Person:William Willoughby (28)

"He is mentioned in the Calendar of State Papers as early as 1628 and for many years later, as Purveyor of timber for the Royal Navy, a Government office, and is frequently referred to as an owner of vessels which he put at the disposal of the Government.

When the Civil War broke out in 1643, he raised a company of one hundred 'well affected and stout youngsters' whom he commanded and who rendered efficient service. During the succeeding year Captain Willoughby, with the rank of colonel, was given command of a regiment known as the 'Regiment of (Yellow) Auxiliaries of the Hamlets of the Tower.' His military service under the Parliament was important and varied, and an interesting account of it is to be found in Family Histories and Genealogies, Salisbury, I, 510-513.

He was appointed by the House of Commons on February 16, 1648/9 master attendant for Portsmouth and commissioner of the Royal Navy there, but held this office for only a short time, dying March 30, 1651. He was buried in St. Thomas' Church, Portsmouth and the inscription on his tombstone is as follows:

'Heere vnder lyeth ye body of Willi: Willovby Esq. formerly Collo: of a Regiment belonging to the Hamlets of ye Tower (London) and at his deceas a Commissioner of ye Navie, aged 63 yearrs, who departed this life ye 30 March 1651. Mors mihi Lvcrum.'

Above are emblazoned the old Willoughby de Eresby arms.

William Willoughby

'Born under Queen Elizabeth, lived through the reigns of James I and Charles I, and through the restless times which followed the beheading of the latter did active service to his country under Parliamentary rule, but did not survive to see the Protectorate of Cromwell.'

We have no knowledge of his ancestry, but the fact that the Willoughby de Eresby arms were engraved on his tombstone leads us to believe that he belonged to that family.

'On examination of Colonel William Willoughby's accounts, it was found that £1622. 16s. 4d for the hire of ships to guard the Thames during the insurrections in Kent and Essex, were due at the time of his death; and the Council of State on October 31 ordered that it should be paid to his wife out of the excise in course, with an allowance at six per cent until paid. 'On petition of Elizabeth widow of Col. William Willoughby, November 1651, search was made to see if warrant was issued for payment of £300. to Col. Willoughby and Company (Maurice Thompson and William Pennoyer) for the loan of two ships for the service of Ireland; and if so cancel it. …. And £150. still due to his estate to be raised, etc., etc.' '

His will, dated August 1, 1650, signed November 28 and proved at London May 6, 1651, made his wife Elizabeth the executrix, and left most of his property to her and his eldest son Francis, making provision for his other son William, whose condition is mentioned as "deboisht" and wicked. Other bequests are:

'To my cousin Lawrence Hammond the sum of twenty pounds to be paid him when he shall be twenty … to poor housekeepers here in Portsmouth the sum of five pounds. … To poor housekeepers in the hamlet of Wapping in Middlesex where I formerly dwelt … unto John Greene the sum of five pounds for his rare helpfulness and assistance to my forementioned wife in the management of my business, and settling my accounts.'"^[3]

1. ↑ Wyman, Thomas Bellows. The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, Massachusetts: in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1629-1818. (Boston, Mass.: David Clapp and Son, 1879)
   II:1036.
2. ↑ Everingham, Kimball G. Col. William Willoughby and Family in Stepney. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (Jan 1980)
   56:12.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} Colonel William Willoughby, in Noyes, Charles Phelps. Noyes-Gilman Ancestry: Being a Series of Sketches, with a Chart of the Ancestors of Charles Phelps Noyes and Emily H. (Gilman) Noyes, his Wife. (St. Paul, Minn.: The Author (Printed by The Gilliss Press, New York), 1907)
   139-41.
4. ↑ Possible place of birth found in marriage document.