Christopher Helme - Christopher's Mother

Started by Private User on Saturday, December 29, 2018
Problem with this page?

Participants:

Profiles Mentioned:

Related Projects:

Showing all 11 posts

In the Overview/About section, it says Christopher was the son of William Elme and Grisill Spratt. It says his stepmother was Priscilla Wentworth.

Patricia Ann Scoggin says Why does Priscilla continue to be attached as mother when Griselda Spratt is the mother?
Sincerely,
Zachery Relyea

Assigning the mother as Priscilla was an error. Notes in profiles have Christopher (born about 1610) as the son of Grisill Spratt.

The marriage of William Helme and Priscilla Wentworth was on 1 Sep 1619 in Waltham, Lincolnshire, England.

So it is quite unlikely she was Christopher’s mother.

Comments at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Helme-13:

Disputed Associations

In a previous version of this profile, Christopher Helme was reported the son of William Helme and his third wife, Priscilla Wentworth. This association with Priscilla was disproven and has been severed. See Research Notes.

Research Notes

The will of William Elme of Long Sutton is dated 21 March 1648/9; proved 3 April 1649.[14] Various early interpretations of the will led to an array of claims regarding Christopher's birth and the identity of his mother. Common among the early published accounts, was that William Elme's "first" wife, and Christopher's mother, was Priscilla Wentworth, daughter of Christopher and Katherine (Marbury) Wentworth. In his will, William called out his son Christopher, writing,[15]

And if that Christopher Elme my sonne by my first wife be living and come lawfully to demand that legacy wch I give unto him I will that my sonne John Elme give five pounts a yeare unto him the sayd Christopher Elme during the term of the natuarall life of the sayd Christopher ...

In 1878, John Wentworth, The Wentworth Genealogy ..., followed the 1868 account, reporting that Priscilla Wentworth, baptized Waltham, Lincolnshire, England, was the mother of Christopher Helme.[17] This association was accepted by the authors of Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, (1938)[18] and was broadly disseminated.

In 1902, Canon A. R. Maddison published a pedigree about William Elmes of Long Sutton, reporting William married (1) to Grisell Spratt. Maddison's account of William reported 10 children, but a line was left off the pedigree, so that the parentage of only five children (including Christopher) was attributed to Grisell. In Maddison's account, William Elme married (2) 1617 (license dated 9 July 1617; she was age 30) to Anne (_____) Smith, "widow, of Reepham," and (3) Priscilla Wentworth of Waltham (license dated 28 August 1619; she was age 24). In this account, it was Christopher was said "doubtful if alive 21 March 1648-9."[19]

In 1936, Meredith B. Colket followed Maddison's pedigree, adding that Priscilla Wentworth hadn't married Christopher's father, William Helme, until 1 September 1619--too late to have been the mother of the man who signed the Exeter Combination in July 1639.[20]

In 1944, Richard LeBaron Bowen published an account of Christopher's parentage, outlining various theories. He concludes, "As the case now stands the preponderance of he evidence indication that the mother of Christopher Helme was his father's third wife, Priscilla Wentworth.[21]
Grisill Sprat' was the mother of Christopher Helme, per his father's will. dated March 21, 1648.[22]

The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215: The Barons Named in the Magna Charta, 1215 ... Weis claims here that Christopher is the son of William's first wife. But there are other errors in the line as given by Weis - Thomas 16's father was John not Thomas, and his wife's mother was Isabel Savile not Eland. Allegedly. Recent work does the Calverley section differently. But none of these other things is fatal.

In 2006, Donald Henry Stahle, June Bennett Helme and Charles Milton Helms, claimed Christopher Helmes was baptized Long Sutton, 24 July 1603,[23] citing (apparently) Paul Gifford, Elmes Family of Long Sutten reporting this work includes Baptisms, burials and marriages at Long Sutton."[24]

I’ll try to retrieve this article.

21. Richard LeBaron Bowen, "The Mother of Christopher Helme," New England Historical and Generalogical Register, 98 (1944):11-25; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.

But anyone with a free FamilySearch ID should be able to view this, which has references to the 1603 baptism:

24. Donald Henry Stahle, June Bennett Helme and Charles Milton Helms, Some North American Descendants of John Elmes of Lincolnshire, England through his Great-Grandson, Christopher Heme of Rhode Island (April 2006); digital images, FamilySearchBooks; https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/293770-some...

authors cite, "Browning, Will of William Elme," "Maddison, Lincolnshire Pedigrees, the 'Elmes of Long Sutton," "Richard LeBaron Bowen, 'The Mother of Christopher Helme (Boston, D. Clapp & Son, 1944) ...," and "Paul Gifford, Elmes Family of Long Sutten. Cited sources, Baptisms, burials and marriages at Long Sutton."

Patricia Ann Scoggin - I’ve corrected the relationships and locked them. At this point I think it’s up to someone to counter, because when he was born 1603 or about 1610, he cannot have Priscilla’s child,

Sharon Doubell Thank you for getting the discussion going. Old speculations and misinterpretations are a downfall in tracing our English ancestors.

Sharon Doubell & Erica Howton,
Thank you for your assistance in answering this parentage question & providing supporting info. How will this affect those up & down line from the Pricilla Wentworth line??? That may create a headache (or not) for someone to sort out!

I know it is going to create a headache for me to eliminate the Wentworth line from my computer's genealogy program!!!!

Patricia Ann Scoggin - your relationship to Priscilla (Wentworth) Helme is as your 9th great grandfather's 3rd wife.

https://www.geni.com/path/Patricia-Scoggin+is+related+to+Priscilla-Helme?from=6000000011574167594&path_type=inlaw&to=6000000002576790114

Going up the Marbury and Wentworth tree, you’re still defined in those terms. It would be interesting however to see if there are different pathways lower down in the Hutchinson / Marbury trees in America, as I think they did overlap with the Helmes.

Glad you got it sorted!

Showing all 11 posts

Create a free account or login to participate in this discussion