Working on Wednesday: John Whitney (1592 - 1673), Tailor

[Norden's map of 1593, Medieval London Maps from Medieval Art and Architecture by Alison Stones, University of Pittsburgh]

Records from Saint Margaret's Church, Westminster, indicate that John Whitney was baptized on July 20, 1592.

[Memorials of St. Margaret's church, Westminister, comprising the parish registers, 1539-1660, and other churchwardens' accounts, 1460-1603 (1914), Author: Arthur Meredyth Burke. Internet Archive, Book contributor: University of California Libraries]

On February 22, 1607*, "John Whitney, son of Thomas Whitney of the city of Westminster, yeoman, was apprenticed to William Pring of the Old Bailey" of the Company of Merchant Taylors, one of the "Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London. Seven years later, on March 13, 1614*, John Whitney was made free by William Pring, signifying that he had completed his apprenticeship.

We don't know what led my paternal ninth great grandfather to take his wife Elinor and their five surviving children** and embark on the Elizabeth & Ann in mid-May of 1635. After their arrival in Massachusetts Bay, the family settled in Watertown where John was made freeman the following year and he remained there for the rest of his life, dying at age 81 in 1673. During his residence in Watertown he served as Selectman, Constable and Assessor at various times.

[Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).]

For more information about John Whitney see: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VII, T-Y, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011, pages 366-372. It's available online to members of New England Historic Genealogical Society.

*Years according to the Old Style when the new year began on March 25.
**Two little girls (both named Mary) had died in London earlier. My eighth great grandfather Joshua was born in Watertown, the first of their children born in the New World. I'm related to him through my paternal grandmother Letta Estella Porter's line.

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