“31 Jan 1622/23. A child left in our Parish and named Henry Woolchurch.” (1) Post-Servitude Sources:

Will Abstract.

Will of Henry Woolchurch, dated 4 May 1695. To daughter Rebecca Anderson: half of 600-acre Hopewell, but if the daughter of James Berry named Barbara lives to enjoy her plantation, then Henry Parrot's lot to Rebecca. This 50 acres is a gift to make her portion larger. To daughter Mary Barker: 400-acre Church Warden Neck on the Chester River. To grandson Henry Parrot at age 21: my mare and the dwelling plantation, paying to sister Katharine a foal when she is of age. If Henry fails, the plantation to Rebecca [Anderson], Mary Barker, and the survivor of my grandchildren born to Elizabeth Parrot. To granddaughter Elizabeth Parrot and Katharine Parrot: the other half of Hopewell. To son-in-law James Berry: 200 acres where he dwells. James Rigby and daughter Barbara Anderson and Mary Barker. Residual heirs to be Rebecca, Mary, and any child born to daughter Elizabeth Parrott. To grand-daughter Rebecca Berry: land including 50 acres to be given by Henry Parrott from the dwelling land. To grand-daughters Elizabeth and Catherine Parrott: residue of Hopewell. To son-in-law Joseph Berry and Sarah: 200 acres where he lives. Executors Rebecca, Mary, and James Ridley." (Maryland Wills 7:120) (3) Comments: Henry was a foundling discovered in London St. Mary Woolchurch Haw Parish. His parentage is unknown. Because he started out in life in such destitute circumstances, he likely crossed the Atlantic as an indentured servant; however, no evidence of his method of emigration has surfaced. Churchwardens accounts for St. Mary Woolchurch, which are probably deposited at the Guildhall Library in London, should be searched for Henry Woolchurch as a child, as expenses for maintaining foundlings were often recorded in these records. In 1682, he was one of five men from the Third Haven Monthly Meeting (Quaker) in Talbot County, Maryland who purchased three acres on which to build “Ye Great Meetinghouse.” At his death, approximately 1200 acres descended to his heirs. Henry had no sons that reached maturity. The surname Woolchurch, which had been given to him as an abandoned infant, ceased to exist in his family when he died. Family:

Children:

1. Rebecca Woolchurch, m. (1) Dr. Thomas Anderson before 1692, m. (2) Stephen Durden 1 Jan 1695/96 Tuckahoe Quaker Meetinghouse

2. Mary Woolchurch, m. (1) ____ Hackett, m. (2) John Barker before 4 May 1695

3. Elizabeth Woolchurch, m. Henry Parrott before 24 June 1685

4. Sarah Woolchurch, m. James Berry 14 Feb 1686 Third Haven Monthly Meeting, Talbot County, Maryland Source Citations:

(1) J.M.S. Brooke and A.W.C. Hallen, The Transcript of the Registers of the United Parishes of St. Mary Woolnoth and St. Mary Woolchurch Haw, in the City of London, from their Commencement 1538 to 1760: To Which is Prefixed a Short Account of Both Parishes, List of Rectors and Churchwardens, Chantries, &c., Together with Some Interesting Extracts from the Churchwardens’ Accounts (London: Bowles, 1886).

(2) Patent Series of the Maryland Land Office Liber X: 339, Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland, Family History Library Microfilm 13065, Salt Lake City, Utah.

(3) Donna Valley Russell, First Families of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 1649-1658, Volume 1: The Landowners (New Market, Maryland: Catoctin Press, 1999), 136-138.

(4) J. Reaney Kelly, Quakers in the Founding of Anne Arundel County, Md. (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1963), 16, 22, 28, 91.

(5) Marjorie R. Koehler and George E. Koehler, Our Bruff Ancestry: From Colonial Maryland to California in Ten Generations (Nashville, Tennessee: M.R. Koehler, G.E. Koehler, 1996), 46-50.

(6) Lucy H. Harrison, Minutes of the Third Haven or Tread Avon Friends’ Meeting, Talbot Co., Md. (n.p.: n.p., 1901), Vol. I: 3, 8, 12, 13, 22-23, 33, 39, 42, 48, 59, 64, 70, 73-74, 96, 102-104, 139, 166, 175-176, 184-185, 191, 213, 221, 228, 231, 238, 240; Vol. V: 321, 329, 330-331, 335-337, 341-344, 349, 353, 354, 357-358, 361, 392, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland, Family History Library Microfilms 14524-14525, Salt Lake City, Utah.

(7) Kenneth L. Carroll, Quakerism on the Eastern Shore (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1970), 45.

(8) Jane Baldwin, The Maryland Calendar of Wills, Vol. I (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968), 102, 104, 165, quoting Prerogative Court of the Province of Maryland Will Book 4: 199; Vol. II: 56, 96-97, 190, quoting Prerogative Court of the Province of Maryland Will Books 6: 5, 120, 327; 7: 120; Vol. III: 166, quoting Prerogative Court of the Province of Maryland Will Book 13: 20.

(9) George R. Griffiths, The Berrys of Maryland: An Old Prince George’s County Family (Chicago, Illinois: Adams Press, 1977), 11-13.

(10) “Foundlings,” in David Hey, The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 191.

(11) John Light, “Foundling Names: A Survey of Surnames Given to Foundlings in a Selection of London Parishes in the Years 1740-50,” Genealogists' Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 4 (December 1983): 112.

(12) W.E. Tate, The Parish Chest: A Study of the Records of Parochial Administration in England (Chichester, England: Phillimore, 1969), 61-62.

(13) Gillian Clark, “London Nurse Children: A Source of Female Employment in the Rural Domestic Economy between 1540 and 1750,” Genealogists’ Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 3 (September 1989): 97.