Person:Thomas Leonard (24)

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bart/LEONARD2.htm

The earliest record we have of father Thomas is 13 Mar. 1624/5 when he was listed as the father of Margery (child #3) in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire. Henry, his first child, was born ca. 1618.
We also know that his wife’s maiden name was Elizabeth White and that Thomas was a forgeman in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, 1624-1628 and he was living in Publow Parish, Somersetshire, 1633-1636.
That is the extent of our documented knowledge of Thomas.
Probably Thomas ended up in the Pontypool area of Monmouthshire (now Gwent), perhaps working for the Hanbury family.
Philip Hanbury came to Paneg (1 mile from the Pontypool ironworks) ca. 1608, possibly to supervise the ironworks which his uncle Richard Hanbury, the goldsmith, had acquired.[37]
Stanley G. Leonard of Pontypool wrote the following two articles which were published in the Pontypool “Free Press” before 1977:
- “Local Links with Early United States Iron Industry”
- “The Early Iron Men of America.”

(Research):Bill Barton, "Pre-American Ancestry of Our Leonard Ironworkers" (24 June 2006): "Let us now proceed back in time to Thomas Leonard’s father, Henry Leonard. Grandfather HENRY LEONARD (? - ?) All we have here is Hannah Deane’s statement that Thomas Leonard’s father was Henry Leonard. Three possible clues are: Thomas [not Henry] Leonard (born 23 May 1577, married Lydia White, died 1638) of Pontypool was a son of Sampson Lennard, (1540 – 1611), and Margaret, Baronese Dacre.[39] This line has been discounted by Donald L. Jacobus[40] and others. In the Chester City Council Meetings a Henry Leonard is mentioned in the following two items:[41] - “June 2, 1618 ordered that Henry Leonard should have the use of £100 of the City’s money on payment of the 5 per year interest to set 51 poor people to work in fustian making. He also to set 25 people to work on knitting and 25 at clothing.” - “Feb. or April (old) 19, 1618/19: Ordered that if the Company of Mersers and Ironmongers would not take £100 on conditions offered by Henry Leonard within the next fortnight they were to refer themselves the Mayor and his Brethren for such action as was thought fit.” Note that fustian = cotton fabric and mercer = one who deals in the textile fabrics. The only Henry Leonard listed in the Chester Freemen’s Rolls 1392-1805 is on 18 Sep. 1615 when a Henry Leonard, weaver, son of Thomas Leonard, shoemaker, is listed as “defunct.”[42] Probably this Henry and his father Thomas were not ironworkers. The only Leonard ironworker appearing in this list was a John Leonard, smith, 1601-2. Also note that the French Huguenots were renowned for their expertise in fine fabrics. W. D. John & Anne Simox reported that James & Henry Leonard about 1646 left the Hanbury ironworks at Pontypool and migrated to the New England colonies. They were “descendants of John Leonard (Lyonarde), a Frenchman who arrived in England in 1514 and had constructed some of the early water-driven blast furnaces in the Wealden district of South-east England.”[43] Unfortunately, no documentation is offered. Of the above three leads, I strongly favor #3. In this connection see: - Brian G. Awty, “The Continental Origins of the Wealden Ironworkers, 1451-1544” (The Economic History Review, 2nd series, vol. xxxiv, #4, Nov. 1981) - Brian G. Awty, “Aliens in the Ironworking Areas of the Weal: The Sussex Rolls, 1524-1603 (Wealden Iron Research Group Bulletin, 1984), 2nd series, 4:13-17 & 23 & 73 - Brian G. Awty, “Provisional Identifications of Ironworkers among French Immigrants Listed in the Denization Rolls of 1541 & 1544 (Wealden Iron Research Group Bulletin, 1979), 2-10. - Ernest Straker, Wealden Iron (1931) - Henry Cleere & David Crossley, The Iron Industry of the Weald (1995). The current belief is that the French ancestor of the above Leonard line is Henry Leonard, alias Quintin (baptized 1 Jan. 1561/2 at Etchingham), not his brother John (baptized 29 Jan. 1547/8 at Frant). The father of Henry & John was Martin Lenard, alias Quintin (buried 2 Mar. 1591/2 at Burwash), finer, and the grandfather was Quintin Leonard. The above Henry Leonard Quintin had a son [-?-] Lenard baptized 22 Feb. 1590/1 at Fletching. Note: I believe all of the above localities are in Sussex (fig. ).[44] See my Quintin Leonard descendancy chart at http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db = bartstam . Was the above [-?-] Lenard our grandfather Henry Leonard??" ---------- Barton's Quintin-Leonard line Donald Lines Jacobus, “Pre-American Ancestries: The Leonard Family of Taunton, Massachusetts” (TAG, 1933/34), 10:162-166.

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wandawhy9&id=I4570
Thomas Lennard (Leonard), born 1577, died 1638. He was engaged in the manufacture of iron at Pontypool, in co. Monmouth (once belonging to Wales but, when the boundary between England and Wales was later changed, Monmouth became a part of England). He married Lydia White and had nine children as follows:
http://pages.prodigy.net/reed_wurts/heraldry/leonard.htm

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2640299&id=I545268256
Author: Fuller, Robert F., Gerald Ralph, Hortense M.
Title: "Adamic Lineages of Horace Ralph Fuller Family"
Publication: (Salem, Massachusetts : Peabody Essex Museum ; Mystic, Conn. : Mystic Seaport Museum, 1996); Call # 910.4 S796
Repository:
Name: L.A. Main - Family History Library
West Los Angeles, CA 90025-4799 U.S.A.
L.A. Main - Family History Library
10471 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Los Angeles
CA
90025-4799
U.S.A.
Page: Pedigree Records - Chart: 131-28

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2962922&id=I582100201
Author: John S. Wurts
Publication: Brookfield Publishing Co., Phildelphia, PA, USA, 1944
Eldest son, called "the father of the American Iron Industry," since he presvered in that calling, and his foundries were perpetuated for centuries.