Richard Denton, lll, Reverend - The Origins of Reverend Richard Denton

I suppose I should explicitly add that Richard Mather's description above does explicitly state that there once was a list of all the passengers on the James.

What about ship passenger lists from October 1657 through 1658 from New York to England?

We know that Johannes Megapolensis and Samuel Drisius said in October 1657 that Reverend Denton was resolved to return to England with his sickly wife. Perhaps there is a passenger list with their names.
(Ecclesiastical Records, State of New York, Vol I, 1901, p. 407. https://archive.org/details/ecclesiasticalres01newy)

Some have said he went to Essex, but he may have gone elsewhere. So the port of entry in England would be a question. I did a search on FindMyPast for 1655 to 1665 but drew a blank.

There's a new book out about the Americans returning to England after the English Civil War. Perhaps Roland Henry Baker, III could do a look up for us on Reverend Denton, and also look at possible bibliographic sources for avenues to pursue.

I had missed that in the Rev. Mather journal about the description of authoritization! Very well done.

Call up the master of rolls. Tell him we need him to get those records digitized, we can find volunteers to help. :):)

I have the Master on speed dial... oops ... that was so long ago he is now with Rev. Denton. That would be great if Roland Henry Baker, III could find something.

I was thinking we should make a separate Geni project for passengers of the James from Bristol, May 1635, because we have a shot of building the passenger list beyond what Lady Anne of Packrat Pro was able to assemble. And because there were (surprisingly to me) less emigrants from Yorkshire to the Mass Bay Colony, a better chance of finding affiliations amongst the passengers.

Nice research!

Here is the the section of Richard Deton from the book:

Susan Hardman Moore, Abandoning America Life-stories from early New England (Woodbridge, England: THE BOYDELL PRESS. 2013) 89-90

DENTON, Richard (d. c.1662)

Richard Denton was born in Yorkshire. He graduated BA from St Catharine's College, Cambridge, in 1623/4. He was ordained a deacon at Peterborough, 9 March 1622/3, and a priest on 8 June 1623. He was perhaps the person licensed as curate of Turton chapel, 'Bolton le Moors', Lancashire, on 7 March 1628. Denton became curate of Coley chapel, near Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire, c.1631 (licensed in 1633). His conduct did not attract attention from the church courts but according to the later report of Oliver Heywood, 'he could not do what was required, and feared further persecution, and therefore took the opportunity of going into New England'.

Denton settled at Wethersfield, Connecticut, c.1638. In 1641 he led twenty-eight families, dissatisfied with church government at Wethersfield, to found Stamford. This was perhaps at the encouragement of John Davenport: Stamford received land from, and was under the jurisdiction of, the New Haven Colony. However, Denton had Presbyterian convictions. He disliked New Haven's practice of restricting the franchise to church members and of refusing to baptize the children of those who were not church members. c.1644 Denton secured land from the Dutch authorities of New Netherland and moved to Hempstead, Long Island, where he had more freedom. Although Denton was a Presbyterian, his flock included Congregationalists who, Dutch visitors reported, absented themselves if children of the parish were to be baptized.

Oliver Heywood commented that Denton had 'little comfort' in New England, being 'not altogether of their principles as to church discipline ... at last he returned into Old England about the year 1659; lived awhile in Essex, and there died'.

Sources:

Clergy of the Church of England Database. http://www.theclergydatabase.org. uk/ index.html CCEd Person ID 33942;

R.A. Marchant, The puritans and the church courts in the diocese of York 1560-1642 (London: Longmans,
1960), 243-4;

J. H. Turner, ed., The Rev. Oliver Heywood, B.A., 1630-1702: his autobiography, diaries ... , 4 vols, (Brighouse, Yorkshire: A.B. Bayes, 1882-5), IV, 11-12;
Dorothy Deming, The settlement of the Connecticut towns (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1933), 23-4;

New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. Vol 24 p 36;

I.M. Calder, The New Haven Colony (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1934), 76, 77, 87.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (61 vols). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford DNB Online at http://www.oxforddnb.com, 2004-.

Richard Denton is also in Robert Charles Anderson's Great Migration Directory on p 92. He gives the following sources to consult:

Denton, Richard: [From] Halifax, Yorkshire; [Arrived by] 1639; [first at] Wethersfield, [removed to] Stamford, Hempstead; returned permanently to England in 1658

The Public Records of the Colony of
Connecticut, 1636-1776, 15 volumes
(Hartford 1850-1890) 1 :63;

Wethersfield, Connecticut, Land Records 1:139;

Stamford Town Records 4;

The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume 1 through present ( 1869+)117:163-66, 211-12, 120:10-17;

Connecticut Ancestry, Volume 1 through present (1958+) [early volumes titled
Bulletin of the Stamford Genealogical Society] 47:107-18;

Susan Hardman Moore, Abandoning America Life-stories from early New England (Woodbridge, England: THE BOYDELL PRESS. 2013) 89-90 [see above]

Thanks for responding so quickly and thoroughly! Now we do have a few additional sources to review.

Moore's statement above that Rev. Denton settled in Wethersfield c.1638 does raise an additional question in my mind. I have never seen a mention indicating when Rev. Denton was made a "freeman." If he arrived in Boston/Watertown in 1635 but did not move to Wethersfield in Connecticut for a few years, would he not have been made a freeman at some point during that period. Perhaps I have missed a reference. Or, perhaps that indicates something about the timing. Or, were clergy exempt from the requirements?

Perhaps you could find a Geni participant in England willing to track down the location of the Pipe Rolls for Bristol in the 1630's. I have no idea whether they would still be in Bristol or might have been removed to some other location.

There's a U.K. Portal project on geni, raise the question there? Explain what you're looking for.

Question - have you seen any evidence that Denton was in New England prior to 1639? I wonder if he didn't arrive until that year. I also wonder if he was ever even in Watertown. Perhaps Weathersfield was his first stop. So I'm suspicious as well. It would seem there would be a record of him becoming a freeman and as you pointed out he was fairly busy in England right up to the year he arrives in Weathersfield.

This looks like to be the most up-to-date review of Denton published 2004 (aside from the Abandoning America above):

December 2004 - Vol. 47, No. 2 - Anniversary Issue #2 - Special Double Issue
Note: This issue currently only available as part of 50th Anniversary Commemorative Issue 47:107-18 Meeting the Reverend Richard Denton (1603 - 1663?) by Walter C. Krumm

The volume may still be ordered:

https://www.connecticutancestry.org/publications/past-journals/

The history of ancient Wethersfield says he was there by 1638 presumably that is based on voting lists because we have no other records from the church. He was given land in Wethersfield 24 Feb 1641. The American Genealogist has the early Stamford Town Records in Vols 10, 13 and 18 in print. I checked those and no mention of him there until 16 May 1641 (TAG 10:40, 19:58). And then he is in Long Island by. 1644 (TAG 76:75).

I read your PDF - very nice work!

The Public Records of the Colony of
Connecticut, 1636-1776, 15 volumes
(Hartford 1850-1890) 1 :63;

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081884391;view=1up;...

10 Apr 1640 Names Denton when he receives 15 acres in Weathersfield.

I can't find any mention of him in Winthrop's papers.

No mention of a Land Grant to Denton in Watertown Records either:

https://archive.org/details/watertownrecords00hist

I can't image someone like Denton arriving in Watertown and staying a few years and no getting a grant.

Thanks for the compliment.

I have not found any direct evidence that Rev. Denton was in Wethersfield (or Watertown) before 1639. The histories, such as "The History of Ancient Wethersfield," use terms like "may have been" or they seem to place him there by inference.

Thanks for checking the American Genealogist and noting the 16 May 1641 date in Wethersfield. Clearly, Rev. Denton did not leave much of a paper trail. It is funny that I began this quest when I noted the anomolies in Venn's work and my limited goal was to identify the real Reverend Richard Denton. But the more I learn, the more mistakes or mischaracterizations I find in his later history. He might be a good subject for a contemporary historian to revisit.

The "Meeting the Reverend Richard Denton" article you cite is also quoted extensively at: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kerry...

And, thanks for that additional research in the records. Rev. Denton is presenting more questions than he is answering.

What you are doing is just the evidence based genealogy we need more of. The earliest record so far I have is 10 Apr 1640 from he Public Records of the Colony of
Connecticut, 1636-1776 1:63. Seeing as ships left in the spring and arrived in the summer he had to have arrive by at least 1639 to have rec'd a grant in April of 1640 unless he received the grant in absentia. That's rare but I have seen that as well. I think that's why Anderson came up with the date 1639.

It’s interesting that Denton seems to be associated always with Richard Baildon/Belden.

Anderson’s entry is:

Belden, Richard: Heptonstall, Yorkshire; 1640; Wethersfield [WetLR1 :80, 138; TAG 45: 135-38, 76:20-28, 122-28].

Winthrop’s journal does make reference to Belden but not to Denton probably saying something of their respective social status. The American Genealogist published the English Origins in Richard Belden in TAG 76:20+. It includes some other interesting references including:

John Watson, The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Halifax, in Yorkshire (London, 1775).

The Rev. Oliver Heywood 1630-1702; History, Autobiography, Diaries, Anecdote and Event Books… (Brighouse, England, 1881-85) 4:11

These may be of interest to you. It really doesn’t seem like things were heating up until 1637. The fact that both Belden and Denton came from Yorkshire and shared the same history of rebuke and both ended up in Wethersfield makes me suspect they traveled together around 1639/40. The author points out that Denton was appointed 1631 for “six or seven year.” That would imply he couldn’t have left before 1638.

I haven’t read the whole TAG article yet. But it seems to have a lot of meat in it as well as good sources.

So, your analysis of the timing (based on more direct evidence) corresponds reasonably well with Rev. Heywood's statement that Rev. Denton was at Coley for 7 years. But your work clearly puts a more definite end date on the period during which he might have migrated.

While we all may have an opinion about the possible or likely ships he took, we still need more direct evidence to confirm those opinions. And without a ship's list, we will not know whether his wife or children are listed. But, we do have major progress by at least limiting the search period. If Erica is right, the search could end by just finding the James' list.

My thought now, though, is that it may be worth looking at Rev. Denton's likely return to England in 1658-59. Finding a list for that return voyage may be easier and may disclose his wife's given name. When I was considering next steps, this percolated to the top of the list. Of course, I am open to other suggestions.

I was not aware of the Belden association. I will take a closer look. Thanks, again.

Great work! Roland always brings the citations. :). Roland, does your book talk about ships from colonies to England?

I've plodded along on the freeman question. Here are the rules for Watertown:

https://books.google.com/books?id=mZU6AQAAIAAJ&lpg=PA347&ot...

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical ..., Volume 3 edited by Duane Hamilton Hurd page 347

To become a freeman it was necessary to be a church-member, and so it happened that men in respectable social positions were not admitted till advanced age, or never admitted. It was not necessary; however, to be a freeman, or even a church-member, in order to hold office in the town, or appointments from the Court, although the rule allowed none but freemen to hold office or vote for rulers. This rule was so far modified, in 1664, that individuals might be made freemen who could produce certificates from some clergyman that they were correct in doctrine and conduct.

[needless to say, Rev Denton is not on the list]

I'm pretty sure clergymen could & did become freemen.

What was that about social status? Apparently Rev Denton had had "means" (married into?)

"The old chapel is stated to have been 28 yards long and about 13^ broad, but this would be after it was enlarged during the curacy of Mr. Denton between the years 1631 and 1638. ...

The following is, as far as we have been able to gather, a complete list of the Coley "curates" (vicars) from the very commencement of the church's history. ....

12th. Richard Denton, 1631.—" A godly minister who lived at Priestley Green." He was a Yorkshireman by birth, and possessed of considerable means.

The book of sports published in 1618, was again ordered to be read in the churches, and feeling that he could not conscientiously read it, resigned his living and left the country, going over to New England. He returned to England and went to reside in Essex in 1659, where he died.

Coley Chapel was enlarged during the time he was curate there.

Northowram (W.R. Yorks): Its History and Antiquities : with a Life of Oliver ...
By Mark Pearson page 43

https://books.google.com/books?id=dOYVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA46&lpg=...

-----

I just read about "the book of sports" that caused such an uproar, let me find that. It was a hard date.

https://books.google.com/books?id=DygZAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA517&ot...

An Advanced History of England: Period I.-To Elizabeth,1603 By Cyril Ransome page 537 years 1633-1637

In 1633 Laud became archbishop of Canterbury. His elevation to power gave him a larger sphere for activity; and as see after see fell vacant his friends were raised to the bench of bishops. Neile was made archbishop of York; Wren became bishop of Norwich, and a few years later of Ely ; Juxon succeeded Laud at London. Soon, Williams Laud's of Lincoln, the old friend of James l., was the only bishop of PohcyPuritan leanings. Laud's activity was endless. With the High Commission court at his back, he rigidly enforced his own system on Puritan rectors and vicars. To the horror of the Puritan party, he took up the cause of those who saw no harm in giving up Sunday afternoon to recreation, and republished James' book of sports—which permitted archery, dancing, and other athletic exercises on Sunday afternoons— and ordered it to be read by the clergy, whether they approved of it or not. ....

-----

(no hard date yet ....)

1633

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Book-of-Sports

In 1618 James ordered all English clergy to read the declaration from the pulpit, but so strong was the Puritan opposition to Sunday amusements that he prudently withdrew his command. In 1633 Charles I not only directed the republication of his father’s declaration but insisted upon the reading of it by the clergy. Many of the clergy were punished for refusing to obey the injunction.

----

So some things aren't lining up for me.

- considerable means in England. Then why begging for pay in America?
- upset about an order in 1633, but enlarging a chapel in 1638?
- a Presbyterian among the Congregationalists?

https://books.google.com/books?id=SW1KAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA82&ots...

Familiae Minorum Gentium, Volume 1 By Joseph Hunter page 82

To paraphrase, Henry Priestley bought the property of Priestley Green from a Mr. Sutherland. His 2nd wife, Ann Dean, was the niece of widow Isabel Denton, "a rich Chandler of Halifax," who settled her estate on the Priestley children.

https://lowercalderlegends.wordpress.com/2010/03/21/curiosities-of-...

A dwelling on this site is recorded as far back as the 13th Century but the current cottage was built in 1630 by Samuel Sunderland of nearby Coley Hall.

https://lowercalderlegends.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/curiosities-of-...

The land at Coley passed into the hands of the Sunderland family (of High Sunderland) on 29th April 1572 and it is thought that the body of the current Hall was built by Samuel Sunderland around 1640, passing to his nephew Langdale in 1646. During the Civil Wars, Langdale fought for the Royalists as a Captain of a Troop of Horse under the Earl of Newcastle and whilst he was resident at the Hall, it suffered badly from bombardment by passing Parliamentary troops, necessitating the rebuilding of its south frontage. The victorious Commonwealth later imposed a decimation tax on Langdale forcing him to sell Coley along with the family estates at High Sunderland.

In 1657 the new owner William Horton leased the Hall for fifteen years to Captain John Hodgson, who’d fought for the Parliamentarian cause in the Civil Wars. For a period, Hodgson gave refuge there to Oliver Heywood whose uncompromising Nonconformity had seen him driven out as vicar at Coley Chapel, jailed under the Acts of Uniformity in 1659, prosecuted for riotous assembly and twice excommunicated in 1662 and 1685. Heywood’s controversial reputation was such that he was even accused of witchcraft, when John Hanson declared that following a visit to Heywood’s house the wife of one B. Jagger had “got power” over a maid of Anthony Waterhouse, who soon died.

“May the Almighty grant that the lineage of Sunderland may quietly inhabit this seat, and maintain the rights of their ancestors free from strife until an ant drink up the waters of the sea, and a tortoise walk around the whole world”.

[I'm pretty sure the Sunderlands are extinct]

Coley Hall may have been an inspiration for "Wuthering Heights."

https://lowercalderlegends.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/high-sunderland...

Found her. Isabel Denton, d 1656, was widow of George Denton, Chandler of Halifax, admin: Ann Priestley. Could this not be the bequest waiting for Rev Richard in England?

https://books.google.com/books?id=2wcVAAAAQAAJ&vq=Denton&pg...

A Catalogue of the Inquisitions Post Mortem for the County of York, for the ...
By England and Wales. Court of Chancery page 164

Also see page 193

https://books.google.com/books?id=2wcVAAAAQAAJ&vq=Denton&pg...

Denton, Jane, widowe, Wortlay in the parish of Leeds, will dated 14 Oct 1657. Admin: Mary Cliffe, daughter.

And page 142

https://books.google.com/books?id=2wcVAAAAQAAJ&vq=Denton&pg...

Denton, Richard, yeoman, Jaggergreene in Stainland, will dated 6 May 1654. Admin: Jane Denton, relict.

I went ahead and made a mini tree George Denton, chandler of Halifax