General Notes

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2  SOUR S332582
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4  TEXT Date of Import: 14 Jan 2004


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http://www.groversmith.com/bonnell.html

"WILLIAM BUNNELL was certainly born in England, although no evidence showing the date or place of his birth has been found. From circumstantial evidence, I have concluded that he was born "about l600." See Newsletter Vol I, No. 1, page 3 (N-I-l-3) for a discussion of the evidence. The second issue of the Newsletter, beginning on page 2, contains every reference to William Bunnell, made during his lifetime, which has come to light so far. From them we glean the following brief account of his life.



He appears first in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where he was selected on 28 September 1630 to be a juror in an inquiry concerning the death of one Austen Bratcher. Therefore, we can suppose that he was one of the settlers who arrived in New England in the great Winthrop fleet of 1630. (Charles Edward Banks, in his book THE WINTHROP FLEET OF 1630, identified this juror with the William Burnell who died at Boston in 1660/1. However, the name is clearly Bunnell in the record, and there seems to be no reason to assume it was spelled wrong.) "

The first three children of William and Ann Bunnell must have been born at Massachusetts Bay. The order of birth given below is the traditional one, followed by Donald Lines Jacobus in FAMILIES OF ANCIENT NEW HAVEN, although no record seems to exist which mentions the age at any time of any of the three.



In 1640 we find the first of the numerous records of the public assistance provided to William Bunnell and his family, when the General Court of the Colony requested the town of Watertown to provide William Bunnell with a lot, which the Colony would pay for if William could not (N-I-2-2). If the lot was actually provided, no record of it has been

found.



In 1645 the General Court appointed a committee with power to dispose of the children of Goodman Bunnell, "if their grandfather will not take care of them" (The grandfather1 Benjamin Wilmot, had moved to New Haven Colony several years before.) On the same day the Court provided that certain goods be delivered to the same committee "to be disposed of to Goodman Bunnell & his use." Six months later, in May 1646, William Bunnell returned to England, and the Court agreed to pay for 30 shillings worth of clothing for him when he arrived there. (N-I-2-2,3)



There is nothing to show why William went back to England or where in England he went, but he seems to have simply abandoned his family. In a court action in New Haven several years later his wife testified that '1he left little or nothing to maintain them, and she asked him what she should do with them; he said they were hers as well as his, and he left them with her." One of the sons, presumably Benjamin, testified that "he remembers his father did say so to his mother." (N-I-2-5). With no alternative, Ann Bunnell took the three children and moved to New Haven to live with her parents. Her father could not support such a large addition to his family, and they decided "to put forth the children." Nicholas Elsy took one of the boys, presumably the elder (Benjamin, in the traditional order), and Samuel Whitehead took Lydia.



By the middle of 1649, or earlier, William Bunnell returned from England and followed his family to New Haven. On 3 April 1650 he makes his first appearance in the New Haven records, when "The Court freed old Goodman Bunill from paying his poll money to the town, because of his poverty, age and weakness." This is the only reference to William's age in any record. I find it difficult to believe that he was less than 50 years old at the time this statement was made (See

N-I-1-3)



On 4 May 1650 Ann Bunnell gave birth to another daughter, Mary, and in August of that year William was fined 5 shillings for failure to report the birth within three months. A few months later he was in trouble again. On 7 January 1650/51 John Tompson sought the help of the Court to make William Bunnell move out of Tompson's house. Tompson said he was willing to give him a year's rent if he would move peaceably out. This probably means that the Bunnells were at least a year behind in their rent payments, which Tompson would forgive if they would simply vacate. The Court ordered William to move, and gave him two or three weeks to do so. A month later John Tompson was back in Court again asking that William Bunnell be put out of his house. This time Stephen Goodyear undertook to guarantee the move if Tompson would let the Bunnells stay for another week. John Tompson expressed himself satisfied with that arrangement, and apparently it was successful, since the issue did not come before the Court again. (N-I-2-4).



In October 1651 it was William's turn to sue, when he asked the Court to revoke the apprentice agreements Ann and her father had made with Nicholas Elsy and Samuel Whitehead. The Court refused to do so. (N-I-2-5)



During the next six or eight months the Town authorities had to "consider of the charge which old Bunill hath been to the Town, and how it mi~ht be lessened." The first step was to give him an allowance of two shillings a week, "provided that he and his family do what they can towards their maintenance." Then they took up the problem of the son who was still at home (presumably Nathaniel). The Townsmen felt that the boy should be put out to apprenticeship, both to reduce the charge to the Town, and for the good of the boy, "who now for want of due nurture grows rude and offensive." William Judson offered the Bunnells a cow if he could take the boy for "such a number of years as might answer it." When William Bunnell refused to accept this arrangement, the Townsmen retaliated by withdrawing the weekly allowance. (N-I-2-6)



On 28 August 1653 another son, Ebenezer, was born to the Bunnells. He seems to have died very soon. The following February it was reported that Ann Bunnell was sick, and the authorities were still concerned about how much public support was proper and how to make sure that the two remaining children (Nathaniel and Mary) were put out "both for the good of the children (who are not educated as they should) & for the easing the Town of charge." (N-I-2-6, 7).



Ann Bunnell died soon after1 and on the first of May 1654 William told the Town he wanted to go to old England where "he hath some friends to take care of him." The Townsmen and Treasurer were authorized to negotiate his passage on a ship bound from Milford to Newfoundland (and presumably from there to old England). Their conclusion was that this "might free the Town from some charge, though they made some present disbursement for his passage and other necessaries for him." (N-I-2-7)



That is William Bunnell's last appearance in the records of New Haven. We can assume that he boarded the ship and returned to England. He left his four children in New Haven. No record exists to show whether the two younger children were "put out"1 or if so to whom. Perhaps their grandparents or their maternal uncles assumed responsibility for them. Benjamin Wilmot, in his will dated 7 August 1669, left 20 shillings to each of his Bunnell grandchildren (N- I-2-7).



William Bunnell probably died in England if he ever arrived there. It is sometimes asserted that he died on the island of Barbados in the West Indies, since a man of that name was buried in the parish of St. Michaels, Barbados, 5 August 1678. This seems very unlikely, since William would have been around 80 years old and would have made at least five crossings of the Atlantic Ocean.




SOURCES:

Records of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, edited by N. B. Shurtleff, 1853, Vols. 1 & 2.

Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven from 1638 to 1649, edited by C. J. Hoadley, 1857, vol. I.

New Haven Town Records, 1649-1662, edited by Franklin B. Dexter! Vol. I.

Vital Records of New Haven, Conn., to 1850.

The Winthrop Fleet of 1630, by C. E. Banks, 1930.

The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, etc., edited by J. C. Hotten, 1874.

Families of Ancient New Haven, compiled by D. L. Jacobus.

"Lieutenant William French and His Descendants," in the New England HistorIcal and Genealogical Register, Vol. 44.

One Bassett Family in America, by Buell B. Bassette, 1926.




[Family Tree2.FTW]

http://www.groversmith.com/bonnell.html

"WILLIAM BUNNELL was certainly born in England, although no evidence showing the date or place of his birth has been found. From circumstantial evidence, I have concluded that he was born "about l600." See Newsletter Vol I, No. 1, page 3 (N-I-l-3) for a discussion of the evidence. The second issue of the Newsletter, beginning on page 2, contains every reference to William Bunnell, made during his lifetime, which has come to light so far. From them we glean the following brief account of his life.



He appears first in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where he was selected on 28 September 1630 to be a juror in an inquiry concerning the death of one Austen Bratcher. Therefore, we can suppose that he was one of the settlers who arrived in New England in the great Winthrop fleet of 1630. (Charles Edward Banks, in his book THE WINTHROP FLEET OF 1630, identified this juror with the William Burnell who died at Boston in 1660/1. However, the name is clearly Bunnell in the record, and there seems to be no reason to assume it was spelled wrong.) "

The first three children of William and Ann Bunnell must have been born at Massachusetts Bay. The order of birth given below is the traditional one, followed by Donald Lines Jacobus in FAMILIES OF ANCIENT NEW HAVEN, although no record seems to exist which mentions the age at any time of any of the three.



In 1640 we find the first of the numerous records of the public assistance provided to William Bunnell and his family, when the General Court of the Colony requested the town of Watertown to provide William Bunnell with a lot, which the Colony would pay for if William could not (N-I-2-2). If the lot was actually provided, no record of it has been

found.



In 1645 the General Court appointed a committee with power to dispose of the children of Goodman Bunnell, "if their grandfather will not take care of them" (The grandfather1 Benjamin Wilmot, had moved to New Haven Colony several years before.) On the same day the Court provided that certain goods be delivered to the same committee "to be disposed of to Goodman Bunnell & his use." Six months later, in May 1646, William Bunnell returned to England, and the Court agreed to pay for 30 shillings worth of clothing for him when he arrived there. (N-I-2-2,3)



There is nothing to show why William went back to England or where in England he went, but he seems to have simply abandoned his family. In a court action in New Haven several years later his wife testified that '1he left little or nothing to maintain them, and she asked him what she should do with them; he said they were hers as well as his, and he left them with her." One of the sons, presumably Benjamin, testified that "he remembers his father did say so to his mother." (N-I-2-5). With no alternative, Ann Bunnell took the three children and moved to New Haven to live with her parents. Her father could not support such a large addition to his family, and they decided "to put forth the children." Nicholas Elsy took one of the boys, presumably the elder (Benjamin, in the traditional order), and Samuel Whitehead took Lydia.



By the middle of 1649, or earlier, William Bunnell returned from England and followed his family to New Haven. On 3 April 1650 he makes his first appearance in the New Haven records, when "The Court freed old Goodman Bunill from paying his poll money to the town, because of his poverty, age and weakness." This is the only reference to William's age in any record. I find it difficult to believe that he was less than 50 years old at the time this statement was made (See

N-I-1-3)



On 4 May 1650 Ann Bunnell gave birth to another daughter, Mary, and in August of that year William was fined 5 shillings for failure to report the birth within three months. A few months later he was in trouble again. On 7 January 1650/51 John Tompson sought the help of the Court to make William Bunnell move out of Tompson's house. Tompson said he was willing to give him a year's rent if he would move peaceably out. This probably means that the Bunnells were at least a year behind in their rent payments, which Tompson would forgive if they would simply vacate. The Court ordered William to move, and gave him two or three weeks to do so. A month later John Tompson was back in Court again asking that William Bunnell be put out of his house. This time Stephen Goodyear undertook to guarantee the move if Tompson would let the Bunnells stay for another week. John Tompson expressed himself satisfied with that arrangement, and apparently it was successful, since the issue did not come before the Court again. (N-I-2-4).



In October 1651 it was William's turn to sue, when he asked the Court to revoke the apprentice agreements Ann and her father had made with Nicholas Elsy and Samuel Whitehead. The Court refused to do so. (N-I-2-5)



During the next six or eight months the Town authorities had to "consider of the charge which old Bunill hath been to the Town, and how it mi~ht be lessened." The first step was to give him an allowance of two shillings a week, "provided that he and his family do what they can towards their maintenance." Then they took up the problem of the son who was still at home (presumably Nathaniel). The Townsmen felt that the boy should be put out to apprenticeship, both to reduce the charge to the Town, and for the good of the boy, "who now for want of due nurture grows rude and offensive." William Judson offered the Bunnells a cow if he could take the boy for "such a number of years as might answer it." When William Bunnell refused to accept this arrangement, the Townsmen retaliated by withdrawing the weekly allowance. (N-I-2-6)



On 28 August 1653 another son, Ebenezer, was born to the Bunnells. He seems to have died very soon. The following February it was reported that Ann Bunnell was sick, and the authorities were still concerned about how much public support was proper and how to make sure that the two remaining children (Nathaniel and Mary) were put out "both for the good of the children (who are not educated as they should) & for the easing the Town of charge." (N-I-2-6, 7).



Ann Bunnell died soon after1 and on the first of May 1654 William told the Town he wanted to go to old England where "he hath some friends to take care of him." The Townsmen and Treasurer were authorized to negotiate his passage on a ship bound from Milford to Newfoundland (and presumably from there to old England). Their conclusion was that this "might free the Town from some charge, though they made some present disbursement for his passage and other necessaries for him." (N-I-2-7)



That is William Bunnell's last appearance in the records of New Haven. We can assume that he boarded the ship and returned to England. He left his four children in New Haven. No record exists to show whether the two younger children were "put out"1 or if so to whom. Perhaps their grandparents or their maternal uncles assumed responsibility for them. Benjamin Wilmot, in his will dated 7 August 1669, left 20 shillings to each of his Bunnell grandchildren (N- I-2-7).



William Bunnell probably died in England if he ever arrived there. It is sometimes asserted that he died on the island of Barbados in the West Indies, since a man of that name was buried in the parish of St. Michaels, Barbados, 5 August 1678. This seems very unlikely, since William would have been around 80 years old and would have made at least five crossings of the Atlantic Ocean.




SOURCES:

Records of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, edited by N. B. Shurtleff, 1853, Vols. 1 & 2.

Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven from 1638 to 1649, edited by C. J. Hoadley, 1857, vol. I.

New Haven Town Records, 1649-1662, edited by Franklin B. Dexter! Vol. I.

Vital Records of New Haven, Conn., to 1850.

The Winthrop Fleet of 1630, by C. E. Banks, 1930.

The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, etc., edited by J. C. Hotten, 1874.

Families of Ancient New Haven, compiled by D. L. Jacobus.

"Lieutenant William French and His Descendants," in the New England HistorIcal and Genealogical Register, Vol. 44.

One Bassett Family in America, by Buell B. Bassette, 1926.