William Drake of Halstead remains, for the time being, the earliest proven ancestor of the Drakes of Hampton, New Hampshire. It is with him that the pedigree of the family begins and it is with him and his descendants that the genealogy of the Drakes is concerned.
The connected pedigree of the family which can now be put forward begins with William Drake, husbandman, sometime of the parish of Halstead and afterwards of the parish of Elmstead. The earliest mention of him, so far discovered, is the record of his marriage in Halstead parish church to Joan Merrylls. The flint—built church, dominating the little town, was already old when William Drake first knew it, but the parish registers date back only to 1564, for any earlier registers are lost. The entry, in the clear and careful hand of the parson, reads under the year 1578, “Will[ia]m Drakes and Joane Merrylls were married the xijth of October.”
Unless this was a second marriage, which we have no grounds at present for thinking, we may conjecture that William was then aged between twenty-five and thirty. This would give his date of birth as possibly somewhere about 1550.
It is, of course, most dangerous to take coincidences for evidence. We must, therefore, be on our guard against identifying our William Drake of Halstead with William, the son of Thomas Drake of Little Waltham, who was baptized there in 1552.
Children bp in Halstead, Essex:
Robert bp 23 July I581
Thomas, the elder bp 2 Dec 1582
Joshua bp 29 Nov 1583
Children born probably in Elmstead, Essex:
Joseph
Thomas the younger
Isabel married to John Smith
Joan married to Francis Cocke
Alice
Ellen
Elizabeth
William Drake had abandoned his estate in Halstead, Essex by 1592 [parish rolls] and moved to Elmstead, Essex on the other side of Colchester where the younger children were probably born.
The parish registers record: "Joan Drake, Wife of William Drake lately deceased, was
being buried on March 30th [1616/7].”
Will of “Jeane Merrels widdowe the late wife of William Drake of Elmstead, co. Essex, husbandman.” dated 16 March 1616/7. mentions her son Robert as being then alive, and also her sons Thomas the elder, Joseph, and Thomas the younger, and her daughters Isabel married to John Smith, Joan married to Francis Cocke, Alice, Ellen and Elizabeth.
On 6 April 1592, William Drake is “presented,” that is to say reported at a View of Frankpledge in the manor court for default of residence." In short, he had removed himself from the jurisdiction of the lord of the manor of Abells, thus depriving the lord of his just reliefs, rents and fines. The membrane on which this entry appears is defective, but the normal punishment was a small fine. A couple of years later, on 16 October 1595 William Drake is fined at a View of Frankpledge of the manor of Abells for “inherited houses,” which he had apparently abandoned, but again the roll is defective and partly illegible. We see that he left Halstead after November 1584,and before April 1592.
