Richard Harryes.In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, it was standard practice to appoint immediate family members – usually a surviving spouse, children, or siblings – as executors to ensure the estate was managed by trusted kin. Because John Harryes is explicitly named as the “son of Richard Harryes, and Elizabeth is named alongside him as a co-executor of the exact same estate, she is almost certainly Richard’s daughter.
The Cothers were an established, prominent burgess family in the town of Ludlow. The John Cother listed in the Court of Chancery document was a highly influential local figure. According to the “History of Parliament” he was elected as a Bailiff of Ludlow for two terms: 1511–1512 and 1521–1522. The Cothers had a multigenerational history of running Ludlow’s affairs. A generation before your legal case, a Watkin Cother served as the Bailiff of Ludlow in 1469.
Richard Harryes was likely born between 1440 and 1455. The “History of Parliament” establishes that John Cother was born by 1490 (meaning 1490 or slightly earlier). For John Cother to be married to Elizabeth Harryes by the time of this legal case (the earliest date range of the document is 1486–1493), Elizabeth must have been of marriageable age by around 1490. If Elizabeth and her brother John Harryes were born around 1465–1475, Richard Harryes would have been born roughly 25 years prior.
The dispute originates from the will of Walter Hubbold, whose son Henry is the defendant. Walter Hubbold belonged to the same elder generation as Richard Harryes (as Richard was named Walter’s executor). Since Richard Harryes died before completing the sale of the house, and his own children were old enough to take over the legal execution and sue in court by the late 1480s or early 1500s, Richard likely died in the 1480s. If he died in the 1480s as an older man with adult children, a birth year in the mid-15th century (ca. 1445) aligns perfectly.
1.2.1.1.1.1. *John Harris, b. ca. 1468 (of age in 1489), m. (2) Margaret Leighton, b. ca, 1480, illigitimate daughter, of Sir Thomas Leighton (1452-1519), ca. 1498.
Sciant presentes etc. Richard Tylleley son and heir of Hugh Tylleley carnifex of Salop gives etc. to Thomas Rolles of Cruckton a parcel of land in Crokey in the lordship of Ford called Cokkespulles which his father held of the gift of Katherine former wife of Simon Towre. Witnesses. John Lawrence, John Harries of Cruckton, The Wartone of Melesmore. At Cruckton and Crokey. Morrow of Nat. of John Baptist. 5. Henry VIII. Seal. ca. 1513. (Shrop. Arch., 6000/11168).
1.2.1.1.1.1.1.* Richard Harris, b. ca. 1503, m. a dau. of Thomas Jennyns:
1. …1.1. Rowland Jennyns, b. ca. 1460, m. Elizabeth, dau of William Bromley. (Trans. Shrops. Arch. 1941). He was dead by 20 Feb. 1528 when his son Thomas assigned his mother Elizabeth her dower. 1.1.1. Thomas Jennyns of Walybone, b. ca. 1485, bur. at Pontesbury in 1568, m. Katherine, b. ca. 1495, dau. of William Oteley of Pitchford (b. ca. 1469-1474, and sister of Thomas Otely, of Ford (in Pontesbury), whose son, William Oteley, m. Margaret, dau. of Edward Leighton, son of Sir Thomas Leighton of Wattlesborough, and Elizabeth Devereux, relict of Richard Corbet. By his mistress, Ann Baker, Sir Thomas Leighton was the father of Margaret Leighton, who m. John Harris, great-great grandparents of Mary Harris Ligon and Major William Harris 1.1.1.1. *William Jennyns of Walybone, b. ca. 1510, m. Cecilia, dau. of John Leighton of Wattlesborough, son of Sir Thomas Leighton of Wattlesborough, and Elizabeth Devereux. 1.1.1.2. … Jennyns, b. ca. 1510, m. Richard Harris.
ENDOGAMY
This highlights a classic example of “endogamy” (marrying within a specific social group) and “continual patterns of association”. It demonstrates how late-medieval and early-modern gentry families consolidated land, wealth, and legal security within Shropshire.This excerpt connects three core families: the Leightons of Wattlesborough, the Oteleys (Ottleys) of Pitchford, and the Jennyns (Jennings) of Walybone, with the Harris family of Cruckton acting as the central thread that carries these lineages into colonial Virginia.
The immense gravity of this social network stems from two major regional powerhouses:Sir Thomas Leighton (1452–1519): A dominant knightly figure in Shropshire. The network branches heavily from both his legitimate marital line (with Elizabeth Devereux) and his illegitimate line (with his mistress, Ann Baker). William Oteley of Pitchford (ca. 1469–1529) wasHigh Sheriff of Shropshire who brought mercantile wealth into the landed gentry, whose strategy was one of “Double-Bounding” families to preserve estates and political leverage. These families did not just intermarry once; they bound their lineages together across multiple generations using both legitimate and illegitimate bloodlines:
The Leighton-Harris connection – Sir Thomas Leighton’s illegitimate daughter, Margaret Leighton, married John Harris of Cruckton (ca. 1498). This injected elite, albeit illegitimate,Leighton blood straight into the burgeoning Harris family.
The Leighton-Oteley connection – William Oteley’s son (Thomas Oteley of Ford) had a son named William, who married Margaret Leighton, the granddaughter of Sir Thomas Leighton through his legitimate son, Edward.
The Jennyns-Oteley-Leighton Triad – Thomas Jennyns married Katherine Oteley (William Oteley’s daughter).Their son, William Jennyns, then married Cecilia Leighton (another grandchild of Sir Thomas Leighton).Simultaneously, a Jennyns daughter married back into the Harris family via Richard Harris
The power of legal & geographic proximity – The above given legal abstract (the 1513 deed Shrop. Arch., 6000/11168), acts as physical proof of this localized grid.When a butcher’s son (Richard Tylleley) sells a parcel of land called Cokkespulles in the lordship of Ford, John Harries of Cruckton stands as a formal witness.This places the family physically and legally inside the lordship of Ford – the exact locale where Thomas Oteley of Ford (William Oteley’s son and Katherine Jennyns’ brother) had dominance.
These families did not just share a bloodline; they shared borders, witnessed each other’s property boundaries, and collectively managed local agrarian commerce.
The Transatlantic legacy (Shropshire to Virginia) The most significant genealogical deduction of these specific associations is the connection to early America.Through the marriage of John Harris and the illegitimate Margaret Leighton, a genetic bridge was built. Their great-great-grandchildren, Mary Harris Ligon and Major William Harris, emigrated to Henrico County, Virginia, bringing with them this exact cultural blueprint. Away from the rigid physical estates of Shropshire, the Virginia Harrises, Ligons, and Cockes re-established the exact same “repeating patterns of association” -living as immediate neighbours, witnessing each other’s land patents, and continuously intermarrying to monopolize tobacco wealth in the New World.
Endogamy and the continuing power of legal & geographic proximity was repeated in Virginia
From The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 1, 1893, p. 366: Henrico County. Acres of Land – 146,650. Tithables.- 863. Burgesses – Tho. Cocke, Wm. Farrar. Thomas Cocke was named a “friend” in the will of Major William Harris. William Farrar m. Mary Tanner, relict of William Ligon, son of Thomas Ligon and Mary Harris, sister of Major William Harris.). Justices of the Peace – Rich. Cocke, Wm. Randolph, Peter Feild, Francis Eppes, Wm. Farrar, Jno. Worsham, Tho. Cocke, Giles Webb, Jos. Royall, Jn. Bolling.
Richard Cocke was the brother of Thomas Cocke, aforesaid. William Randolph was another “friend” of Major William Harris. Francis Eppes purchased “Longfield” from John Davis. (It was never the property of the Harris family). He m. Ann Isham; nephew of John Eppes Sr., who witnessed the land transaction between Major William Harris (of 140 acres) to Abraham Childers Sr. (The transacion did not record the name of the father of William Harris).
Ann Isham was the dau. of Henry Isham, cousin of Sir Fleetwood Dormer, husband of Mary Harris, daughter of Richard Harris of Cruckton (brother of Rowland Harris, grandfather of Mary Harris Ligon and Major William Harris), and, thus, second-cousin of the Mary Harris who m. Thomas Ligon. John Worsham was the son of William Worsham and Jane, relict of Francis Eppes, the father by his first wife of the purchaser of “Longfield”, half-brother of Mary Worsham, wife of Richard Ligon, son of Thomas Ligon and Mary Harris, who deposed on 2 December 1684 that she was aged about 64 years, matching the April 3, 1625 baptism date of Mary Harris of Ludlow, second-cousin, as said, of the wife of Sir Fleetwood Dormer, cousin of Henry Isham.
Escheator – *Wm. Randolph. Coroners – Wm. Randolph, Wm. Cocke, Peter Feild, Seth Ward. (William Cocke was the br. of Thomas and Richard Cocke. Peter Feild m. Judith, dau. of Henry Soane and the relict of Henry Randolph, who by a first wife was the father of the aforesaid William Randolph).County Clerk – James Cocke (son of *Thomas Cocke). Surveyor – Richard Ligon (son of Thomas Ligon and Mary Harris, aforesaid).
It was within such a political hegemony that tracts of land in Virginia were obtained by using fraudulent or duplicate headrights; bribing county and provincial office clerks, and surveyors, to certify fake headright claims and false boundaries. Anthony S. Parent, Jr., in Foul Means: The Formation of a Slave Society in Virginia, 1660-1740 (Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press, 2012, pp. 34-37), wrote: “The emerging elite secured hundreds of thousands of acres by using their official posts to bend the rules. False claims and malfeasance combined to form an enormity of abuse. Boundaries were exaggerated; false certificates were submitted; office clerks were bribed.” Edward Chilton, the attorney general, identified this corruption in 1697, responding to the queries of the newly established Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations. He reported that surveyors through “ignorance and knavery” exaggerated boundaries “so that the persons for whom they surveyed might enjoy larger tracts of land than they were to pay quitrents for.” Court justices were “lavish” in honoring headright certificates based on uncorroborated oaths. The purchasers would then present the certificates at a different court, duplicating the headrights. County Clerks … exercised “great libertty” in distributing certificates “at very easy rates” of one to five shillings for each headright. Edward Randolph, commissioner of customs, would confirm this pattern of malfeance in 1696. He observed that the simplest method of securing land had been to bribe land-office clerks for selling fifty acre headrights for as little as half a crown.
“Class ties inhibited enforcement of land-use laws. Bound by common interests to their fellow planters, sheriffs were slow to enforce payments of quitrents … More often than not they had previous experience in the House of Burgesses, where they returned after their one year term of service expired. They understood that the aquisition and retention of even their own family estates resulted in the use, or, better, abuse of their offices”.
Virtually all Henrico land deeds prior to 1677 were destroyed, and many from then onward are copies of patents which themselves may have been inventions. The 1692/3 court case involving the alleged trespass of John Woodson on Richard Cocke’s land on Curles Swamp involved Woodson producing what he claimed was copy old patent granted to Captain Thomas Harris in 1638. The court did not believe him, and ordered an examination by “neighbors”, of an “antient” variety.
Mary (Harris) Ligon was involved in claiming her land lay beyond the “alleged” ancient patent of Captain Thomas Harris. In 1691, she divided her 200 acre portion of “Curles” (Swamp) between her two surviving sons, Richard and Hugh Ligon, “being part of a grant to Capt. Thomas Harris, decd. and given by his Will to said Mary Ligon, his daughter”.
The Court could not examine the said Will, it being destroyed. * The Court was not presented with a copy of the said Will. * The Court was not presented with witnesses to any copy. * The Court was not presented with witnesses who could vouch for Mary Harris being the daughter of Captain Thomas Harris. Those old enough to vouch for this would include the sons of Richard Cocke Sr., Richard Cocke, and Thomas Cocke.* The Court was not presented with any witness stating that his/her parent had told them of this alleged connection. Members of the Court were part of the same hegemony/kinfolk group to which Mary (Harris) Ligon belonged, and would have known her very well; and could have supported her claim with such comments as: “as is commonly known by members of this Court”. That they did not indicated a reluctance to perjure themselves.* The Court, or any other court, did not request William Harris or Edward Harris, sons of Major William Harris, to give oath as to the identity their grandfather. *The Court, or any other court, did not request any children of Mary Harris and Thomas Ligon to give oath as to the identity their grandfather. The unsubstantiated nature of the claim of Mary Harris Ligon, and all claims relating to the supposed 820 acres of Captain Thomas Harris, lay in an all too convenient mist; which was exploited to extend the boundaries of properties. (The land of Captain Thomas Harris (of Buckinghamshire) was escheated to the Crown; he died without heirs.
(His ancestry is briefly sketched hereinafter, so as to clearly demarcate his social/political universe from that of the Shropshire Harris. A synopsis of earlier notes:
1. Robert Harris, b. ca. 1490, Rector of Beckhampton, June 11, 1526, being presented by William Tylor (Taylor), on the Convent of Luffields title and right. He died Anno 1551, 5 Edw. VI, and was succeeded by John Bierly instituted June 1, 1551, on the presentation of Robert Pigott, Esq.
1.1. John Harris, b. ca. 1520, defendant in a case concerning land in Aylesbury: “Slegge v Harrys. Plaintiffs: Edward Slegge of Cambridge, gentleman. Defendants: John Harrys and Joan his wife. Subject: Messuage in Aylesbury bought of William Sakevyle and John Dudley. Buckinghamshire.” 1556-1558 (T.N.A. C 1/1473/28). John Harris held 230 ac. of the manor of Greenhams in Maids Moreton in 1587, lands previously held by his grandfather in 1518 (Alfred Leslie Rowse, The England of Elizabeth, 2003, p. 111.), where his nephew, Leonard Pigott, son of William Pigott and his sister, also held land (ibid). John Harris was the brother-in-law of Lucia Pigott, who m. Robert Lee, the son of Benedict Lee, of Hulcot, Bucks., and his second wife, Elizabeth, dau. of Robert Cheney, Esq., of Chesham Boyse, Bucks., and sister of Margaret Cheney, who m. Richard Duncombe, of Moreton, in Dinton, Bucks. They had issue: John Duncombe, who m. Mary, dau. of William Russell. Their dau., Katherine, m. (in 1581), Drewe Woodliffe, whose son, John Woodliffe, settled in Virginia, and whose dau., Anne Woodliffe, was named as “kin” of Thomas Harris in the 1624/5 Muster.
The Woodliffe family also held tenements in Maids Moreton: “Gift by Robert Woodlef to John Lombard of Buckingham of his tenement in Maids Moreton. March, 2, 1560”. (Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Arch., D4038/A/12/18). John Harris is recorded in a Pleadings case of circa 1560, in which he is a defendant against the executor of John Finch, son of Sir Moyle Finch, and cousin of Erasmus Finch, who sponsored Margaret Bourdman in Virginia, habitee of the Captain Thomas Harris household:
1.1.1. Valentyne Harris, d.s.p., b. ca. 1550, who held lands in Long Crendon, Bucks.: “Harrys v. Towsey. Plaintiffs: Valentyn Harrys. Defendants: Roland Towsey. Subject: Deeds. Lands in the parish of Crendon (Long Crendon), Buckinghamshire, holden by plaintiff of the manor of Crenden*, of which manor … Yonge was lord” (ibid.). * Long Crendon was an habitation of the Gurganey family. Edward Gurganey was born in Long Crendon in 1582. His wife may have been the sister of Captain Thomas Harris.
1.1.2. Thomas Harris, b. ca. 1555, recorded as a plaintiff concerning land in Maids Moreton in 1577: “Final concord between William Richardson and Thomas Harrys pfs. and John Lambert senior def. of 2 messuages, 2 cottages, 2 tofts, 2 gardens, 2 orchards, 200 acres of land, 10 acres of meadow, 200 acres of pasture, 4 acres of wood, and 20 acres of furze and heath in Buckingham and Maids Moreton: consideration £80. Day after St. Trinity”. (Staffordshire and Stoke-on Trent Arch., D4038/A/12/20).
1.1.3. James Harris (b. ca. 1560), m. Lucia Lucas,* Nov. 30, 1587. She m. (2) John Tredway (Sept.. 9, 1601); second-cousin of John Child, who m. Jane Hoare, sister of Adria Hoare. This family of Hoare/Hore were probably of yeoman stock, as Thomas Hore, as follows, of Weston (Turville), three miles S.E. of Aylesbury, and not of a family of shoe-makers, as is commonly supposed. Social barriers were not crossed in marriages. *She was very probably of the Lucas family of Wingrave, situate 5 miles N.E. of Aylesbury.
1.1.3.1. Captain Thomas Harris (b. 1588; 37 y.o.a. at 1624/5 Muster), m. Adria Hoare, sister of Joane Child, who sponsored Adria’s voyage to Virginia. It is, of course, possible that Captain Thomas Harris was the son of Thomas Harris, brother of James.
Regarding CaptainThomas Harris: he was either commander of Fort Charles or held rights to the land on the south side of the falls of the James river. Captain Thomas Harris was either deceased (land escheated), or had abandoned this land (land escheated) by ca. 1648. The land grants claimed for Captain Thomas Harris were fraudulent. An alleged patent, given the date of Nov. 11, 1635, claimed land extending toward that which had been held by Edward Gurgayney, in Digges Hundred, Henrico Co., i.e. “Longfield”, which he is supposed to have re-patented in 1638. yet “Longfield” had been in the possession of the Davis family since Aug. 15, 1637, comprising 300 ac. north of the river, ext. N.W. toward lands of Cornelius de Hull. Captain Thomas Harris never held “Longfield”, and had no son who ever “fell heir to it”.
If the sheer weight of connections between families from the Ludlow-Pickthorne area of Shropshire (which were replicated in Virginia) would have benn known to early researchers, it would be certain that Major William Harris and his sister, Mary (Harris) Ligon, would have been assigned to their rightful ancestry, and this cast in stone.
In all eras of genealogical enquiry, it is the validity of “records” that needs to be questioned, and, this (in relation to the colonisation of Virginia by English kinship groups), with a sound knowledge of the intermarriages that bound them, and determined their neighbours).
THE TRUE ANCESTRY OF MAJOR WILLIAM HARRIS AND MARY (HARRIS) LIGON continued:
1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1. “John Harries”, m. a dau. Thomas Prowde, a prosperous tenant farmer, whose livestock included a sheep herd, the wool from which would have supplied the Shrewsbury Drapers.
“Noverint universi etc” Thomas Rolls of Cruckton appoints Edward Onslowe of Cruckton and Robert Onslowe of Cruckmeole as his attorneys to deliver seisin to John Harries* son and heir of Richard Harries of Cruckton of a parcel of land in Crokey called cokkespulles. Dated at Cruckton and Crokey . 18 Feb. 34. Henry VIII. 18 Feb 1543 (Shrop. Arch., 6000/11169).
The Cruckton Visitation pedigree confounds two distinct families of Harris. It has John Harris marrying an Eleanor Prowde, and being the father of both Thomas Harris of Tonge Castle and Rowland Harris of Ludlow, the former claim being completely unfounded. The wife of John Harris is given the name Eleanor to fit in with a claim that a Harris of Tonge Castle (three generations prior) was a son an Eleanor Prowde. This is a classic piece of “pedigree engineering.” Medieval and Tudor heralds regularly “back-engineered” names or recycled an identical spouse’s name further down a family tree to harmonize a pedigree or justify quartering specific heraldic coats of arms.
Thomas Prowde’s Will does not mention a daughter named Eleanor. It explicitly singles out Elizabeth Prowde as an unmarried daughter requiring a substantial £40 marriage dowry. This mismatch strongly supports the argument that the name “Eleanor” was forced into later pedigree transcripts to smooth over an unproven lineage claim involving the wealthy Harris branch at Tong Castle. The conclusion that John Harris married Elizabeth Prowde rather than “Eleanor” is highly realistic. Given that Elizabeth was unmarried and well-endowed with a dowry at the time the will was drafted, she fits the precise window to marry a contemporary peer like John Harris (born c. 1530). Thomas Prowde’s sizable agricultural estate—yielding massive amounts of raw wool from his flocks -made Elizabeth an incredibly attractive marriage prospect for a rising merchant family intertwined with the Shrewsbury Drapers Company.
The Will of Thomas Prowde of Sutton, Shropshire, PROB 11/32/64, 28 February 1548. The PCC probate for Thomas Prowde was formally granted on 28 February 1548/49 (under the old calendar style). Because the will itself states it was written on the “Seconde Daye of June,” the document was physically drafted on 2 June 1548 and proved a few months later in Februar
In the name of God, Amen.On the 2nd day of June, I, Thomas Prowde of Sutton, being sick in body but of sound mind, make my last will and testament as follows: Burial and Funeral Arrangements. First, I bequeath my soul to Almighty God, to His blessed mother Saint Mary, and to the entire holy company of heaven. I request that my body be buried inside the Church of Much Wenlock, right next to my father and mother. I order that four priests attend my burial. They are to be paid from my cash on hand; three of them will sing my morning masses, and the fourth will sing the principal funeral mass. Division of the House and Valuables. I will that my household stuff, specifically my brass, pewter, bedding, and all matching household items and utensils, be divided equally between my wife and my son. I own a silver-gilt and partial-gilt salt cellar. My wife will keep this for the rest of her life, and after her death, it will pass to my son. I also own 18 silver spoons. I bequeath 6 of these to my son William, and the remaining 12 will stay with my wife to distribute as she wishes. I bequeath to my son William my workshop (shop), along with an iron-bound wagon, plows, harrows, and all types of farming tools belonging to it. I also give him 6 oxen. These oxen must perform all necessary work at the house, such as hauling wood and other chores, to support the estate equally. The cows must likewise be used to support the household for as long as my wife and son can agree to live together. Furthermore, I give my son William 30 ewes and 30 lambs, to be divided at this coming Midsummer. He will receive half of the wool from the entire flock of sheep, and the other half will go to my wife. The remainder of my sheep will belong entirely to my wife. I also give my son two mares, all of my horses, and three young colts; the profits from these animals must go toward supporting the household for as long as they can agree to live together.
I give my daughter, Elizabeth Prowde £40 for her marriage dowry. This money must be taken from the estate assets that have not already been specifically bequeathed, and it is to be paid out directly by my executors. I also order that Elizabeth Barbour, my sister’s daughter (my niece), live at the table and remain under the governance and care of my daughter Elizabeth Powde. I bequeath to my son William my best gown and my best doublet. I also give William and his legitimate heirs all the land I personally purchased in Staffordshire from John Morley and his wife, Thomasine Wooley. If he dies without legitimate heirs, this Staffordshire land will revert to my own right heirs. Regarding the Sutton estate properties, I will that my wife and my son jointly manage and live on my farm during her widowhood. My son William will formally take over half of the Farm of Sutton at this coming Candlemas (February 2nd), including all the leased lands, meadows, and pastures belonging to it, and he will pay exactly half of the farm’s rent. Furthermore, I give the four pastures of land at Oxen Lesowe (currently leased by William Prideux) and the enclosed land called Covesgrev (by the King’s Wood pasture) to my wife, Margaret Prowde, for as long as she stays single and does not remarry. If my wife chooses to remarry, she will no longer hold joint occupancy of the farm as stated above. Instead, my son William must pay his mother Margaret a flat sum of £10 in legal currency upon receiving reasonable notice. She must then completely move off the property, and William will take full, sole ownership of all those lands and goods for his own use. If she does not remarry, my wife Margaret and my son William will jointly take all profits from the debts owed to me (recorded in my account book) and will likewise pay off all debts that I owe to others. Once my will is fulfilled and my debts are paid, I leave the rest of my estate to the discretion of my executors. I appoint my wife, Margaret Prowde, and my son, William Prowde, as my executors. I name Thomas Byrtyng* as the overseer to ensure this will is carried out properly. * Of an established family of Shrewsbury burgesses and guild artisans
Witnesses to this document:
Thomas Mackworth – The Mackworth family were prominent Shropshire gentry based at Betton Strange (a manor sitting directly adjacent to Sutton). Thomas Mackworth was a high-ranking gentleman and political figure whose direct descendants became heavily involved in the governance of Shrewsbury and served as Members of Parliament. Having a powerful next-door manorial lord witness the will proves Thomas Prowde operated in the highest tiers of county society.
William Jones – The Jones family was arguably the most powerful mercantile dynasty in Tudor and Stuart Shrewsbury. They were legendary Master Drapers who dominated the Welsh cloth trade through the Shrewsbury Drapers Company. (In fact, a later William Jones built the famous Jones’ Mansion on Church Street). This specific witness places Thomas Prowde alongside a leading Shrewsbury Draper at the exact moment his wool-heavy estate is being divided.
Thomas Parker and John Adams: Both of these surnames belong to established, multi-generational merchant burgesses of Shrewsbury. Members of the Adams and Parker families regularly served as Bailiffs and Aldermen of the town during the 1500s.
The presence of William Jones (a Draper family magnate) alongside Thomas Mackworth (the neighbouring lord of Betton) indicates that Thomas Prowde was not an isolated peasant farmer. He was an affluent gentry landholder whose agricultural output (wool) and geographic position (Sutton) made him an intimate peer to the top merchants of Shrewsbury. This elite network created the perfect social avenue for his daughter, Elizabeth Prowde, to marry into a prominent family like the Harris branch of Cruckton, completely bypassING the mythical “Eleanor,” and solidifying the family’s rising status
KATHERINE HARRIS, John’s sister.
.John Harris’s sister, Katherine Harris, and her successive marriages to John Corbet of Alston and Jacob (James) Morris of Aston, provides the definitive proof that completely unravels the Cruckton pedigree errors found in the Visitations of Shropshire. When mapped alongside your primary evidence from Thomas Prowde’s 1548 Will, this lineage proves that the Heralds crudely combined two completely different generations and family branches.
John Corbet belonged to a cadet branch of the Shropshire Corbet dynasty, centered at the manor of Alston (historically Halston) within the parish of Pontesbury. This location is geographically critical, as Pontesbury directly borders Cruckton—the ancestral seat of this specific Harris branch.
Katherine and John Corbet had a son, Richard Corbett of Alston, who married Hester Berkeley*. Richard was buried at Pontesbury on 15 March 1621.
Because Katherine’s grandson (via Richard) was an adult who died in 1621, Katherine must have been born around 1530–1535. This places her as the exact contemporary and sister of the John Harris who married Elizabeth Prowde (born c. 1530), whom we found unmarried in the 1548 Sutton Will. Following John Corbet’s death, Katherine remarried Jacob Morris (recorded in Latinised legal documents as Jacobo Morris), a gentleman of Aston. He is identified in Welsh and Marches heraldic tracts as being “of Cardigan & Llannwnog,” showing the deep merchant and land ties between Shropshire gentry and mid-Wales families, such as the Langfords.The timeline for this second marriage is anchored perfectly by their daughter, Ursula Morris, who was baptised on 9 December 1562. Ursula later went on to marry Henry Purslowe of Pontesbury.
1. Thomas Purslowe of Sidbury (born c. 1480) and his wife Lora (Lowrie) Williams, daughter of William ap David of Willaston.
William ap David, m. (ca. 1460) Gwenhever, verch David Lloyd ap Sir Griffith Vichan, having issue: Reginald ap William (Williams) of Willaston, who m Margaret Lee, dau. of Fulkc Lee of Langley and Elizabeth, dau. of John Leighton of Wattlesborough, son of Sir Thomas Leighton, father of Margaret Leighton, wife of John Harris, ancestors of Major William Harris and Mary (Harris) Ligon. Lowrie verch Reginald, m. Thomas Purslowe; her sister (per Harleian Society note), Matilda verch William, m. William Holland, having issue: Thomas Holland, b. ca. 1485
1.1. Robert Purslowe of Sidbury (buried 31 December 1571), m. Margaret Sparke, the daughter and sole heir of William Sparke.
1.1.1. John Purslowe of Sidbury (buried 13 March 1593/4) by his first wife, Constance Newport (buried 27 January 1576), daughter of Richard Newport of Hunningham, Warwickshire
1.1.1.1. Henry Purslowe of Pontesbury, m. firstly, Elizabeth Higgins (buried 23 March 1607/8). Crucially, Elizabeth was the daughter of Hugh Higgins and a mother who was a daughter of Hugh Corbet of Halston (Alston). This means Henry’s first wife already had immediate ties to the Pontesbury-Corbet property dynamics. He m. secondly, Ursula Morris (baptised 9 December 1562). the daughter of James Morris and Katherine Harris, the sister of John Harris of Cruckton – the great-great grandfather of Mary Harris Ligon, and her brother, Major William Harris.
John Purslowe of Sidbury, m. secondly, Dorothy Blount, dau. of Sir George Blount of Kinlet, and Constance Talbot, the sister of Margaret Talbot, who m. (1) Sir Richard Ligon, of Arle, Madresfield, brother of Thomas Ligon, who m. Frances Dennys (cousin), having issue: Thomas Ligon, who m. (Oct. 10, 1602), Elizabeth Pratt; having issue: Col. Thomas Ligon, who m. Mary Harris, born in 1625 in Ludlow, by deposition, sister of Major William Harris, of Virginia. By his first wife, Mary Russell, Sir Richard Ligon had issue: Katharine Ligon, who m. Fleetwood Dormer, Esq., who m. (2) Mary Harris, second-cousin of the said Mary and William Harris.
John Purslowe and Dorothy Blount had issue: Katherine Purslowe, who m. Richard Hill, of Bickley. Their dau., Dorothy Hill, m. John Holland, son of Michael Holland of Pickthorne, the son of Thomas Holland (and a second-cousin of Richard Cocke of Bremo, a tenant of the Purslowes); son of William Holland, b. ca. 1485, supra, and Alice Detton, sister of Robert Detton, of Detton, in Neen Savage, who m. Mary Kettleby, having issue: George Detton (bur. June 11, 1619), who m. Anne (dau. of Walter ap Thomas), bur. Sept 8, 1613; their dau., Frances Detton (bapt. Sept. 24, 1577), m. Rev. William Berkeley, half-brother of Edmund Berkeley, whose dau. m. Richard Corbett of Alston, son of Katherine Harris, as given. Dorothy Hill andJohn Holland had issue: Thomas Holland, who m. Elizabeth Kettleby. They were almost certainly the parents of Michael Holland of Goochland, born in Neen Savage ca. 1685.
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1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. *Rowland Harris, b. ca. 1565, m. Jane Langford (bapt. Oct. 10, 1567) on 14 Sep 1595, in Ludlow. He was buried, 12 Feb 1605/6.
Jane Langford was a dau. of Thomas Langford. 1. John Waties and Thomas Langford, Bailiffs of the Corporation of Ludlow. 2. Henry Cliberye, Ludlow, Cordwainer. 1-2 ‘All that their tenement with the appurtenances and garden thereunto belonging…in…Old Street…& also all that their shop and loft over the same…in…Shoemakers Row…together with one close lying in Linney…’ (boundaries given). 20 Aug 1588. (Shrop. Arch., LB/4/1/115). 1. William Beck and Edmond Lloyd, Bailiffs of the Corporation of Ludlow. 2. Thomas Langford, Ludlow, Gent. 1-2 ‘All that their fourth part and parcel the arable land commonly called the demesne land…’ (boundaries given). Consideration … third part of all manner of corn and grain…’ Term : 21 years. 19 July 1598. (Shrop. Arch., LB/4/1/157).
His uncle was William Langford: 1 September A.R. 3 Edward VI. Indenture between William Langford, Warden of the Palmers Gild etc. and William Tanner of Ashford Carbonel; Witn: that William Langford etc. leased etc. to William Tanner a tenement etc. in Ashford Carbonel now in the tenure or use of Richard Dobles, to have and to hold to William Tanner and his assigns for 21 years paying yearly to us at Our Lady & Michaelmas . 1 Sep 1549. (Shrop. Arch., LB/5/2/1017). Indenture: 8 January 4 Edward VI: between William Langford, Warden of the Palmers Gild of Ludlow and the Brethren etc. with the consent of Thomas Blashefield and John Cockes bailiffs of the town of Ludlowe and the Common Councel of the one part and Charles Foxe gent of the other part; Witnesseth that the said Warden etc. have granted to Charles Foxe their cottage with etc. in Corvestrete between the tenement of John Hucke on one side and of William Cleburye on the other side. 8 Jan 1551. (Shrop. Arch., LB/5/2/625).
The Foliot family became the mesne tenants of Ashford Carbonel at the same time as William Langford’s interest there. Thomas Foliot, Sheriff of Worcestershire, m. Katherine Ligon ca. 1558, dau. of William Lygon, Esq. of Madresfield, Worcestershire, and Eleanor Dennis. Their grandson, Thomas Ligon, m. Mary Harris,* as follows.
1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. “Richard Harrys”, bapt. 30 Sep 1599 – bur. 1640.
*1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. John Harris, bapt. 5 March 1604/5, m. Margaret Holland, of an offshoot of the Hollands of Burwarton,
1. Robert Mason and John Holland, Bailiffs of the Corporation of Ludlow. 2. Richard Dryton, Ludlow 1-2. Term : 21 years. 14 Apr 1564. (LB/4/1/59). 1. John Sherman and Thomas Candlande, Bailiffs of the Corporation of Ludlow. 2. John Holland, Ludlow, Mercer. 1-2 ‘ All that close or pasture…at the upper end of the Mill Street. 23 Feb 1577. (LB/4/1/93).
1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. *Mary Harris Ligon, bapt. 3 Apr 1625; deposed to be 64 in 1689 in Virginia.
1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2. William Harris (Major), bapt. 13 Jan 1627/8.
The brothers of Rowland Harris and their children are herein not given, being fully recoded in previous posts. Suffice it to say – they heavily married into the same kinship network.
by m stanhope, copyright B.T. Shannon 2026
Walter FitzGilbert de Hamilton 