Person:William Nixson (2)

It is only conjecture that he was the son of Richard and Thomasine Nixson, as his parents were not identified in his baptismal record.^[2]

If he was the son of Richard and Thomasine Nixson, it is assumed that he died before his father wrote his will (in April 1599), as his father had another son William by his second wife, and 'only the younger William was mentioned in the will.'^[3]

1. ↑ Bush, Richard L. The English Ancestry of William and Anne (Busby) Nickerson of Chatham, Massachusetts, and of Nicholas and Bridget (Cocke) Busby of Boston. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (Oct 2011 (published May 2013))
   85:247-48.

   '... Norwich property tax records, which show that Richard and Thomasine were the new owners and residents of a tenement in St. Peter Parmentergate in 1569-70, ... So they were in place to be the parents of the William Nixson baptized in that same church on 19 December 1571.'

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Bush, Richard L. The English Ancestry of William and Anne (Busby) Nickerson of Chatham, Massachusetts, and of Nicholas and Bridget (Cocke) Busby of Boston. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (Oct 2011 (published May 2013))
   85:247.

   '... William baptized [in St. Peter Parmentergate] on 15 December 1571. The date was actually the 19th. More importantly, the register does not identify his parents. They most likely were not [emphasis added] Thomas and Alice Nixson, as their son William was still alive on that date ...'

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Bush, Richard L. The English Ancestry of William and Anne (Busby) Nickerson of Chatham, Massachusetts, and of Nicholas and Bridget (Cocke) Busby of Boston. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (Oct 2011 (published May 2013))
   85:248.

   'The will of Richard Nixson, dated 11 April and proved on 23 June 1599, identifies him as a lime burner and resident of St. Julian's parish, with a wife Joan and children Richard and William [citing Consistory Court of Norwich, Wills, 95 (Pecke): f. 95].'

   The author acknowledges that it was possible for Richard to have a second son William (by a second wife) while an older son William was still alive (the age gap would have been 25 years), but suggests that (assuming the older William was the son of Richard and Thomasine) the older son William "apparently" died by April 1599 because "only the younger William was mentioned in the will". However, the author provides no detail to show that it was the younger and not the older William mentioned in the will. Possibly William was identified as a minor - if so, the author is silent on this point.