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RICHARD GILBERT and MARGERY MORKEN were living in Yardley parish, Worcester County, England, when their children were born between 1576 and 1589. Yardley is about eight miles NW of Birmingham, England. Their son, THOMAS, married ELIZABETH BENNETT in Yardley, and the records of the baptisms of all of their children (except Sarah) are there between 1612 and 1629.
Later, in the Connecticut Colony, their grandson, JONATHAN owned a farm between the present city of
Meriden, New Haven, CT, and the old Kensington parish of Berlin, Hartford, CT. He named this farm
Meriden and the name also appears in his will of 1682. There is a parish named Meriden about 12 miles
ESE of Birmingham; therefore, Yardley and Meriden are about 20 miles apart. One might hyphothesize that
the Connecticut farm was affectionately named after the English parish. Perhaps, Thomas and family moved
from Yardley to a farm in Meriden in the early 1630s. Then something happened to cause them to uproot
and move to America in about 1638, when JONATHAN was about 21. For JONATHAN to have such an attachment
to the name Meriden, the family must have lived there satisfactorily during his late teen years.
born | marr | died | |
---|---|---|---|
all children born in Yardley, Worcsetershire, England | |||
Elizabeth husband Thomas Marshe |
04-08-1576 |
04-16-1605 |
|
Parnell | 06-15-1578 | ||
Margaret husband John Merston |
10-07-1580 |
11-02-1603 |
|
Richard | 01-01-1585/86 | 01-18-1585/86 | |
THOMAS GILBERT
wife ELIZABETH BENNETT |
04-25-1589 |
08-29-1610 |
09-05-1659 01- -1654/55 |