Sir Edmund SAWYER

Father: ? SAWYER (descendant of Hugh, who rcv'd coat of arms 1310)
Mother: ?

Spouse1: Jane (Agnes) FISKE b1541 of Halesworth, England m. c1554, dau of [see o/l]
Spouse2: Sarah POWELL b1546 m1564

Children:

• Thomas b1556 m. Mary WEST
  
  • John m. Agnes SHARPE
    
    • Thomas m. Mary PRESCOTT
      
      • ... my line (cf SawyerDC)
        
• George of Cawston, Norf. b. c1560 m. Anne HILL, dau of Elizeus HILL of Blofield, Norf.
  
  • Sir Knight Edmund b1579 (or 1586/7, knighted 24 Feb 1624-5) became Auditor of the Exchequer in 1621 (under K James I), 2yrs later bot Heywood Manor from the Earl of Kellie in 1623, worked for K Chas I r1625-49, got this elite position via his maternal HILL line, m1 Elizabeth PARKHURST (kids Robt, Mary, Thomas, Eliz, George, Margaret) m2. Anne WHITMORE d1627, dau of Sir Wm WHITMORE of Apley in Shropshire. Edmund d. 14 Jun 1676. Hmmm, one source says 'after the dissolution [1649? i.e. when Chas I was k.] he m. the dau of a wealthy London clothworker, but she d. days later!? So he m. Anne WHITMORE' ?! How could he father 6 kids w/1st wife, were those from 2nd? Or was there a wife before Eliz?].
    
    • Sir Robert 1633-92 [knighted 17 Oct 1677] AG of London, built Highclere Castle (structure prior to current one) m. Margaret SUCKELEY, 5 daughters
      
      • Margaret 'only dau of Sir Robt' m1684 Thomas HERBERT 8th Earl of Pembroke, portrait still hangs prominently at Highclere
        
        • Wm HERBERT 1696-1757
          
          • Henry HERBERT 1741-1811 Whig politician, 5th son of Wm, 1st (HERBERT) Earl of Carnarvon, inherited title and Highclere Castle from ggdad Sir Robert SAWYER per his request in will
            
            • ... Earls of Carnarvon, including #5 who w/Howard Carter found King Tut's tomb in 1927 and is bur. atop Beacon Hill, the highest point on the 5k-acre Highclere estate (cf PBS special, RFAE, ...)
              
• others?
  

Most genealogical references to Edmund state that he was born ca. 1540 and was married around 1564. At least one site (George SAWYER's website, see link on main SAWYER page) indicates he was born ca. 1530, married in 1554 and his spouse was born 1534.

Source 4 (NCAB) listed below contains several interesting write-ups on SAWYER individuals descended from Sir Edmund. One, for John Talbott SAWYER, clergyman (Vol 2, p. 410) states "The records of the family in England show they bore arms 'during the third crusade under Richard I Coeur de Lion ('the Lionheart' r1189-99) and Baldwin. His family and hereditary coat of arms were given in 1310 [apparently by King Edward II r1307-27] to Hugh SAWYER for distinguished services rendered his sovereign [by an ancestor?] on the field of battle. The family came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066."

Source 5 (DNB) listed below contains a writeup on Sir Robert SAWYER (Vol 17, pp. 870-3). "Sir Robert (1633-1692), attorney-general [of London], born in 1633, was a younger son of Sir Edmund SAWYER (1579-1670), auditor [of the exchequer] of the city of London, by his second wife, Anne, daughter of Sir William WHITMORE of Apley, Shropshire. The manor of Heywood, near Maidenhead, which Sir Edmund purchased in 1627 [under K Chas I r1625-49], continued in the family for more than two centuries."

5/27/2010: Today I noticed an exchange between egsawyer [Eleanor Grace SAWYER, recently deceased as of 6/17/2013] and genfam on the SAWYER list about this line. 'genfam' noted a genealogical study done awhile ago for a Joan? ATHOL that showed a Sir Knight Edmund SAWYER b1519 who purchased the manor of Haywood in Berkshire County in 1537 [i.e. during Henry VIII's reign, hmmm, had it been seized from a Catholic and sold to Protestant Edmund?]. His eldest son John succeeded to Haywood estate and had 3 sons Thomas, Edward, and William. Hmmm, this seems too early to be the famous 3 bros of same names who came to America 1636. Also, this Sir Edmund - John - 3 bros line is different from my Sir Edmund b1540 - Thomas - John - 3 bros line.

Another Sawyer in this source (DNB p. 870) is "Edmund (d1759), Master of [the] Chance[llo]ry, born shortly after 1687, was probably [a] younger son of Edmund SAWYER of White Waltham, Berkshire, by his wife Mary, second daughter of John FINCH of Fiennes, Berkshire (BERRY, Berkshire Genealogies, pp. 88, 104). He was of the Inner Temple, but on 28 Apr 1718 was admitted member of Lincoln's Inn, and in 1738 was made a master in chancery (Gent. Mag. 1738, viii. 277). In 1750 he and Richard EDWARDS were nominated commissioners to examine the claims of the creditors of the African Company (ib. 1750, xx. 237). He died in possession of the dignity of master in chancery on 9 Oct 1759 (ib. 1759, xxix. 497). SAWYER compiled the valuable 'Memorials of Affairs of State in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth [r1558-1603] and King James [r1603-25], collected chiefly from the Original Papers of ... Sir R. WINWOOD, comprehending likewise the Negotiations of Sir H. NEVILLE,' London, 3 vols. fol. 1725."

Finally (DNB p. 870), Herbert SAWYER "(1731?-1798), admiral, born about 1731, entered the navy in 1747, ... He died at Bath on 4 Jun 1798. ... His eldest son, Sir Herbert SAWYER, died an admiral and K.C.B. in 1833."

The 3rd source (GBR) listed below has a SAWYER family entry, under the heading of Moses Havens SAWYER but beginning with an earlier Moses SAWYER, born at Yorkshire, England and came to America ca. 1740, settling at Shelter Island, NY. After tracing many of Moses' descendants (see chart below), it is stated:

A very interesting account of the SAWYER ancestry may be consulted in the National Encyclopedia Vol. II, p. 62. Here it is stated that our subject's [Moses, I assume] paternal line is traced to Sir Edmund SAWYER, who was knighted in A.D. 1579, and married Annie, daughter of Sir William SAWYER [hmmm, I assume they mean WHITMORE, making this Sir Edmund d1676, gson of the Edmund of this page, b1540]. The gggrandfather [of Moses Havens SAWYER] was an admiral in the Royal British Navy, whose squadron had cruised on the New England coast prior to 1776, when he secured, by grant, Shelter Island, in Long Island Sound, for his son, Moses SAWYER.

I assume this reference to the National Encyclopedia is the NCAB shown below, since it indeed has a reference to Moses SAWYER (b. 6 Jun 1827) in Vol. II, p. 62. However, this 1921 version of NCAB Vol II contained only a brief entry for Moses SAWYER and did not elaborate on his descent from Edmund. I'd like to find a copy of the original version of that volume, probably from 1893, which, according to the GBR source, has a detailed discussion of the descent from Sir Edmund SAWYER to that Moses.

There are 2 famous Admiral SAWYERs of the Royal Navy; Herbert Sr 1731-98 and his son Herbert Jr KCB c1760s-1833. Due to dates and context I assume the elder is referenced as the gggfather of Moses Havens SAWYER, cf below:

The descent chart of this Moses (as given in GBR) is as follows:

• Admiral Herbert SAWYER of Royal British Navy 1731-98, his squadron had cruised on the New England coast prior to 1776, when he secured, by grant, Shelter Island, in Long Island Sound, for his son, Moses SAWYER
  
  • Moses SAWYER b. Yorkshire, England, came to America c1740 m. Phebe HAVENS
    
    • John b175x k. at 18yo aboard 'Eagle' privateer in engagement w/British
      
    • James b. Apr 1765 d. 24 Apr 1813 on Mason's Island m1 Betsey RATHBUN, m2 Mercy BURROWS
      
      • w/Betsey:
        
      • Nancy
        
      • John
        
      • w/Mercy
        
      • Frederick
        
      • Betsey (mother of Emma SAWYER, grandmother of Emeline Sawyer YOUNG and Phebe Sawyer GRIFFIN)
        
      • James (grandfather of Nellie UTLEY)
        
      • Winthrop
        
      • John Havens
        
      • Benjamin
        
      • Phebe m. George ELDREDGE
        
    • William b. 19 Apr 1767 d. 15 Sep 1852 m. Prudence ASHBEY (b. 29 Jun 1771 d. 19 Apr 1851)
      
      • Martha b. 1 Sep 1791
        
      • James ASHBEY b. 5 Jul 1793
        
      • Maty b. 28 Oct 1794
        
      • Moses Havens b. 28 Aug 1796
        
      • William Riley b. 20 Oct 1797
        
      • Joshua b. 15 Aug 1799
        
      • Patty b. 28 Apr 1801
        
      • Prudence b. 15 May 1802
        
      • Capt. Jeremiah Niles b. 15 May 1805 d. 8 May 1841 (of yellow fever aboard the schooner 'Hero', of which he was captain, on the passage from New Orleans to Havana, Cuba) m. Emeline Olive KELLY 1826 (she b. 8 Oct 1808 at Lyme, CT)
        
        • Moses Havens b. 6 Jun 1827
          
        • Jeremiah N. Jr. b. 28 Jun 1829
          
        • Emeline b. 22 Apr 1831 d. 8 Oct 1831
          
        • Lodowick Latham b. 27 Oct 1832
          
        • Lucy LATHAM b. 5 Feb 1835
          
        • Franklin Kelly b. 1 Jun 1839 d. 24 Jun 1847
          
      • Thomas Jefferson b. 12 Apr 1807 at Mason's Island m. Mary PALMER, moved to Noank in 1840s
        
        • Mary Ann m. Asa ASHBEY
          
        • Prudence A. m. John A. CARRINGTON
          
        • Thomas J. Jr. m. Louisa WILLIAMS (3 daughters)
          
        • Asa d. in infancy
          
        • Roswell Palmer b. 5 Feb 1843 m. E. Adelaide FITCH 1863 (3 children, all DY)
          
        • Charles and Georgiana, both DY
          
      • Priscilla b. 15 Oct 1808
        
      • Asa b. 12 Jan 1812
        
      • Sarah Ann b. 12 Jan 1814
        
    • Mary m. Zebulon WEEKS
      
    • Martha m. Wakeman FOSTER
      
    • Sarah m. William WILBUR, settled at Noank
      
    • Phebe m. William BROWN
      

Another Shelter Island SAWYER family (not sure how they tie in with above) is (from Historical Papers on Shelter Island and its Presbyterian Church, By Rev. Jacob E. MALLMANN, via Shelter Island Historical Society):

• Moses SAWYER b. c1740 m. Mehitable HORTON
  
  • Benjamin SAWYER b. c1760 m. 25 Mar 1787 Abigail KING, d. 1794 or 1802?
    
    • Cynthia, m. David JENNINGS, no issue
      
    • James B.
      
      • James m. Wid. Maria FOURNIER (nee Fithian)
        
    • Mehitable A. b1794, m. 1 Oct 1818 Abraham CROOK
      

The 1771 Shelter Island census shows:
- name mal-lt-16 16-lt-mal-lt-60 60-lt-mal fem-lt-16 16-lt-fem
- James Sawyer 1 1 1 1 1
- Benjamin Sawyer 3 1 0 1 1
- Moses Sawyer 3 1 0 4 1

The 1776 census shows:
- no James
- Benjamin Sawyer 2 3 0 2 2
- Moses Sawyer 2 1 0 2 2

The book The Knights of England, by Wm. A. SHAW (1971) shows several knighted Sawyers. Two are:

- Edmond, Vol II, p. 188, knighted 24 Feb 1624-5 at Chesterford Park, an auditor of the Exchequer Court, London
- Robert, Vol II, p. 252, knighted 17 Oct 1677 at Whitehall, of the Inner Temple

In 1507 'America' appeared for the first time on a map made by Martin Waldseemueller in his book Universalis cosmographie. He might've named it 'Columbia' after Columbus' 1492 trip, but Amerigo Vespucci's trip had been more recent [1503?] and was perhaps fresher in his mind (Niall Ferguson's 'Civilization' p96).

Note: For 16C events see also br-amt, br-cotr and br-itb.

'Wycliffe and Hus had packed a powder keg. Erasmus had woven a fuse. On 31 oct 1517 a hotheaded [German] monk lit the fuse and rocked all of Europe' (CHME p78).

In 'Land's End' (CRB Fall 2013), Michael Anton notes that 'exactly 500ya [Sep 1513] a Florentine [Machiavelli 1469-1527 58yo] and a Spaniard [V N de Balboa] set out on voyages of exploration, M for 'new modes and orders' and B for 'unknown waters and lands' ... those 2 visions would later collide in CA, USA. B left on 1 Sep 1513 (from Santa Maria la Antiqua del Darien [on Atlantic side of Panama], the 1st European settlement on the American continent - which B had fnd'd 3yrs before - to find [by hiking over the mtns] 'the other sea' [Pacific] spoken of by natives), just as M was in prison writing. 'M's (Old Nick) ambition was nothing less than to destroy Christianity [which he blamed for producing in men 'a toxic mix of complacency, self-satisfaction, and resignation'] and replace it w/the rule of reason, in the svc of men's needs and wants in the here and now'. In 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo became the 1st European to reach CA, but Spanish development had to wait another 200yrs, when 200 Franciscan friars walked the 1500mi from Mexico City to what is now San Diego to fnd a religious colony (later names Castro, Figueroa, Pico, Sepulveda). Indep from Spain ended formal theocracy in CA in 1821. Life was good and, unlike in most places, not too harsh in CA. In 1849 modernity abruptly smashed into CA (w/gold rush, disrupting the traditional Spanish community B had set up long before, replaced by 'purely extractive' economy). In 1846 'Pathfinder' John C Fremont had been sent to CO but (w/60 men) wandered into CA looking for gold, finding ~10k (~2k men) 'Californios' scattered across 100k sq miles, picking a fight, and massacring many. Tho not in the same league as M's 'ur-fndrs' - Moses [Jews], Cyrus [Persians], Romulus [Romans] and Theseus [Greeks], JCF did fit the 'glory-seeking unscrupulousness' that M called 'the prime mover of history'. He began the conquest of CA, before the outbreak of the Mex-Am War. Then 2yrs later James Marshall found a gold nugget in the American river near Coloma, and the race was on. M's pupil and successor was Francis Bacon i.e. 'the conquest of nature for the relief of man's estate', which trumped the Puritan's desire of patient righteousness, prudence, thriftiness ... M said classics err'd 3 ways; 1 thot man was good, 2 said avoid ideology (mixing phil w/politics, which M favored), 3 chose 'great' over 'masses', M's remedy was to brk the taboo, give phil a practical project i.e. the success of Chr proved that man was malleable, the people can be won over w/tangible benefits, phil can rule (via virtu = cunning ferocity for M), but the utopian temptation inherent in M's call to master fortune eventually gave rise to Progressivism, America's home-grown brand of corruption, which took over Sacramento (you might say as a pilot program) before subjugating WA DC. That was hardly the only 'ism' to emerge, unanticipated from M's thot. One could also name liberalism, historicism, socialism, hedonism, feminism, multiculturalism, and nihilism. Any one of them would've been bad enough. Together, they proved fatal. But as WRM says, the 'blue-state model' (CA) is coming to an end, and w/it both M's experiment and the CA Dream.

Pope Gregory ordered that Tu* 5 Oct 1582 be made Tu 15 Oct to correct accumulated errors of the Julian system (365days/yr w/leap yr each 4) which was 11min 14s longer than the actual yr i.e. the time Earth takes to orbit the Sun (* Tu by modern reckoning i.e. exactly 15 28yr cycles before Tu 15 Oct 2002). After >1600yrs the Julian calender was 10days ahead of the seasons. The Pope also decreed that, to avoid future trouble, century years NOT divisible by 400 should NOT be leap years (as expected w/the old system). RCC countries switched over immediately, but many Protestant ones not til 1700, Britain 1752, Russia 1918 (BN HT p120). This means events that happened on given dates before that should be corrected by adding 10 days plus (yrs * 11m 14s) i.e. the earthquake of 21 Jul 365 (HMW p42) actually occurred on (by modern reckoning) 7/21 + 10days (7/31) + (1582 - 365 = 1217 yrs + (10/5 - 7/21 = 76days = 76/365 = .208... yr); so 1217.208... yrs * 11m 14s (674s) = 9.5 days ... so 7/21 becomes 8/9-10 (depends on time of day).

Spain was the leading Great Power of the 16C, its trading empire having eclipsed rival Portugal's and finding massive supplies of gold and silver in the Americas. Its rivals were China, India and Islam, with latter (Ottomans) arguably peaking in 1566 under Suleiman the Great (see ToN.html).

gedcom file downloaded from www.ancestry.com.

This Edmund is also documented at Dean Sawyer's website.

GBR = Genealogical and Biographical Record of New London County, CT, J H Beers and Co., Chicago, 1905, p. 879 (via Mesa, AZ LDS FHC)

NCAB = The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, James T. White and Co., 1893 and later

DNB = Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 1917

The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1972 (via Mesa, AZ LDS FHC)

RFAE = The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, Toby Wilkinson, 2010 (FHL)

BN HT = History's Timeline, Barnes & Noble, 1981, own.

CHME = Christian History Made Easy, Dr Timothy Paul Jones, Rose, 2005, own.

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