William Hunting

Other Events:

• Baptism: 2 Jun 1570, Palgrave, County Suffolk, England

Notes:

Anecdote:
From Anderson:
Manorial records provide some of the most-useful information on this family. One 1624 document alone verifies three generations of the Hunting pedigree. At a court-leet held for the manor of Woodhall in Thrandeston on die Mercurii in septiana. Pentecost in the twenty-second year of James I—in other words, 19 May 1624—William Hunting, Senior, surrendered to the use of his son William, and the latter's wife Prudence, eleven parcels of land. Nine were said to have come to the elder William on the death of his father Roger (with the transfer being recorded at the Pentecostal court-leet of 1591); and another son of Roger, Thomas, was said to have relinquished (at the Pentecostal court of 1600) any claim he might have on these lands. The other two parcels passed on by William, Senior, were said to have been obtained by Roger from the widow of Thomas Spurdance, in a transaction recorded at the 1606 Pentecostal court. In addition to the three generations it names, this document also approximates Roger's death date and provides evidence that William, Senior, was capable of adding to the lands he had inherited from his father.
Even before this transfer of Palgrave and Thrandeston property to his eldest son, William had begun to acquire lands farther afield, particularly at Hoxne. The earliest court book for Hoxne Manor is not available for inspection; however, there does exist an extent (a manor survey), dating from about 1637, that is exceptionally detailed. Not only does it provide the customary listing of each tenant's holdings and the rent and other obligations due, but it also includes some details on the acquisition of each tract. This extent, begun not long before William died, shows that he purchased several parcels in October 1614, another in October 1615, and one more in October 1629. By the latter date, William, Senior, was already a resident of Hoxne. He, his wife, and their younger children may have moved there soon after the 1620 baptism of their youngest child at Thrandeston. Certainly they should have been residents of Hoxne after the spring 1624 transfer of lands to William, Junior.
As William Hunting of Hoxne, yeoman, he prepared his will on 20 May 1638. It was proved at Yoxford on 31 October 1638 and includes important genealogical data. To wife Margaret, he left a life interest in the freehold and chartcrhold lands at Hoxne and Dcnham; after her decease, they were to go to son Samuel Hunting. Samuel also was to receive all freehold lands at Little Thornham in Suffolk, upon condition that he pay various sums to the testator's other children—i.e., to daughters Mary Hunting, Anne Hunting, and Elizabeth Hunting, £50 each; to daughter Susan Hunting, £45; and to son Robert Hunting, £30. Another son, Nicholas Hunting, was to receive one copyhold meadow called Caldwell in Cole, Suffolk, on condition that he pay £20 to his brother Steven Hunting. The wife Margaret was also to receive personal estate, for rearing their son Robert unto the age of twenty-one. Finally, the son Steven was to take William's copyhold land in Hoxne, to which the testator had been "admitted" at the court held for the manor of Hoxne cum Chickering on 8 October "in the fifth year of King Charles." The widow Margaret and son Samuel were appointed executors.
From the manorial records and wills, it is evident that William Hunting was an extremely competent manager of his own affairs and that he had a clear plan for setting up each son on at least one tract of land. Having inherited from his own father enough acreage to become a wealthy yeoman, not much below gentle status, William increased his holdings through purchases not only in Thrandeston but also in another half-dozen manors to the cast. When his eldest son William married in 1624, he transferred to this son all his lands in Palgrave and Thrandeston, thus making the lad—in one stroke, at the age of twenty-four—a member of the local elite.
William, Senior, then moved to Hoxnc, where he continued to add to his holdings. He may well have planned to pass this second empire to his second son, John; but this possibility went by the board when, in the spring of 1638, John joined the migration to New England. That May, while John was probably sailing across the North Atlantic, the aging William wrote his will, settling most of his remaining estate on his third son and providing substantial foundations for the rest of his children. Considering his wealth and concern for the well-being of his offspring, William may have provided the departing John with a sizable amount of cash, in lieu of the inheritance that he would have expected had he stayed in Suffolk.

William married Margaret Randolf on 22 Sep 1599 in Topcroft, County Norfolk, England. Margaret (daughter of William Randolf) was born about 1579; died in 1648 in Hoxne, County Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. William Hunting was born about 1600 in England; died between 15 Aug 1666 and 29 Nov 1666 in Thrandeston, County Suffolk.
2. John Hunting was born about 1601 in England; died on 12 Apr 1688 in Dedham, Massachusetts.
3. Mary Hunting was born in in England.
4. Samuel Hunting was born in in England; died before 15 Aug 1666.
5. Nicholas Hunting was born in in England; died in 1642 in Hoxne, County Suffolk, England; was buried on 19 Nov 1642 in Thrandeston.
6. Margaret Hunting was born in in England; died in 1628.
7. Susanna Hunting was born in in England; died on 9 Sep 1684 in Dedham, Massachusetts.
8. Anna Hunting was born in in England; died before 1653.
9. Stephen Hunting was born in in England; died about 1693.
10. Elizabeth Hunting was born in in England.
11. Robert Hunting was born in in England; died in 1680.

Notes:

Anecdote:
From Anderson:
He first appears on record at his Palgrave marriage on 27 July 1567 to one Jania [Jane] Leche. The parish registers for this period are in Latin, and it is not certain what surname is intended here; but probate records of the archdeaconry of Sudbury show that there was a Leach (or Leech) family in the vicinity. Roger died before the spring 1591 session of the manorial courts of Palgrave and Thrandeston, at which time he held lands in at least three manors. It was presumably his widow who, as "Jana Hunting," married John Bootyc at Palgrave on 25 September 1592.

Roger married Jane Leche on 27 Jul 1567 in Palgrave, County Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Jane Bootyc
• Name: Jane Hunting

Notes:

Anecdote:
According to Anderson, he "should have been born no later than the second decade of the sixteenth century and died before the compilation of the 1568 subsidy list."

married Margaret about 1540. Margaret was born in in England; died in 1574 in Palgrave, County Suffolk, England; was buried on 8 Oct 1574 in Palgrave. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Margaret Hunting

Notes:

Anecdote:
From Anderson:
As Margaret Hunting, widow, she was buried at Palgrave on 8 October 1574, leaving a will that was dated the prior 8 July and was subsequently proved on 4 January 1574/75. Bequests of moveables were made to five legatees: William Hunting (called "my son"), a milk cow and a heifer, Mary Hunting ("my daughter"), a milk cow and a heifer; John Rixe ("my son-in-law"), two old kettles; John Holmes ("my son-in-law"), two old kettles; and Roger Hunting ("my son"), millstones and appurtenances. Other bequests went to godchildren and to the poor of Palgrave. As residuary legatees, she named William and Mary Hunting; as executors, John Rixe and John Holmes.
The land for which Margaret was taxed in 1568 would have been held by her only as a life interest; it would then have passed to the eldest son. The bequests to William and Mary indicate that they were still unmarried when the will was drawn and probably were the youngest of the siblings. In conjunction with the marriage records for three of the children, this suggests that Margaret's will names her heirs in reverse order of age.