In an earlier article (TAG 52: 198-209) it was established
that Henry 1 Sampson, Mayflower passenger, was baptized at
Henlow, co. Bedford, on 15 Jan. 1603/4, son of James and
Martha (Cooper) Sampson. More information on his maternal
ancestry was given in that article, but no record of his
father prior to his marriage at Henlow on 20 March 1599/
1600 had been discovered.
Recently extracts of the parish register of Campton, co .
Bedford, were examined, with the result that we can give the
family group of John Sampson who, with high probability, was
father of James and grandfather of Henry. The pertinent
records are as follows:
Campton, co. Bedford
...
Note that Henlow , Campton, Stotfold and Arlesey are closely
grouped in eastern Bedfordshire near the Hertfordshire
border, while Cranfield is at the opposite end of the shire.
On the basis of these records we tentatively, but with
some confidence, reconstruct the following family groups.
JOHN SAMPSON of Campton, co. Bedford, of whose wife and
probate record we know nothing, is the only father shown to
have been having children baptized at Campton in the proper
period, so that it seems probable that he was the unrecorded
father of the first five children listed below, the rest
being recorded as children of a John.
