Family talk:John Gedney and Mary Unknown (1)

PDF - not a single record [4 September 2022]

I read the pdf, I see no records of anything, just speculation and a lack of finding records looked for. I see no evidence of any necessary relationship to Bethiah other than that she lived with them, and certainly would expect a mention of the other Prince children in a more equal footing if they were his wife's children. Not saying it couldn't be, just saying I don't see a *single record* supporting any of it? Is there a death record for James Prince? There's no coverage of him in Great Migration which if there is any record of him in New England any time up to 1635 one would expect. Even if you accept he had the two different wives Sarah and Mary (which I find hard to believe because of the spacing of births), it is a whole other set of evidence to prove they are Mott, and Bartholomew or Prince, or anything other name, which isn't given nor could I find. What even is the basis for speculating his first wife is Sarah Mott? How do we know she wasn't Sarah Bartholomew? Until we know who his wives are how can we speculate where the name Bartholomew came from? It may have been his wife's father's name. Or his father. Did I miss something? One record even? --Jrich 04:09, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

You're right about the lack of supporting records. So much misinformation floating around.

I just recently found (at FamilySearch.org) four baptism records in Norwich, Norfolk, England that are probably John's children. The names (Marie, Liddea, An, and John) are a match for John's children. The first appears to be a previously unknown daughter who may have died before the family went to NE. BTW, there was also a 1614 baptism in Saint Peter Parmentergate for Nicholas Gedney s/o Bartholomew (possibly John's brother?).

So returning to the question of John's wife/wives, I agree the names Mott and Bartholomew are highly speculative. Neither the English nor Salem birth records gave the mother's name. So as you said, we have one record giving Sarah and one giving Mary. But if Marie was John's daughter, it might suggest her mother was Mary rather than Sarah.

Thanks for the sanity check.--KayS 00:47, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

This case will make for an important article some day when somebody finds the definitive answer! --Jrich 03:55, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

NEHGR, Vol. 174 (2020), p. 27ff, has an article on this. It gives a death record for "Lidda ye wife of John Gedny Buried May ye 25 1636" who presumably is the mother of the first 4 children. (Marriage record not found.) The baptisms of those 4 (naming only John, not the mother) and this death record are found in St. Peter Mountergate parish in Norwich.

The article also mentions a marriage record in Wrentham, "20 miles from Norwich" shows "John Gidny married Sarah Helly 25 April 1637 in Wrentham Suffolk", citing parish registers for Wentham as extracted ... on FamilySearch.org, i.e., here. The article says "No proof has been found that the John Gidney who married Sarah Helly in Wrentham is John Gedney of Salem. It is, however, the only marriage for a John Gedney to a Sarah in FamilySearch.org or Boyd's Marriage index..."

This article does not explicitly discuss the confusion over Sarah and Mary, assumes his 2nd wife's name was Sarah without mentioning or resolving the discrepancy noted above: admission to Salem church as Mary. The article is mostly focused on his third wife Catherine. --Jrich 16:41, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

Do not merge this page with Family:John Gedney and Mary Unknown (2).