• General Notes

  [elizabeth stone.FTW]
  
            RICHARD STONE & ISABEL GIRDIER
       RICHARD STONE, #22,528 on my lineage, was born ca, 1540 in Parrish of Croston, Lancashire, England while King Henry VIII was still ruler..  He is my paternal 12th great grandfather.  He was the son of  William Stone,I and Elizabeth Bradley.  Thomas Cromwell was arrested and executed in 1540.
       The  Parrish of Croston is about six and half miles southwest  of the town Preston.  It originally consisted of the townships:  Croston, Chorley Hood, Refford, Tarleton, Hesketh, Becconsall, Beshom. Brittermen, Mawddsley and Ulnes Walon.
       Richard Stone was about 7 years old when Henry VIII died and his only legitimate son, Edward VI by Jane Seymour was crowned King of England at the age of nine.  Edward was ruler for 6 years.  He was the last male ruler  from the House of Tudor.
       Edward,VI's maternal uncle, Edward Seymour, First Earl of Hertford was named Lord Protector and duke of Somerset who acted for his nephew, Edward VI. More Protestant reforms were adopted.  A new book, the first Book of Common Prayer was imposed in 1549.  It was moderate in approach but was strongly opposed by the Roman Catholic Church which started some uprisings.  It came in general use in the Anglican Church..  Somerset attempted to help the poor peasants by forbidding enclosure ( when the land  of tenants and serfs was  taken over by landlords as the agricultural methods improved  and the sale of agricultural products increased).  Many tenant farmers were displaced without reason or compensation by landlords who wanted the land to serve their own interests.  The English peasants revolted.  John Dudley (later duke of Northumberland) removed Somerset from power , gaining control for himself.  Dudley had Somerset tried for treason and executed in 1552 when Richard Stone was 12 years old.
       Just before Edward's  death from tuberlosis , Dudley induced Edward to sign a will depriving his 2 half-sisters--Mary I and Elizabeth I of a claim to the royal succession to the  English throne.  Edward died on July 6, 1553 at Greenwich and the right of succession fell to Lady Jane Grey whose marriage was arranged to Dudley's son, Guilford Dudley.  She was proclaimed the Queen of England for 6 days.  Mary I contested the succession .  Lady Jane was(imprisoned and subsequently accused of treason) was beheaded with her husband  on February 12, 1554. 
       Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon became the legal ruler of England.  She swept the religious innovations of her father,  Mass was restored without opposition and the authority of the pope was restored, but Parliament refused to give back the church lands seized by Henry VIII.  In her religious zeal, Mary I had 300 Protestants condemned to death - accused of heresy.  Mary I died November 17, 1558.  She was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
       Richard Stone was 18 years old when Queen Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England and Ireland.  Her reign was marked by her effective use of Parliament and the Privy Council.  She firmly established Protestantism in England, encouraged English enterprise and commerce and she defended England against the Spanish Armada .  her reign was noted for the Renaissance with its outpouring of poetry and drama led by William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe.
       England's population was growing steadily during this period in history.  This brought strain on the English economy which was made worse by serious harvest failures.  Food prices skyrocketed.
       Richard Stone married ELIZABETH ISABEL GIRDIER, daughter of John Girdier on January 12, 1571 at Croston, Lancashire, England.  Isabel was born 1545 at Carr House Parrish in Yorkshire, England.  They had eleven children.  At this time, England was expanding trade overseas and the merchant community was growing.  Private ship-building boomed while navigation advances were made safer.
       England established outposts in America through the adventures of  Sir Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh.  A religious group, called "Puritans" was criticizing the Church of England, attacking bishops and converting many English people to their views.  Richard Stone died 3 years after the Good Queen Bess.  Richard and Isabel lived through one of the great epoch of British history, however there was much unrest in the religious community.
       Richard and Isabel Girdier Stone's son, John Stone who married Dorothy _____ is my  paternal 11th great grandfather.
       (Written by  Mildred R. Jenkins, Williamstown, KY. on March 5, 2000)
  
  
  
  Facts about this person:
  
  Ancestral #   
  22,528
  
  Residence
  Parish of Croston, Lancashire, England
  
  Fact
  Marriage recorded in Latin
  
  Alt. Fact
  3 sons, Wm,Jn & Matthew emigrated to America
  

Details of Richard's family with Elizabeth Isabelle Girdler

Details of Richard's family with Isabelle Girdler

Details of Richard's family with Elizabeth Isabel Girdier