Edmund
Prepared by David L. Moody
Contents
Introduction
Edmund Moody of Bury St. Edmunds, county Suffolk, England, born probably about 1495, is the earliest person of the name from whom a descent has been proved in this particular family. All that is known of him is that he was a footman in the retinue of King Henry VIII, saved the latter from drowning, and was rewarded for this exploit by a grant of land, a pension and a coat-of-arms, as shown by the following record in Office of the College of Arms, London:
"The Armes & Crest of Edmund Moody of Bury St. Edmunds in the County of Suffolk, Gentlemen, graunted to him by Thomas Hawley, Clarenceux King-at-Arms 6 October 1540, in the 32 year of King Henry the Eighth, for his miraculously saving his life (at Hitchin, co. Herts), when leaping over a ditch with a pole which brake; that if the said Edmund had not leapt into ye water and lifted up the King’s head, he had drowned; for which he was rewarded. After which he left the Court and lived at St. Edmunds Bury, as stated by Letters Patent in the Office. Also the deliverance is mentioned in the book called "Prince Protecting Providence”, set out in the year 1682, page 4.
Arms: Argent, on a chevron engrailed sable, between three trefoils slipped vert, three lozenges or; on a chief azure, two arms issuing from clounds, proper, vested bendy or and gules, holding in the hands a rose of the last. Crest: Two embossed arms in saltire, the dexter vested gules, the sinister vert, each holding a cutlas argent, hilted, or.” (Quoted by Davy, the Suffolk Antiquary, in his Manuscript Collections, Additional Mss. 19142, fol. 194, British Museum, London).
Edmund Moody had two great grandsons who emigrated to New England. 1) John Moody, born ca 1593 in England, arrived in 1633 at the Massachusetts Bay Colony and died in 1655 at Hartford, Connecticut ("The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633", Anderson, Robert Charles, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vol. II, page 1274). Many of John's descendants settled in Hadley, Massachusetts. 2) William Moody, born 16 Jan 1611 in England, arrived 10 April 1634 on the ship "Mary and John" at Ipswich, Massachusetts, and died 23 Oct 1673 at Newbury, Massachusetts. Many of William's descendants were in the state of Maine.
I have proven to the satisfaction of the College of Arms my right to the Edmund Moody coat-of-arms. Those Moody descendants interested in establishing their right to this coat-of-arms will find the genealogical documentation from Edmund to myself contained herein recorded at The College of Arms. They therefore need only prove their descent from an individual between Edmund and myself. <www.college-of-arms.gov.uk> For further information about Edmund, and the text of my King of Arms Certificate see Edmund Moody's personal data at Home Card (above).
David L. Moody MD USA
Researching: Moody, Matkovich, Beckwith,
Wright, Eve, LaPointe, MacKay, Anderson, Hagstrom
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