5

Does anyone know the ancestry of Christian (or Christina) Penn, who came to Plymouth colony on the Ann in 1623? She married first Francis Eaton (Mayflower) then Francis Billington (another Mayflower passenger).

Several family trees try to tie her to the Penn family through the Admiral Sir William's uncle George, but that seems unlikely, and many of those trees have that uncle George dying in Plymouth in 1632- which isn't likely to be true as the Admiral Sir William's will in 1670 refers to his uncle, "George Penn late of the fforest of Brayden in the County of Wilts gent Deceased". Which makes sense, as George was the eldest son and named his grandfather's main heir and executor in the grandfathers 1590/1 will, making him the owner of Penn's Lodge in the vicinity of Minety, Wilts. This points to the likelihood that George Penn also died there and did not go to Plymouth Colony.

I haven't been able to find any sources of Christian Penn's ancestry other than the ones that tie her to Admiral Sir William's extended family.

While family trees up to the point of the Mayflower are well-established, I'm having trouble going further back for Christian Penn. Does anyone know whether she is a cousin of THE Penns? Or who her people were?

Improve this question
4
  • Rather than, "Does anyone know whether she is a cousin of THE Penns? Or who her people were?" I suggest you write, "Are there any scholarly articles about the ancestry or Christian Penn? What are the principle authorities or archives I should consult to find historical information about Christian Penn and her ancestry?"
    – GeneJ
    Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 16:07
  • I would settle for being able to say she is not George Penn (uncle of the Admiral)'s daughter- if there were, somewhere, a list of the children of George Penn, as only his son William is mentioned in the 1670 will. If there were another document in existence, naming William George's only child, then the possibility of linking her to the Penns is gone, and I can ignore the erroneous trees.
    – Catherine
    Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 16:41
  • 1
    Cool ... but now I see three questions being rolled into one; probably two of these would be an easy fit for the Q&A forum: Consider separating these two issues into separate postings in which each can be more fully developed. (a) Are there any scholarly articles that address the ancestry of Chritian Penn, wife of ... and wife of ...? (B) Where would I look to find information about George Penn who in 1670 was described as "late of the forest of ... in the County of ..." by Admiral Sir .... in his will XXXX at XXXX. (You'll want appropriate length titles to the questions.)
    – GeneJ
    Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 17:01
  • The third question seems, "I would settle for being able to say she is not George Penn (uncle of the Admiral)'s daughter ..Stack Overflow I can ignore the erroneous trees." The first part of this issue (a) seeks a proof about George Penn that would involve extensive research about him and his family. As such, it is overly broad for the Q&A forum. The second part of the this issue likely involves subjective assessments about what could be limitless unnamed third party family trees--which is also unlikely to be a good fit for this forum.
    – GeneJ
    Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 17:09

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

WeRelate lists Christian Penn as a daughter of George Penn and cites Shaw as a reference for birth, but since I don't have that reference myself, I cannot validate whether the birth reference is only the date or includes the parents.

You might want to start a discussion on the 'talk' page for her at werelate. No one had previously started a talk page there but there are 8 people 'watching' her so one of them may also be interested in assisting you. I started a talk page and referenced this question.

Besides potentially getting you an answer, it may get some other contributors to G&FH SE.

Improve this answer
0

This won't help much But I've done a lot of searching on this question and others. The problem is that there are so many John, George and William Penn's in the family records that even expert genealogists and can't figure it out who's who. In the Penn family name it is not a dead end but a maize. One thing though is that it seems that somehow or other all these folk are related one way or another

Improve this answer
1
  • Can you re-phrase your answer with some specific suggestions and tips on searching and clarify "This won't help much" so it is less conversational and more of in the answer format as per the community guidelines?
    – CRSouser
    Commented Mar 31, 2015 at 20:20

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.