John Gage of Ipswich and Penelope D'Arcy

St. Mary's Boxford www.suffolkchurches.co.uk

If you have read any of my other blog posts, you will know that it drives me crazy to see junky genealogy stuff. You know what I'm talking  about, silly dates, wrong parents, born in places that didn't exist, etc. So here is yet another post about an interesting man who has  all sorts of bogus information floating around out there on the internet.  This is the story of John Gage of Ipswich. 

A lot of effort has gone into finding the ancestry of John Gage and at some point early on, erroneous information was published on his parentage. According to Robert Charles Anderson, author of "The Great Migration Begins", there is not enough concrete evidence to definitively say who John's parents were, however he concedes that with further research it could be possible to prove that a John Gage born in Suffolk, at the right time, and right place might be the man.  This John was baptized on 21 April 1606, in Kersey, Suffolk, England. His parents were John and Jane (Lufkin) Gage, who lived in nearby Boxford.  Boxford is only a few miles from Groton, Suffolk, and if you know your Massachusetts history, you will recall that this was the home of John Winthrop, first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In fact the Winthrop family opened a private boy's school in Boxford and frequently attended sermons at the Boxford church.  John Gage gave his age in depositions once in 1659, and again in 1662.  At the first deposition he gave his age as 50 and in 1662 he stated his age as 58. This would be in the ballpark for the "Boxford" John. 

Towns of the Bay Colony

John Gage's name appears on the Covenant Roll for the 1st Church in Boston dated 27 Aug 1630.  His name was number 50 on the roll.  He had to have sailed with the Winthrop Fleet in order to be that high on the roll. The Winthrop Fleet was a group of eleven sailing ships under the leadership of John Winthrop that carried approximately 700 Puritans plus livestock and provisions from England to New England over the summer of 1630.John was made a Freeman on 4 March 1633.    He remained in Boston until March 1633 when he joined with  John Winthrop Jr.and about 10 other men to move to Agawam to start a new plantation. John Winthrop was recalled, but John Gage petitioned to remain.  Agawam, purchased from the Indians for 20 pounds, became Ipswich, Massachusetts. Interestingly there is a Boxford, Massachusetts not to far from Ipswich.

John was a farmer, carpenter and a surveyor for the town of Ipswich.  He was also active in the militia, in 1639 he was called Corporal Gage and in 1670 he was a Sergeant. He settled in an area of Rowley which was known as Merrimac Village, this eventually became the town of Bradford, and finally incorporated into Haverhill.

John was also active in the service of the town and colony.  He served on the Grand Jury, the Petit Jury, and was a selectman for Ipswich.  He was unable to write and made his mark on his deeds. 

John married twice, his first wife was Amy unknown, they married by 1638. They had at least 6 sons that lived to adulthood.  Amy died in June of 1658 and John Gage wasted no time in remarrying.  His second wife was Sarah, the widow of Robert Keyes of Watertown and Newbury, they married in November of 1658.  I suppose as the father of 6 boys under the age of 20 he needed a woman to help raise them. John died March 24, 1672/73 in Bradford.

Okay, so that seems all pretty straight forward, so what is the misinformation I spoke of at the beginning.  Seemingly thousands of family trees have John Gage to be the son of Sir John Gage of Firle, Sussex 1st Baronet and his wife the Lady Penelope D'Arcy. Now if those two names don't raise red flags, I can't imagine what would. So who is this John Gage?  His mother Penelope had previously been married, and widowed at age 17, before marrying John Gage, Knight.  She was the daughter and co-heir of Thomas D'Arcy, Earl Rivers and his wife Mary, daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Kitson of Hengave, Knight. Sounds mighty impressive, I think we need a picture here to impress how fantastically wealthy these people were. Below is a picture of Firle Place, the principal residence of the Gage Family, but they owned a lot of property in many counties in England.

Firle Place

  

Hengrave House

 John Gage was made a Baronet in 1622, he died in 1633.  He had four sons: Thomas, his heir, John, Henry and Edward, and four daughters: Frances, Penelope, Elizabeth and Ann. Thomas inherited Firle and his father's title on his death.  Penelope D'Arcy settled land on her other sons.  To John Gage, Gentleman, she gave a manor at Stonham Parva in Suffolk.  She also gave land to Henry, but to her youngest son Edward she gave her inheritance of Hengrave House in order for his line to be raised to a Baronet as well as his older brother Thomas. 
Penelope remained a widow for some years but eventually married for the third time to Sir William Hervey of Ickworth, Suffolk. (this is all going to get confusing so follow closely)  Sir William was a widower, his first wife was Susan, daughter of Sir Robert Jermyn of Rushbrook. The families intermarried and became a closeknit clan.  Here are some of the marriages.
Maria, daughter of Sir William Hervey, married Edward son of Penolope D'Arcy
Henry, son of Penelope, married Henrietta Jermyn niece to Sir William Hervey's first wife
Our John Gage married a Mary Barker on 9 May 1655 at St. Dunstan in the West, in London. 

Henrietta Jermyn Gage

Another thing of note about these families is that they were Roman Catholic in a time when Catholicism was banned in England. In fact, Ickworth, home of Sir William Hervey, had a private Catholic Chapel with Priest Hole.  Found in the "Particulars taken from the Process Book of Indictments from 6 October 7 Charles I to 4 December 16 Charles I, charges were brought against Penelope D' Arcy at least eight times for Recusancy.  Charges were also brought against her son John Gage, Gentlemen and her daughter Anne.  To be a Recusant was to be a Catholic. These charges were brought against them in Middlesex County (now part of London) as they were also residents of St. Andrew's Parish in Holborn.

On 6 November 1650 Sir William Hervey and Dame Penelope Gage his wife, of Hengrave, Suffolk, beg allowance of their claim to lands in Botolph Bridge conveyed to Lady Gage in 1637 by Sir Thomas Shirley for 200 years for 500pounds seized for her recusancy, but discharged 10 Charles and the rents paid until they were sequestered 31 August last....

Penelope wrote her will on 30 August 1656 and it was proved on 2 July 1661. She was interred in the private chapel at Hengrave next to her daughter Dorothy.  In her will she wrote why she settled Hengrave on her fourth son Edward, and makes provisions for her other two sons, John and Henry.  In a codicil she ratified and confirmed the conveyance to her son John the Manor in Stoneham Suffolk as well as the Manor of Beton, and Coddenham.  Her house in Bury St. Edmunds was split between five of her children, including John.
John Gage and his wife had no living children.  In his will he specifically leaves his Suffolk Manors to his brother Henry and his son John Gage. His will was proved 27 April 1688.
There you go, two men named John Gage, contemporaries, yet their lives are worlds apart. How anyone could confuse the two is beyond me. 
Sources:
New England Historic and Genealogical Register, July 1908 Arthur E. Gage
History and Antiquities of Suffolk John Gage Rokewode, Esquire
The Visitation of Suffolk William Hervey
Manors of Suffolk Walter Arthur Coppinger
Will of Penelope D'Arcy from the National Archives London
Will of John Gage from the National Archives London
The Great Migration Begins Robert Charles Anderson
Parish Records, St. Dunstan in the West, London