Thomas Richardson was born on March 15, 1543, in Westmill, Hertfordshire, England. He died on March 4, 1630, also in Westmill, Hertfordshire, England.
He is not the person known as “Sir Thomas Richardson”.
He is also not the person who was buried on December 13, 1630 at St Mary, Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, Middlesex, England. Although they have the same name and died in the same year, our Thomas Richardson, Thomas Richardson of Westmill II died in March, not in December. Our Thomas died in Westmill, not in Middlesex.
To avoid any confusion with other people named Thomas Richardson in my family tree, I will now refer to him as Thomas Richardson II of Westmill.
| Name | Thomas Richardson II of Westmill |
|---|---|
| Father | Thomas Richardson I of Westmill |
| Mother | Mary Margaret Silverside |
| Birth Date | 15 Mar 1543 |
| Birth Place | Westmill, Hertfordshire, England |
| Death Date | 4 Mar 1630 |
| Death Place | Westmill, Hertfordshire, England |
| Cemetery | St. Mary the Virgin-Westmill |
| Burial or Cremation Place | St Albans, St Albans District, Hertfordshire, England |
There is a record out there stating that Thomas Richardson was buried on December 13, 1630, at St Mary, Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, Middlesex, England. This is an official Parish register.
This is from “London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1538-1812 – Tower Hamlets – St Mary, Whitechapel – 1558 – 1643”.
Middlesex is in modern day London. That’s about an hour’s drive from Westmill. St. Mary’s was a church in the 1600’s that was located in Whitechapel. This is a district that is now in the East End of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
The document in question is referring to the St Mary Matfelon church, which was an England parish church on Whitechapel Road, in Whitechapel, London.
Horse and carriages were said to go about 3 to 4 miles per hour. This means it would have taken them 4 or 5 hours to go from Westmill to London. That’s not likely that a person who was born, got married and lived in Westmill their entire life would have gone all the way to London, 4 or 5 hours away to be buried in a church there. Therefore we can reasonably assume that the record for Thomas Richardson who was buried on December 13, 1630, is not our Thomas Richardson II of Westmill.
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Thomas Richardson II of Westmill was born in St. Albans Abbey in Westmill. His wife was Mary Margaret Champney and together they had at least one child.
They could have had more children, and likely did but so far I’ve haven’t been able to find any information other than about their son Thomas Richardson of Standon.
His date of death on March 4, 1630, in Westmill comes from the Find a Grave listing. This, however, lists his wife as Mary Margaret Silverside which in fact is his mother.
We have a record called the Millennium File that tells us Thomas Richardson was born in 1523 in Westmill. He died in March of 1630 in Westmill and that his wife was Margaret Silverside. Thier child was Thomas Richardson.
Because this can get confusing I named …
- Thomas Richardson born in 1523 – Thomas Richardson I of Westmill
- I then named his son Thomas Richardson II of Westmill.
- I then named his son Thomas Richardson of Standon.
We next have the England, Select Births and Christenings file that tells us Thomas Richardson of Standon is the father of Samuel Richardson.
Next, we have a document telling us that Thomas Richardson married someone named Mary. Well, guess what? That document is totally useless to us because both Thomas Richardson I and Thomas Richardson II of Westmill, both married someone named Mary.
- Thomas Richarson I of Westmill married Mary Margaret Silverside.
- Thomas Richarson II of Westmill married Mary Margaret Champney.
See the problem? So we have to keep going to try and figure out more family connections.