Edward Fuller's Ancestors

Click on a name for info, click on an arrow to follow that branch, click Home to go to the main page, or click for an Alphabetic List of all Names.

Note: Before 1752 the year began on March 25^th. Dates between January 1^st and March 24^th were at the end of the year, not the beginning.

Many Thanks to DG Blauvelt for his excellent research on this family!

Robert Fuller was the son of John Fuller and his unknown wife, who some researchers say is Anne Collinge of Redenhall, Norfolk, England, but give no supporting documentation.

On January 29, 1572 Robert married Sara Dunckhorne at St Margaret’s Church in the small village of  Starston also in Norfolk County. (Mouse over and click on their marriage record left to enlarge in a new window/tab.) Redenhall and Starston are within 5 miles of each other. (See map below.) Robert and Sara had at least seven children together (See Sarah below for details). After Sarah's death, Robert married Frances whose surname is unknown. They were the parents of four additional children born in Redenhall. What is interesting to note is that at this time in Redenhall there were at least two Robert Fuller’s one a butcher and the other a tanner. On pages 143 and 144 of Candler's Notes on Redenhall, it states “In 1588, Robert Fuller, bocher, and Robert Fuller, Tanner, contributed to the newe castyng of the third bell of Redenhale.” Most researches state that our Robert was the butcher. The baptismal register of the Parish of Redenhall identifies only three of the eight children mentioned in Robert’s will as being the butcher’s child. This makes it difficult to determine if the others were children of our Robert!

His children with Frances were all baptized in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Redenhall as follows — Sarah baptized on September 4, 1585, who married James Spaulding on November 21, 1607 in Denton, and died before her father, but her husband is mentioned in Robert’s will as his son-in-law; Christopher baptized on December 15, 1588, listed as the butcher’s son, died at 18 months old and was buried on July 12, 1590; Elizabeth baptized on November 29, 1590, not listed as the butcher’s child, but is mentioned in the will; and Mary baptized on July 13, 1595, not listed as the butcher’s child, but is mentioned in Robert’s will. Some researchers include another child named Rose, baptized on December 22, 1588, who is not listed as the butcher’s child, and is not mentioned in Robert’s will. This baptism took place a week after Christopher, mentioned above, was baptized, and there is a burial record dated February 28, 1619, for a Rose Fuller. So if she was their daughter, we can assume she would have been listed as the butcher’s child like Christopher was, and she should have been mentioned in the will.

Francis H. Fuller, in his article Fullers of Redenhall, England, published in volume 55 of the NEHGR states that Robert Fuller wrote his will just prior to his death and called him Roberde Fuller, of the Parish of Redenhall, yeoman. The will was dated May 19, 1614 and was proved by his widow, Frances Fuller on May 31, 1614 and by his eldest son Thomas Fuller on June 16, 1614. The will names sons Edward, Samuel, and Thomas and daughters Ann (aka Susanna), Elizabeth, and Mary as well as a grandson, John Fuller, who was the son of Robert's deceased son, John Fuller. The will is included in the 1614 register, folio 259 of the Norfolk Archdeaconry Court in Norwich. In it he requests to be buried in the Redenhall Church yard. He leaves to his wife Frances, a tenement called Assyes, in Harleston or Redenhall, for term of her natural life, with a little orchard adjoining which “I late bought of John Cooke, now occupied by my son-in-law, James Spalding… also two bundles of faggotts a year and 40s. a year to be paid by son Thomas.” To his son Edward, he left twenty pounds and “on the death of my wife,” the tenement Assyes. To his son Samuel, fifteen pounds. To his daughters Ann, twenty pounds; and to Elizabeth and Mary, each forty pounds, all to be paid by his son Thomas. To his eldest son Thomas, he left the newly built home “wherein I now dwell held of Tryndelhedge Bastoft Manor in Redenhall or Harleston.” Also he left to Thomas some personal property which is specified. “The rest of my chattels to be divided and half to be given to my wife, the other half among my four children, viz., Edward, Ann, Elizabeth and Mary Fuller. . . . When my grandson, John Fuller, son of my son John Fuller, shall be of age sufficient to be bound apprentice, then my son Thomas to have the choosing of his master and trade and is to pay five pounds to set him forth.” His wife Frances and son Thomas were identified as the executors. The will was witnessed by Thomas Wales, John Sutton, and William Fuller.

Robert Fuller died on May 23, 1614 in Redenhall and is buried in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary churchyard (pictured left) in Redenhall. (This church is home to the Fuller family records.) His wife Frances was listed in the Burial Register as a widow when she was buried there on March 28, 1632. Years later on May 30, 1659, Robert’s grandson Thomas Fuller presented the will of his father, Thomas Fuller (Robert’s son), in which is mentioned the Tryndlehedge land which was "bequeathed to said Thomas Fuller Senior by his father Robert Fuller as by copy of Court held 13 Apr. in the 13^th year of the reign of the late King James."

Sara Dunckhorne may have been born in Starston, Norfolk, England. Some researchers say she was the daughter of John Dunckhorne and an unnamed mother, but give no supporting documentation. On January 29, 1572/3, she married Robert Fuller of Redenhall, Norfolk, England at the at St. Margaret’s Church in Starston (mouse over image right). They were the parents of seven children, all born and baptized in Redenhall as follows – Eldest son Thomas was baptized on December 13, 1573, was mentioned in his father’s will, and is said to be the Thomas who married Audrey Gilmore on January 22, 1599; ancestor Edward, also in Robert’s will, but not listed as the butcher’s son; Ann, baptized on April 22, 1577, married William White in Leiden, Holland and later called herself Susanna, is mentioned in her father’s will; John baptized on March 15, 1578/9, died at 22 months old and was buried on February 10, 1580/81; Samuel baptized on September 20, 1580/81, married in Leiden at least twice, became the first British doctor in Plymouth and is mentioned in his father’s will; John was baptized on March 25, 1582, but died before his father and was buried on December 22, 1608, but he and his son are mentioned in Robert’s will; and Edmund baptized on May 19, 1583, listed as the butcher’s son, but died at 15 months old, and was buried on August 19, 1584.

Sara died a month before her youngest son died and was buried on July 1, 1584, in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary churchyard in Redenhall, which is adjacent to Starston Parish. Left with young children her husband married again.

John Fuller’s date of birth is uncertain as records prior to 1559 in Redenhall, Norfolk County, England are not available for this time period. What is documented is that he was the son of John Fuller and his wife Alice, whose surname is unknown.

John married but his wife’s name is unknown. Some say she was Anne Collinge, but again there is no documentation to support this. Nothing is known about her, but in her son John’s will, he leaves to his wife, “The little house and garden which mother Collinge some time dwelt in, for her life, and to be kept wind tyte and water tyte by my son Raffe.” This may be a reference to his mother, or as some researcher’s believe, his grandmother.

Only three children are documented in John Sr.’s will as follows — John, named after his paternal grandfather, is considered the eldest because he was the main inheritor of his father’s estate; ancestor Robert; and daughter Alice, who may have been named after her paternal grandmother. Some researchers say that Robert and Alice were twins, but again, this is not documented.

John wrote his 2 ½ page will on February 4, 1559 and was proved that same year on May 12^th (mouse over and click on image left to enlarge in a new window/tab). Being that his wife is not mentioned in the will, it has been assumed she died before he did, leaving him with at least three young children. His will is registered in the Episcopal Consistorial Court of Norwich. In it he left to his son John all land and tenements “both bound and free in Redenhall and Wortwell, or elles wyer, he paying to my son Robert Fuller 10 pounds.” To “Ales, my daughter, . . . 6 pounds, 8s, 4d.” It also included a small bequest to Stephen and Frances Sadd, when 21. His son John was designated as the executor. The will was witnessed by Thomas Ward, John Barne, Thomas Fuller, and William Norton. John Fuller probably died at the end of April or in the beginning of May that same year, as a burial record for John Fuller, the elder, is recorded in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Redenhall Parish register on May 3, 1559.

John Fuller is said to have been born in Redenhall/Harleston, Norfolk County, England to William Fuller and his unknown wife, but there is no documentation to support this. The only unsubstantial evidence is that John named his first son William.

He married Alice, whose maiden name is unknown. Some researchers say she was the daughter of Allen Concord, but give no supporting documentation. What is documented is that John’s wife’s name was Alice when he wrote his will in 1511 and in it their five children are listed. Alice is believed to be the mother of all of their children listed as follows — William, named after his paternal grandfather, was their oldest son, who married Kathryn and then Cicely, had eight children, died and was buried on March 30, 1559; Thomas, who married, died and was buried on June 27, 1558; Alice, named after her mother seems to have been unmarried in 1511; Robert married Alice, had at least two daughters and died sometime between December 15, 1550 and Jan 10th of the next year; and ancestor John.

As stated above, John Fuller wrote his will on March 29, 1511, and it was probated in the Consistory Court of Norwich on May 17^th of that same year. This means he died and was buried in Redenhall, probably in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary churchyard (picthred right) sometime within the 1 month and 18 days between these dates. It is not known when his wife Alice died, but it was after her husband died. For now, this is all that is known about them.

Redenhall

Redenhall with Harleston is a town and civil parish in the South Norfolk District of the English county of Norfolk, comprising the villages of Redenhall and Harleston. It covers an area of 13.73 kilometers or 5.30 square miles. (Mouse over map to swap images.)

The following is an except taken from The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 55 on page 410 which was written by By Francis H. Fuller, Esq., of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts in 1901.

The parish of Redenhall with Harleston (yellow) lies nearly in the centre of the hundred of Earsham, County in Norfolk, England. It is in form an oblong, running north and south, with a length of a little less than four miles, and a mean breadth of about a mile and a quarter. At the north-west corner of the oblong its boundary touches Hardwick. Starting from this point, the parish is bounded by Shelton on the north, by Alburgh and Wortwell on the east, by Mendham on the south, and by Needham and Starston on the west. There is only one break in the regularity of the outline, and that is the peninsula projecting into Needham, just west of the town of Harleston.  Redenhall with Harleston and Wortwell taken together, closely resemble a human foot, Harleston lying at the heel, Redenhall church at the centre of the arch, and Wortwell towards the toes.

A few words may be said here as to the relative positions of Redenhall and Wortwell, though the latter parish does not fall within the scope of this article. Wortwell is a separate and distinct parish with its own parochial officers, and now has its own parish council. But for ecclesiastical purposes it is united with, but not merged in, the parish of Redenhall. The two parishes have a church in common, through which their division line passes. The parishioners of Wortwell elect one churchwarden to represent their interests and discharge their duties in matters touching the church. The Rector of Redenhall has the tithes, and is responsible for the cure of souls in Wortwell. The old parsonage house stood in that parish, and we shall see that when the churchwardens made out their rate for church expenses, three-fourths of the amount was raised in Redenhall and one-fourth in Wortwell. (See Charles Candler's Notes on the Parish of Redenhall with Harleston.)