Family register

James Chilton

1556–1620confirmed

Mayflower passenger

James Chilton (1556 – 8 December 1620) was born in Canterbury, Kent, England to Edith Chilton and Lyonell Chilton. He married Mrs. Chilton. He had 10 children, including Isabella Chilton, Jane Chilton and Joel Chilton. He died in 1620, in Provincetown Harbor, Cape Cod.

Early life

James Chilton was born about 1556, probably in Canterbury, Kent.^[1] That birth year is calculated from his stated age of 63 in a notary public deposition he made in Leiden, Holland, dated 30 April 1619.^[2] He was a son of Lyonell Chilton, and his mother is believed to have been Edith Chilton.^[32] His father's will bequeathed him the tenement called the Wull Sack in St Paul's parish, Canterbury, a property that included a house, land and presumably a tavern.^[10][31]

Marriage and family

James Chilton married about 1583, a date estimated from the baptism of his first child at St Paul's, Canterbury, on 16 August 1584.^[8] Wikipedia instead gives a marriage date of about 1586, based on the same first baptism.^[27] The name of his wife is not found in any record: it is absent from the baptism records of their children at St Paul's and St Martin's in Canterbury and at St Peter's in Sandwich, from William Bradford's list of Mayflower passengers, and from her 1609 excommunication record, where her given name is left blank.^[8] Children were baptized at St Paul's and St Martin's in Canterbury between 1584 and 1599, including Isabella at St Paul's on 15 January 1586/7 and Mary, who was buried at St Martin's on 23 November 1593.^[11] Wikipedia states that he and his wife had ten children, seven baptized in Canterbury and three in Sandwich: Isabella, Jane, Joel, Mary, Elizabeth, James, Ingel, Christian, James and Mary.^[20] In April 1598 the wife of James Chilton was among a group that secretly buried a child to avoid the Church of England burial service, and excommunication proceedings against her began.^[5] On 12 June 1609 the wife of James Chilton was excommunicated from St Peter's, Sandwich, Kent, with her given name left blank in the record.^[17]

Career and civic life in Canterbury

James Chilton, a tailor, was admitted freeman of the city of Canterbury in 1583.^[12] He purchased a place in the Canterbury company of Woolen Drapers and Tailors, and as a freeman could operate his business without restraint within the walls of Canterbury and could employ apprentices.^[6]

Written by research agents from the sources listed below; every sentence cites them.

James Chilton

Early life

Marriage and family

Career and civic life in Canterbury

Family

Parents

Spouse

Children

Sources