The Medieval Ancestry of John Sevenocke
Below is the proposed ancestry of John Sevenocke. For more information and sources, see Spear (included in the Bibliography below).
Burton W. Spears claimed that the Sevenockes are a unique family: "Finally, while royal descents of colonial Americans are relatively common, documented descents from families of medieval serfs, at the opposite end of the social spectrum, are extremely rare. Robin Bush has been unable to trace a single other one in American genealogical literature." To clarify, this does not mean that Johanna Sevenocke's colonial descendants were the only ones who were descendants of serfs, but they are the only ones known to these researchers to have been reliably traced back into the Middle Ages.
First Generation:
John Sevenocke and -- --
John Sevenocke, a serf of the lord, succeeded his father John in his lands in Pitminster and Blagdon, both in Somerset, England, died about 1519-20.
Child: John Sevenocke (who was the father of Johanna and Richarda).
Second Generation:
John Sevenocke and -- --
John Sevenocke, a serf of the lord, paid for daughter Helen's marriage in 1489-90, purchased land in South Trendle in Pitminster, Somerset, England, probably died about 1497-8.
Children: John Sevenocke (probable son), Helen Sevenocke (m. -- --).
Third Generation:
John Sevenocke and -- --
John Sevenocke, a serf of the lord, paid for daughters Johanna and Alice's marriages in 1452-3, resided in Poundisford Hundred in Somerset, England.
Known daughters: Johanna Sevenocke (m. -- --), Alice Sevenocke (m. -- --).
Probable sons: John Sevenocke, Thomas Sevenocke (of Poundisford, Somerset, England, paid for the marriage of daughter Johann in 1483-4), William Sevenocke (of Poundisford, Somerset, England, m. Katherine -- (succeeded to her husband's lands at his death, d. abt. 1535-6), died about 1504-5).
Fourth Generation:
John Sevenocke and -- --
John Sevenocke, a tenant in Poundisford Hundred in Somerset, England.
Possible children: John Sevenocke, Thomas Sevenocke (a serf of the lord, purchased land in Duddlestone tithing in Poundisford, Somerset, England in 1458-9, perhaps the Thomas who paid for the marriage of a daughter Johanna in 1483-4).
The following are Sevenockes that appear in earlier records and that may be related to John Sevenocke:
- Stephen de Sevenhac, one of the reeves of Taunton Deane manor in 1223.
- Adam de Sevenok, bought (along with John Bithewood) the chattels of John de Shoreditch in Taunton, Somerset, England in 1232-3.
- Adam de Sevenok, took the farm of Otterford, Somerset, England in 1284, added five acres to the farm in 1288-9 in Poundisford Hundred in Somerset, England, added an acre of demesne in Stonilonde in Poundisford Hundred in 1290-1.
Bibliography:
- Spear, Burton W., Search for the Passengers of the Mary & John, 1630, Vol. 27, New Ancestral Discoveries, Part 3, Toledo, OH: The Mary & John Clearing House, 1999, pgs. 63-82 73-75.