Can we find him?
How many Richard Perkinses were born in the right place and time?
The evidence from Maryland led to the conclusion that Richard Perkins was born between 1650 and 1656, with 1653 or 1654 the most likely. It’s very unlikely that he was under 18 when transported in 1674, because it would have caused his indenture to last longer than it apparently did. He was a free man with 100 acres by 1683. Even so, it would be best to gather candidates from a wider age range than we expect we’ll need in case our estimates are a little off. We can then use our age estimates as one of the factors for rating the candidates.
So, what is the youngest we’ll even consider? Ten? If he was at least ten by 1674, he was definitely born by 1664.
And it’s possible that he was older than 24. Even if not very likely, it was still more likely than his being under 18. How old could he have been? If he had been over forty nobody would have wanted him, but even if they had, it would have meant he then produced a big family starting with his first child in 1689 at the age of 55 or later in a place where most men died before 50. It was not likely in a place where young men so vastly outnumbered women, but if 55 is allowed but that’s the cutoff, then he would have been born in or after 1634.
We’re still looking for our Richard in, or close to, the real age range we calculated, but how many more candidates would we have to deal with if we widened the net from the six-year birthdate range, 1650-1656, to the thirty-year range, 1634-1664? What records are there of a Richard (Rich, R’d, Ricardus, etc.) Perkins (Parkin, Parkins, etc.) born to anyone by any name anywhere in the vicinity of the West Riding of Yorkshire or the adjoining ridings and counties in the three decades of 1634-1664?
Births weren’t usually recorded, of course, so the dates are for baptisms, and the locations are Church of England parishes. You might expect that over thirty years hundreds of parishes would have produced a lot of Richard Perkinses, and maybe they did in the Perkins heartland in the south of England, but our Richard Perkins came from the Ramsden, Maude, and Watterworth heartland, where Perkinses (by any spelling) were much less numerous. That narrows the search greatly. The West Yorkshire Archive Service index of parish registers (accessed via Ancestry.com) provides only the following candidates:
- 1641-Aug-01: Richard son of Richard Parkin. South Kirkby, West Riding, Yorkshire
- *1649-Mar-20: Richard son of Thomas Parkin. Almondbury, West Riding, Yorkshire
- 1650-Dec-11: Richard son of Thomas Parkins. Wakefield, West Riding, Yorkshire
- 1654-Mar-13: Richard son of Richard Parkin. Langton by Malton, North Riding, Yorkshire
- 1654-Oct-08: Richard son of John Parkin. Halifax, West Riding, Yorkshire
- 1658-Nov-06: Richard son of Thomas Parkin. Rillington, East Riding, Yorkshire
- 1664-Jan-11: Richard son of Richard Perkin. Hovingham, North Riding, Yorkshire:
*The index identifies this Richard as a candidate, but on the scanned page the index refers to, you can clearly see a big “S” for “sepultus” (burial) in the left margin of the entry:
Parkin S | Elizeius Parkin de Overbrigge Sepult xxvi die
“Elizeius Parkin of Overbrigge buried on day 26” [of March, 1649]. This is just an indexing error. The Parkin who was buried in Almondbury in 1649 did not sail to Maryland twenty-five years later.
The remaining six candidates are all from Yorkshire. No one in the other, smaller counties near the West Riding of Yorkshire matches these criteria. It’s possible that there are still unindexed parish records in this region, and if so, there could still be additional candidates that will be discovered, but unless that happens, these six are the only Richard Perkinses baptized in that part of England in that generation.
But that still leaves six candidates with similar qualifications. Maybe there are additional qualifications that could help narrow it down further.
Were any of the other people involved with our Richard’s transportation living near any of these Richard Perkins candidates?
Richard Ambrose transported seven people: Richard Parkin(s), Richard Askew, Christopher Foster, Isaac Maude, Dorothy Parkinson, Ann Watterworth, and Elizabeth Brafitt. Two years later, he was sued by John Parkin(s), probably Richard’s father or uncle, and John’s partner, George Ramsden, whose uncommon surname is from the same place as the other uncommon names among the passengers. That’s nine people who knew each other at least briefly in England and whose families were from the same region. It’s likely that John knew our Richard from birth and didn’t live far from his business partner, George Ramsden. Maybe some of the others were nearby, too.
It would make sense to check out each parish that has a good Richard Parkins candidate (and its neighboring parishes) to see if it also has:
- A John Parkins (by whatever spelling) old enough to stay behind when Richard goes to Maryland, ideally Richard’s father or similar-aged relative. He definitely has to be old enough to legally sue someone in an English provincial court in 1676.
- A George Ramsden old enough to be John’s partner and to legally sue as co-plaintiff, or at least evidence of a Ramsden family close by.
- Isaac Maude, Richard Askew, Ann Watterworth, and the other passengers (again by whatever spellings), in the right age bracket for an indentured servant. If not the exact person, was the family nearby? Were they having any children of the right age? (Sometimes a person’s baptismal record is missing, and sometimes they don’t go by their baptismal name when they’re older, but you can still find the family name.)
Each column is one of the six candidates: the Richard Perkins in South Kirkby Parish, the one in Wakefield, etc. The rows are features we are looking for.
| SOUTHWEST YORKSHIRE CLUSTER | NORTHEAST YORKSHIRE CLUSTER | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Kirkby |
Wakefield |
Halifax |
Langton |
Rillington |
Hovingham |
|
| Richard Parkins (any Richard Perkins, Parkin, etc., born 1634-1664) |
Richard Parkin (b. 1641, son of Richard) abt 33 in 1674 |
Richard Parkins (b. 1650, son of Thomas) abt 24 in 1674 |
Richard Parkin (b. 1654, son of John Parkin) abt 20 in 1674 |
Richard Parkin (b. 1654, son of Richard) abt 20 in 1674 |
Richard Parkin (b. 1658, son of Thomas) abt 16 in 1674 |
Richard Perkin (b. 1664, son of Richard) abt 10 in 1674 |
| John Parkins (any evidence of a John Parkins within about five miles of the parish in the period 1600-1660) |
IN S. KIRKBY John Parkin b. 1637, son of Robert (4 yrs older than this Richard and diff fathers, so NOT his father, not his father’s age, and not his brother) |
NEARBY John Parkin b. 1647, son of Richard 1 mile away in Horbury (3 yrs older than this Richard and diff fathers, so NOT his father, not his father’s age, and not his brother) |
IN HALIFAX The parish registry states that John Parkin of Halifax is the father of Richard Parkin of Halifax A father in 1654 would have been old enough to stay behind in 1674, twenty years later, and sue in 1676 |
none found |
IN RILLINGTON John Parkin b. 1656, son of William John Parkin b. 1656, son of Thomas (2 yrs older, so NOT this Richard’s father, not his father’s age, but latter was probably his older brother. Not legal adults at time of lawsuit in 1676.) |
none found |
| George Ramsden (any born within five miles of the parish in the period 1600-1660) |
none found |
none found |
IN HALIFAX George Ramsden MANY, born in 1611, 1619, 1629, 1642, 1648, & 1652 NEARBY 2 miles away in Elland, born in 1604, 1606, 1623, 1632, 1644, 1645, 1646, 1647, & 1660, 2 miles away in Luddenden, born 1657, and 3 miles away in Sandall-Magna, born in 1628 (those born after 1652 would be too young for lawsuit) |
none found |
none found |
none found |
| Isaac Maude (for transportees, evidence of person or family in or near parish at right time) |
No Maudes in Parish or found within five miles |
IN WAKEFIELD Lots of Maudes in Wakefield but none in or within five miles of Wakefield is named Isaac |
IN HALIFAX Isacke Maude, son of Isacke Maude born 1644/5-Feb (baptized in Coley Non-Conformist Church, Northowram, within Halifax Parish) NEARBY in Luddenden, 2 miles from Halifax, Isaac Maude, son of Isaac Maude born 1654 in Elland, 2 miles from Halifax, Isackus Maude, son of Isacki Maude born 1662/3-Jan in Bradford 5 miles from Halifax Isaac Maude, son of John Maude born 1653 |
No Maudes in Parish or found within five miles |
No Maudes in Parish or found within five miles |
No Maudes in Parish or found within five miles |
| Richard Askew (Askee, Askey, Hasckye, etc.) In 1634-1664, there are only 3 in Yorkshire: Richard Ascough (1635) and Richard Aske (1647), both far from these parishes, and Richard Askew, born 1663 in Halifax |
none in parish There are some Askews in Darfield, 4 miles away, but no Richard |
none found |
IN HALIFAX Richard Askew, son of Richard Askew born 1663 |
none found |
none found |
none found |
| Ann Watterworth (Waterworth) There are no Walterworths at all anywhere in England 1634-64, but there are people with the unusual name of Watterworth living in Halifax at this time |
none found |
none found |
IN HALIFAX Wa(t)terworth Family having children in Halifax in 1650s James Waterworth, son of Thomas, born 1655 Daniell Watterworth, son of Thomas born 1659 |
none found |
none found |
none found |
| Dorothy Parkinson The only Dorothy Parkinson is in Wakefield. Lots of Parkinson families in Halifax. |
None in parish, A couple of Parkinson families 4 miles away in Ackworth |
IN WAKEFIELD Dorothie Parkinson, daughter of William Parkinson, born 1646 |
IN HALIFAX Many Parkinson families baptizing children in 1630s, 1640s, 1650s to fathers Robert, John, Thomas, and Joseph, but no baptismal record of a Dorothy |
none found |
none found |
none found |
| Christopher Foster Well over a thousand Fosters at that time, but no Christopher of that age found in or near any of these parishes |
No Fosters in South Kirkby (maybe some within 5 miles, but too many to check) |
IN WAKEFIELD Many Fosters in Wakefield (maybe more within 5 miles, but too many to check) |
IN HALIFAX There were several Foster families having children in Halifax at that time, but no Christopher found |
No Fosters in Langton (maybe some within 5 miles, but too many to check) |
No Fosters in Rillington (maybe some within 5 miles, but too many to check) |
IN HOVINGHAM One Foster found in Hovingham (maybe more within 5 miles, but too many to check) |
| Elizabeth Brafitt | none found |
none found |
Two Brefitt (alt. spelling of Brafitt) families buried children in Halifax in the 1650s, no Elizabeth | none found |
none found |
none found |
We already know that our Richard Parkins was part of a group from the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was born in 1650-1656, most likely in 1653 or 1654, and had a father or older relative John who was partner of George Ramsden in a lawsuit over the transportation of seven people to Maryland, including our Richard.
The Richard Parkin of Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, was born in 1654. His father was John Parkin, who could have partnered with any of several George Ramsdens in Halifax. And most or all of the other people transported were in Halifax or their families were.
In the region that all evidence says our Richard must have come from and in his generation, just one candidate is a match, and he’s an outstanding match, born the expected year to the expected father with the expected people around him. No other candidate comes close.
Richard Parkin, son of John Parkin of Halifax Parish, West Riding of Yorkshire, must have been our Richard Perkins I.