John SIMMONS (1599-1635)
and Mary MILLAM (1599-?)
John Simmons
and
Mary Millam
were my 9x Great Grandparents. They married on
3 July 1620 in Ardingly, Sussex. Mary’s name was recorded as Marie in the Parish
Register and Elizabeth in the Bishop Transcripts!
John Symons
may have been baptised on 4 March 1598/9 in Worth, Sussex, and have been the fourth child and second son
of
5
360
Hugh Symons
(c1567-1612) and
5
360
Elizabeth
Streeter. He was buried on 21 August
1635 in Ardingly and in the burial register he was described as a married man.
However, a pedigree at Family Search suggests that John was born about 1582 in
Cuckfield, Sussex, the son of Thomas Simmons and Sarah.
(Worth borders Ardingly to the north, whereas Cuckfield borders Ardingly to the
south.) A Thomas Simons of Cuckfield left a will dated 3
February 1581 and proved on 26 April 1582 - I have yet to read this will, but
shall endeavour to transcribe the will and include it within this site.
Mary Millam
was baptised on 15 April 1599 in Ardingly. She
was the fifth child and fourth daughter of
5
246
Anthony
Millam (c1570-1638) and
5
246
Joan Lucar
(c1570-1605). Her father was a Hammerman,
therefore, he probably worked in the Wealden Iron Industry. As Mary was only
about 36 years old when her husband died and left with 5 children aged between 6 and
15, might she have remarried? I can not find a second marriage for her in the Ardingly registers, nor can I find her burial after 1635 as Mary Simmons.
The Sussex marriage index records that a marriage licence was issued on 16 May
1636 by the Archdeaconry of Sussex to Richard Finch and
Mary Symondes who were both of Ardingly.
John Simmons and Mary Millam had
5 known children:
-
Elizabeth Simons
was baptised on 2 September 1620 in Ardingly.
Her mother’s name was not recorded against her baptism entry. Her burial and
possible marriage were not recorded in the Ardingly registers.
-
Thomas Simons
was baptised on 3 March 1621/2 in Ardingly.
His mother’s name was not recorded against his baptism entry. A
Thomas Simmons
was buried 17 January 1643/4 in Ardingly and
was described as “belonging to the yronworks”. Was the burial for this
Thomas, or did he have an Uncle or cousins? No possible marriage for Thomas
can be found in the Ardingly registers.
-
John Simmons
was baptised on 25 July 1624 in Ardingly.
Only his father’s name was recorded against his baptism entry. His burial and
possible marriage were not recorded in the Ardingly registers.
-
Hugh Symmons, my 8x Great Grandfather,
was baptised on 27 September 1626 in Ardingly. He married twicec, firstly to
Ann
Newman (?-c1656) in 1655 and then to
Susan Elliotte
(1638-1722) in
1659. (They have their own page.)
-
Mary Symons
was baptised on 1 February 1628/9 in
Ardingly. Her burial and possible marriage were not recorded in the Ardingly
registers.
There were no further Simmons baptisms in
Ardingly until Mary in 1656, daughter of Hugh (my 8xggf). And apart from the
burial of Thomas (above) in 1644, there were no Simmons burials in Ardingly
between 1635 and 1688. The only marriage between 1620 and 1659 was that of
Alexander Simmons
and
Joane Gallop
in 1637.
In the neighbouring parish of Cuckfield, a
John Simons
married
Elizabeth Allfrey
on 26 December 1614. I can not find any
children from this marriage, nor a suitable burial dates for either John and
Elizabeth.
The Ardingly Parish Registers commence in 1558.
The first Simmons bapstism in the parish was of
Josephe
on 20 August 1580 the son of
John Simmons,
a Hammerman. Next came
Thomas
on 21 November 1580 son of
Henry Simons.
Then no further Simmons baptisms until Elizabeth in 1620.
Joseph Simmons
married
5
246
Margaret
Lucar on 15 September 1605 in Ardingly.
Margaret may have been the neice of
Joan Lucar
and cousin of
Mary Millam.
Parishes bordering Ardingly are, clockwise from
the north: Worth, West Hoathly, Lindfield, Cuckfield and Balcombe. I have yet
to check all these parishes for any events that might be connected to the family
of John Simmons and Mary Millam.
MILLAM
SIMMONDS
Page Revised
17 March 2008
