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The Will of Thomas Harris of Creeksea, County Essex, England, 1617


This information and accompanying notes were originally posted by Barbara Doying in October 1998. Her comments were sent to the HARRIS-VA surname list on Rootsweb. She has granted me permission to include this information on my Harris web page in hopes that it will assist others in their research on the early Harrises of Virginia and in England.




THOMAS HARRIS: His Ancestry Disputed


Source: Ligon Family and Connections, by William D. Ligon, Jr. , pp. 841-42:

Source: The Virginia Genealogist F 221 V85 V.38 C.2, pages 129-130.



THE WILL OF THOMAS HARRIS
OF CREEKSEA, COUNTY ESSEX


Contributed by Brice McAdoo Clagett
Friendship, Maryland

In 1993 I learned, with the help of Dr. Neil D. Thompson of Salt Lake City that I have a descent through the McAdoo, Grills and Ligon families from Capt. Thomas Harris (1586/7-ca.1649), settler in Virginia, who came on the Prosperous in Sir Thomas Dale's fleet, 1611. I was soon led to the theory--first published by William D. Ligon, Jr., and subsequently in two works by John Bennett Boddie--that Capt. Thomas Harris was the third son of Sir William and Alice (Smith) Harris of Creeksea (Cricksey, Crixsey, etc.), Co. Essex, and of illustrious and royal descent. The theory seemed plausible, being supported by considerable circumstantial evidence.

Unfortunately, a search at the Essex County Records Office in Chelmsford quickly unearthed the will of Thomas Harris, made and proved in 1617, which shows that Sir William Harris's third son died unmarried and was not the man who came to Virginia. Thomas' legatees included six of the seven other children of Sir William and Alice (Smith) Harris, as well as his sister Mary 's husband Giles Browne, so that there is no doubt whatever of the identification.

The original will is on file at Chelmsford, with the signature of the testator and witnesses, and is classified as Essex Archdeaconry Wills DABW20/299. I have a photostat of it and, in order to put the Ligon-Boddie theory to rest once and for all, it seems prudent to publish an exact transcript, as follows:




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Last updated October 10, 2007.

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The Will of Thomas Harris of Creeksea, County Essex, England, 1617
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