The Fun in Being Wrong

 

Burial Richard Philpot 1628 Wye Kent England

I did it again. Last year I found that my ancestor Richard Philpot aka Fylpot was the father of my ancestress Agnes Philpot who was baptized in Wye Kent England 21 April 1560. I knew Agnes’ mother was Eleanor and when I found the marriage of Richard to Eleanor Dane in Wye in 1556 I happily entered entered Eleanor in my Genealogy program.

Then I spent considerable time searching for Eleanor’s parents.  Today when digging deeper into the Wye Parish records, I found several siblings for my Agnes, and the burial of her father Richard in 1628.

But hold on! I found a second marriage for my Richard, to an Eleanor Potten, in Wye in July 1559.  Since my Agnes was baptized in 1560 Eleanor Potten must be her mother.  I’d made a newbie mistake and didn’t keep looking for more details for Richard.  It was an easy mistake to make   E cause who would thin ke had two wives named Eleanor. But it was an assumption, not an exhaustive search to verify I had the right wife.

I’ve forgiven myself for jumping to conclusions and actually had some fun tracking down the family group for Robert and his three wives.  Yes - three. I discovered a third wife named Alice but not given the courtesy of a surname in the church register.

It seems tha my Richard Philpot first married Eleanor Dane in 1556 and had two sons with her - Stewyn [sic] in 1556 and Thomas in 1558. Eleanor died that same year.

Richard then married Eleanor Potten (also found as Potyn and Pottry) in July 1559 and had two children by her- Agnes in 1560 and Mary in 1561. This wife was buried in Wye in July 1562.

Richard wasted no time marrying again but the poor man had three youngsters (little Thomas died at 4 days old) and needed a wife to care for them. In November 1662 Richard married Alice and had two more children - Anfra in 1567 and a second son named Thomas in 1569. Alice lived u til 1608 and Richard  died 20 years later in 1628. His burial records him as “an ancient householder”

So, while I made a silly mistake and had to redo my earlier research, I’m having fun finding out more about my Philpot family in Wye.