1598 Thomas filius Johnes Curtis was baptized on March 5, 1597/98 at North Wingfield, Derbyshire, England. [1] [2] [3]
1600 Joan Clay, daughter of Knyvton Clay, was baptized on August 24, at Dronfield parish, Derbyshire, England. [4] [5]
1619 Thomas Curtis' father, John, exchanged land for the Holland estate at Ford on August 10. Ford House and closes: Part of a feoffment by Anthony Fox of Ford yeoman to John Curtis of Ford of land in Ford lately purchased by Anthony from his brother William, in consideration of an exchange of land with Curtis. [6]
1623 Thomas Curtis, son of John, purchased the Holland estate at Ford, Ford House and closes. Dated on August 18. [7]
Bargain and sale by William Fox citizen of London, draper, and Anthony Fox of Ford yeoman to Thomas Curtis of Ford yeoman, eldest son of John Curtis, of one messuage, and one cottage and croft, and the Barn Croft, the Nicke Croft, Colepit Croft, one parcel of meadow (9 acres) called the Round Meadow lying in Wrights Close, the Hall Meadow, one fourth-part of the meadow called Forth Holme, and 22 acres of arable in the fields of Ford. Consideration £560.
1624 "The Holland estate at Ford, Ford House and closes: Final concord and counterpart made between Thomas Curtis plaintiff and William Fox and Katherine his wife deforciants of lands etc." Dated on octave of St Michael, 22nd year of the reign of James I. [8] [9]
1624 Thomas Curtis and Joane Clay were married on June 1, at North Wingfield parish, Derbyshire, England [10] [11]. Their seven children were baptized there between 1625-42. Their children were baptized at the same church. [12] [13]
1629 Thomas Curtis witnessed the will of Kniveton Clay in Derbyshire. Kniveton Claye, of Heigham parish in Shirland, Derby, dated his will on February 13, which was recorded at Shropshire, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. [14] [15] The Will of Kniveton Clay, of Higham in Shirland parish, named his wife Margaret and their son Francis, grand child William Milnes, and Kniveton's brother John Clay of Tupton and John's daughter Anne Clay, but did not mention Kniveton's other children. Witnessed by Thomas Curtis, Francis Claye, John Claye, James Millnes.
1633 Thomas Curtis of Forde was listed as a freeholder in Scarsdale hundred, county Derby. Dated 8 Charles I. [16] [17]
1635 The will of Francis Claye of Higham, county of Derbie [Derbyshire, England] was dated January 12, 1634[/35?]. [18]
... First I give unto my daughter Mary all my ? furniture of Linnen woolen & beddinge together with all my pewter and brass ... if she live to her age of eighteen years
Item That whereas I have made an estate of all my lands tenem't & hereditamn't in the parish of Ash? to my loving brothers John Claye Thomas Curtis & Thomas Ludham, my mynd is, and I doo hereby confirme and testify the same in ? manner and forme as it ? in t? several deeds made betwixt me and them concerning the same.
And I doo hereby give and bequeath unto my said three executors hereafter named ten shillings a piece to each of them.
And also the residue of my goods & chattles & personal estate ? after my funeral charge discharged and my debts satisfied I doe bequeath the same unto my three execut's yet in trust for the good & benefit of my daughter Marye. And I doe constitute and make my said brothers John Claye Thomas Curtis & Thomas Ludlam executors of this my last will & testament in trust for the benefit & ? of my said daughter Marye. ...And my mind is that if my said daughter Marye doe dye without issue before she accomplishe the age of eighteen years that then my said execut's shall pay unto my goddaughter Elizabeth Ludlam twenty pounds, And if my said daughter Marye dye as afforsaid then ?wise to pay to soe many of the children of my sister Isabell Mylnes as shallbe living one hundred pounds out of my p'sonal estate to be equally devyded amongst them ... And the residue of my said p'sonall estate to be devyded amongst the children of Joane Curtis my sister. And my will and mynd further is that my said executors shallbe guardians to both my daughters,...
1634 At the Derbyshire Visitation of 1634, Thomas Curtis "disclaymed the pretence to any Armes". [19]
1635 John Curtis, son of Tho Curtis, was baptized on September 8, at North Wingfield parish, Derbyshire, England. [20] [21]
1637 "John's son, Thomas Curtis of Ford, is recorded as a witness of Edward Revell's grant of land at Hallfield Gate, Shirland, in 1637 for the foundation of a school" [22].
1654 Thomas Curtis was the registrar for the North Wingfield parish. [23] William Wing, who had been the registrar for many years prior to that time, was reappointed in 1658, the year that Thomas Curtis died. [24]
"This booke was made the first day of June Ano Dm 1654, by me Thomas Curtis ffor a Register booke for the p[ar]ish of Northwingfield. 1654" [25] [26] [27]
…
The replacement of Thomas Curtis was recorded in the cover "… ye pysh choyse William Wing … which was at that tyme for about two months … - Thomas Curtis was presently … of place for the parish did take William Wing to be the register he having kept the regester and all other writings and bookes belonging to the pysh for the tearme and tyme of thirtie yeares and that in the troublesum tyme of the great warre in the yeare of our Lord 1643 - 1644". [28] [29]
…
1658? We whose names are here subscribed doe make choyce of William Wing to be register for our pish of Northwingfield he having been our pish Clearke for many yeares we hould him a fit man for this place—(signed)
Henrie Mortton, Francis Clay, Samuel Weatcroft, James Brough, Thomas Steavenson, John Cowpe, John Morsley, Hercules Brealsford, Ffrancis Hopkinson, John Fletcher, George Dakin, William Dukes, Thomas Hopkinson, Richard Banks, John Steavenson, James Fletcher, Henrie Cowlishaw, William May, John Ellis, Francis Webster, William Hill, Edward Turner, Richard Goodwin, Richard Watson, William Blieth, Edward Bradshaw, William Milnes, Richard Houle, Thomas Fauke, Robert Hall, Authonie Fox, Matthew Phillips, Roberte Wood, Henrie Cowlishaw, John Lee, Thomas Cowlishaw, Robert Cowlishaw, George Millward, James Hawksley, William Webster, George Hawksley, Thomas Millward, Richard Millward, Richard Hawksley, Richard Brealsford, John Bower, John Simson, Robert Watkinson, Edward Willson, Thomas Willson.
John Ashmore, Matthew Hopkinson,
Churchwardens, Anno Dmi 1658. [30] [31]
On a blank leaf of the North Wingfield parish records "is a short pedigree of the Curtis family, written in a small neat hand by Thomas [Curtis], the Registrar" [32] [33] [34]:
Ellen the daughter of Robert Fowler was baptized the 18th of May (obscured)
John Curtis and Ellen Fowler was married the 27th of April 1597
Thomas the son of John Curtis was baptized the 5th of March 1597
John the son of John Curtis was baptized the 27th of Sept 1601
Robert the son of John Curtis was baptized the 5th of June 1603
Richard the son of John Curtis was baptized the 26th of January 1606
Edward the son of John Curtis was baptized the 14th of November 1611
Thomas Curtis and Joane Clay was married 1 June 1624
Sarah the daughter of Thomas Curtis was baptized the 8th of May 1625
Sarah the daughter of Tho Curtis was baptized the 23d of March 1628
Isabell the daughter of Tho Curtis was baptized the 15th of March 1630
John Curtis was buryed 23th January 1628
Elizabeth the daughter of Tho Curtis was baptized the 23th of April 1633
and was buryed 4th December 1641?
John the son of Tho Curtis was baptized the 8th of Sept 1635
Mary the daughter of Tho Curtis was baptized 21 June 1638
Thomas the son of Tho Curtis was baptized 6 Dece 1642
Joseph the son of William Hill was borne ... 1653
Mary the daughter of Wm Hill was borne 2d February 1654
1654 A debt of Thomas Curtis was mentioned in a 1678 document: "The Holland estate at Ford, Ford House and closes: Assignment by Cornelius Clarke to George Holland, reciting judgment obtained by Anthony Peneston late of Market Overton (co. Rutland) clerk in 1654 against Thomas Curtis of Ford gent. in a debt of £400; and judgment obtained by the said Anthony in 1656 against John Curtis of Leicester in a debt of £200; which judgments were assigned by Alice Peneston widow and administratrix of the estate of Anthony to Robert Peneston on 29 December 1661; and reciting recognisance of John Curtis to Robert Peneston in £800; and assignment of two judgments etc. to William Allwood on 13 December 1675; and further assignment (9 July 1677) to Cornelius Clarke. Dated 14 August" [35]
1658 Thomas Curtis was buried on August 6, 1658 at North Wingfield, Derbyshire, England. [36] [37]
1661 "Mortgage by demise for a term of 99 years by John Curtis of Ford yeoman to Robert Peniston of East Barnet (co. Middlesex) of a messuage in Ford and the Barn Croft, Nicke Croft, Colepitt Croft, Round Meadow and the Hall Meadow, one fourth-part of Forth Holme, two closes called the Rewfarkes (5 acres) and Grome Croft (15 acres), New Close (3 acres), the Lower Hall (4 acres), and a further 22 acres of land in the fields of Ford. Consideration £400. Dated 10 May. [38]
1661 "The Holland estate at Ford, Ford House and closes: Assignment by Alice Pennyston of Market Overton (co. Rutland) widow and administratrix of the will of Anthony Pennyston, to Robert Pennyston of Chipping Barnet (co. Hertford) merchant, of two judgments and one bond in consideration of a debt of £650 owed by Alice to Robert. Recital of judgments gained by Anthony Pennyston against John Curtis of Leicester gent in £200, and against Thomas Curtis of Ford in £400; and recital of bond by Thomas Derham of Derham Grange (co. Norfolk) esq. to Anthony Pennyston. Dated 27 December" [39]
1681 Mem. of Indenture of Service. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Curtis, binds herself as servant for four years to Elias Farr, cheese monger, for which he is to pay her passage to West New Jersey and give her 40 acres of land there. Dated July 22. [40] [Photocopy] 1681 indenture:Elizabeth Curtis-Elias Farr.
1669 Joan Curtis was buried On 7 December (month 10), at the Quaker burying ground in North Wingfield parish, Derbyshire, England. [41]
Research Notes:
1668 The will of Joan Curtis, widow of Walsall, Staffordshire, was recorded at Lichfield on February 4. [42]
Thomas Curtis and Joan Clay, whose notes are above, are different from Thomas and Jane Curtis of Bugbrook, Northampton [43], as shown by published documentation and different dna patterns among male Curtis descendants from these two lines. The relationship to Thomas Curtis, woolen draper of Reading and friend of George Fox, if any, is unknown.
Several popular biographical publications [44] [45] have incorrectly speculated that these three Curtis lines, all three of them Quakers, were closely related. One Curtis line involves this Thomas Curtis of Derbyshire married to Joan Clay [46]. A second Thomas Curtis was a woolen draper of Reading who was married in 1651 to Joan, born 1631, daughter of Robert Yeamans, of Bristol. Thomas Curtis of Reading was a close associate of the noted Quaker, George Fox [47]. A third Thomas Curtis was from Bugbrook, Northamptonshire, England and named his estate in New Jersey Bugbrook [48].
[1] Derbyshire Record Office, Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers, Diocese of Derby, North Wingfield Parish Registers, 1657-1681, D1434 A/PI, item 2, FHL film 1041093, Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, column 41, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[2] FamilySearch.org, [FamilySearchRecord].
[3] Lewis D. Cook, "John Curtis (1635-1696) of Derbyshire, England, and Burlington County, New Jersey," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 61 (1973), 83-99, at 84.
[4] Derbyshire Record Office, Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers, Dronfield, 1560-1743, D2441 A/P1 1/1 FHL film 1041034, Item 2, Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[5] FamilySearch.org, [FamilySearchRecord].
[6] Derbyshire Record Office, Ref. No.: D37/MT/592, [Derbyshire_Record_Office].
[7] Derbyshire Record Office, Ref. No.: D37/MT/594, [Derbyshire_Record_Office].
[8] Derbyshire Record Office, Ref. No.: D37/MT/596-597, [Derbyshire_Record_Office].
[9] Derbyshire Record Office, Ref. No.: D37/MT/584, [Derbyshire_Record_Office].
[10] Derbyshire Record Office, Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers, Diocese of Derby, North Wingfield Parish Registers, 1657-1681, D1434 A/PI, item 2, FHL film 1041093, Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, Three-generation family record, Curtis-Fowler (up-side-down), [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[11] FamilySearch.org, Three-generation family record, Curtis-Fowler (up-side-down), [FamilySearchRecord].
[12] Lewis D. Cook, "John Curtis (1635-1696) of Derbyshire, England, and Burlington County, New Jersey," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 61 (1973), 83-99, at 84.
[13] Wikipedia article about St_Lawrence%27s_Church,_North_Wingfield, content subject to change, [Wikipedia].
[14] UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975, [AncestryRecord].
[15] W.P.W. Phillimore, ed., Calendars of Wills and Administrations in the Consistory Court of the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, 1516 to 1652 (British Record Society, 1892), 419, right column, [GoogleBooks], [FHLBook], [FHLCatalog], [FHL_Wiki_Learn].
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[17] S. O. Addy, "A List of the Vills and Freeholders of Derbyshire in 1633," Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 6 (1884), 49-74, at 54, [HathiTrust].
[18] Staffordshire, Dioceses of Lichfield and Coventry wills and probate 1521-1860, Will, [FindMyPastImage], [FindMyPastRecord].
[19] George Ireland, transcriber, and George Drewry Squibb, ed., Dugdale's Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire visitation papers (London: Harleian Society, 1987), 95, [GoogleBooks].
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[21] Lewis D. Cook, "John Curtis (1635-1696) of Derbyshire, England, and Burlington County, New Jersey," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 61 (1973), 83-99, at 84, person 12.
[22] Gladwyn Turbutt, "Vanished Splendours of Derbyshire - Ford House", (When and where published?), p. 68-69.
[23] J Charles Cox, "The Parish Registers of North Wingfield," The Reliquary 13 (1873), 35-39, at 36, [HathiTrust].
[24] J Charles Cox, "The Parish Registers of North Wingfield," The Reliquary 13 (1873), 35-39, at 36, 37, [HathiTrust].
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[26] Derbyshire Record Office, Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers, Diocese of Derby, North Wingfield Parish Registers, 1657-1681, D1434 A/PI, item 2, FHL film 1041093, Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage].
[27] Parish records for North Wingfield, inscription, left side, [FamilySearchImage].
[28] J Charles Cox, "The Parish Registers of North Wingfield," The Reliquary 13 (1873), 35-39, at 36, [HathiTrust].
[29] Derbyshire Record Office, Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers, Diocese of Derby, North Wingfield Parish Registers, 1657-1681, D1434 A/PI, item 2, FHL film 1041093, Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage].
[30] J Charles Cox, "The Parish Registers of North Wingfield," The Reliquary 13 (1873), 35-39, at 37, [HathiTrust].
[31] Derbyshire Record Office, Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers, Diocese of Derby, North Wingfield Parish Registers, 1657-1681, D1434 A/PI, item 2, FHL film 1041093, Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage].
[32] J Charles Cox, "The Parish Registers of North Wingfield," The Reliquary 13 (1873), 35-39, at 37-38, [HathiTrust].
[33] Derbyshire Record Office, Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers, Diocese of Derby, North Wingfield Parish Registers, 1657-1681, D1434 A/PI, item 2, FHL film 1041093, Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, Three-generation family record, Curtis-Fowler (up-side-down), [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[34] FamilySearch.org, Three-generation family record, Curtis-Fowler (up-side-down), [FamilySearchRecord].
[35] Derbyshire Record Office, Ref. No.: D37/MT/617, [Derbyshire_Record_Office].
[36] FamilySearch.org, [FamilySearchRecord].
[37] FamilySearch.org, [FamilySearchRecord].
[38] Derbyshire Record Office, Ref. No.: D37/MT/598, [Derbyshire_Record_Office].
[39] Derbyshire Record Office, Ref. No.: D37/MT/599, [Derbyshire_Record_Office].
[40] William Nelson, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Archives Vol. 21. (Patents and Deeds, 1664-1703) (1899), 414, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[41] England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers, 1578-1837, Piece 1446, RG 6, Monthly Meeting of Chesterfield, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, England (1641-1728), [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[42] Lichfield will index, [URL].
[43] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Thomas Curtis of Bugbrook, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
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[46] Lewis D. Cook, "John Curtis (1635-1696) of Derbyshire, England, and Burlington County, New Jersey," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 61 (1973), 83-99, at 83.
[47] Norman Penney, ed., T. Edmund Harvey, The Journal of George Fox, Vol. 1 (Cambridge: The University Press, 1911), 441, [GoogleBooks].
[48] Lewis D. Cook, "Thomas Curtis of [Northamptonshire,] England, and Burlington County, New Jersey, 1685," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 60 (1972), 96-102, at 97.