In the "Genealogy of the Tucker Family," compiled by the late Ephraim Tucker of Worcester, Mass., and published in 1895, a book that is almost entirely devoted to Robert Tucker of Weymouth and Milton, Mass., and his descendants, it is maintained that John Tucker, who was at Watertown, Mass., in 1636 and afterwards settled in Hingham, Mass., and Robert Tucker, who was at Weymouth in 1638 and was later of Milton were brothers, and that they were identical with the John and Robert Tucker who are given in the Visitation of Kent of 1619-1621 as sons of George Tucker of Milton next Gravesend, co. Kent.[1]
From the Tucker pedigree published in the Visitation of Kent, page 3,[2] it appears that George Tucker, son and heir of William Tucker of Throuley (Throwleigh), co. Devon, Esq., was of Milton
[Footnotes]
[1] In identifying Robert Tucker of Weymouth and Milton, Mass., with Robert Tucker, son of George Tucker of Milton next Gravesend, co. Kent, the compiler of the Genealogy of the Tucker Family followed the statements about the birthplace of Robert Tucker, the New England settler published in 1887 in the History of Milton, Mass., pp. 37-38.
[2] Publications of the Harleian Society, vol. 42, London, 1898. The Visitation pedigree used by Mr. Ephraim Tucker in preparing his book is that found in Harleian Manuscript 1106, which differs somewhat from the pedigree published by the Harleian Society in 1898, three years after the appearance of the Genealogy of the Tucker Family. The differences, however, are without importance in proving or disproving Mr. Tucker's conjecture in regard to the English origin of John and Robert Tucker of Massachusetts.
(next Gravesend), co. Kent, and that George Tucker, son and hein of George and grandson of William, was likewise of Milton. By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Staughton of Craford (Crayford), co. Kent, this second George Tucker had a son George, aged 25 at the taking of the Visitation; and by his second wife, Mary, daughter of John Darrell[1] of Cadehill (Cale Hill, in the parish of Little Chart, co. Kent), Esq., he had, at the time of the Visitation, sons John, aged 19, Robert, aged 14, and Henry, aged 8, and daughters Hester, Elizabeth, Mary, Ann, Sarah, and Martha.
In his will, dated 11 Nov. 1622, an abstract of which is given below, George Tucker names all these daughters except Elizabeth, "Marie" being under twenty-one, Ann being already married, and Sarah, Martha, and Hester being under nineteen. He names also, in addition to the four sons mentioned in the Visitation, a son Daniel, who was probably born after the taking of the Visitation, John Darell, Esq., deceased, his wife's father, and Sir Robert Darell, Knight, and John Darell, Esq., his wife's brothers. This will and a codicil of 14 Dec. 1625, attached thereto, show that George Tucker and his brother, Capt. Daniel Tucker, held shares in the "Summer Islands," i.e. the Bermudas, and that Capt. Daniel Tucker had recently given shares in these islands to his nephew Daniel, son of the testator of 1622.
The prominence of this Tucker family in the Burmudas, in Barbados, and in Virginia and South Carolina, has long been known and recognized. George Tucker, the testator of 1622, and his brother Daniel were members of the Virginia Company; and Daniel sailed for Virginia in 1606, was a leading man in the Colony from 1608 to 1613, was commissioned Governor of the Bermudas 15 Feb. 1615/16, and was in those islands from May 16 to about Jan. 1618/19. He purchased lands in Virginia in 1621, and died at Port Royal, Bermuda, 10 Feb. 1624-5. George Tucker, eldest son of the testator of 1622, went to the Bermuda Islands in the time of the Civil War in England, but returned to England. His will, an abstract of which is given below, is dated 23 Aug. 1639 and was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury 2 May 1648. In it he describes himself as of Dartford, co. Kent, Gentleman, and gives to his eldest son, George, all his lands in the Bermuda Islands, except two shares which he gives to the second son, Francis, and two shares which he gives to his third son, Robert. George Tucker, the eldest son of the testator, settled in Bermuda, and by his wife Frances, daughter of Sir Henry St. George, Knight, Garter and Principal King of Arms, became the ancestor of a branch of the family of which several members held public positions of honor and trust or distinguished themselves in professional and mercantile life. Some of his descendants became officers in the British Army and Navy, others migrated to Barbados, Virginia, or South Carolina, and one of them, St. George Tucker, born in 1752, settled in Virginia, became a judge and a professor of law in William and Mary College, and was the founder of a well-known family in that State. Henry Tucker, half brother of George
[Footnotes]
[1] This surname is given incorrectly as "Darrett" in the History of Milton, Mass., and in the Genealogy of the Tucker Family.
Tucker the testator of 1639, also settled, it is believed, in the Bermudas, and had many descendants.[1]
The six wills of which abstracts are given below[2] confirm certain parts of the Tucker pedigree found in the Visitation of Kent, 1619-1621, and supply much information about the genealogy and social standing of the Tucker family of Milton next Gravesend and of the ancient and eminent Darell family with which is was connected by marriage. They should, therefore, be of interest to the Tuckers of the present day in Virginia and other southern States, for the descendants of George Tucker, the testator of 1639, as well as those of his half brother Henry, may trace their ancestry back to the Darells of Kent, Elizabeth, wife of George Tucker and mother of his children, having been a daughter of Richard Sedley of Digswell, co. Herts, Esq., by his wife Elizabeth, who was a daughter of John Darrell of Cale Hill, co. Kent, Esq., and therefore a sister of Mary Darell, second wife of George Tucker, the testator of 1622.[3] These wills are also of value to descendants of New England Tuckers, because they disprove the English ancestry assigned in the "Genealogy of the Tucker Family" to John Tucker of Watertown and Hingham and to Robert Tucker of Weymouth and Milton, Mass.
The compiler of the "Genealogy," following the statements made and the records given in the "History of Milton, Mass," found that, according to the Visitation of Kent, 1619-1621, George Tucker of Milton (next Gravesend), the second George Tucker of the pedigree, had a son John, aged 19 at the time of the Visitation, and a son Robert, aged 14 at the same time. He found also that, according to the "History of Milton, Mass.," the parish registers of Milton next Gravesend record the following baptisms of children of George Tucker, Gentleman: John, in 1599; Elizabeth, 25 Mar. 1601; Maria (Mary), 24 Mar. 1602 (1602/3); Robert, 7 June 1604;[4] Henry, in 1612. Now since John and Robert, two of the sons of George Tucker, were apparently of the right age to be the John and Robert Tucker who came to New England, since, moreover, according to the "History of Milton, Mass.," the Tucker family disappeared from the English Milton soon after 1637, and since, finally, Robert Tucker of Massachusetts was prominent among the early settlers of Milton
[Footnotes]
[1] Cf. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 17, pp. 395-397, vol. 29, p. 355, and Tucker pedigrees in Emmet's Memori of John Patten Emmet, M.D., New York, 1898.
[2] Two of thse wills have already appear in prin--that of George Tucker, the testor of 1622, in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 17, pp. 394-395, and that of his son George, the testator of 1639, in the same publication, vol. 39, pp. 354-355. The importance of these two wills in the history of the Tucker family and, especially, the reference in the will of the younger George to his (half) brothers John and Robert, whom the late Ephraim Tucker claimed as settlers of Massachusetts, warrant their reproduction in this article. The abstract of the first of these two wills has been adapted from the abstract printed in The Virginia Magazine, while that of the second will has been made directly from the recorded copy of the will in Somerset House, London, and has been compared with the abstract printed in The Virginia Magazine.
[3] Cf. the pedigree of Sedley of Digswell, published in The Visitations of Hertfordshire, p. 91 (Publications of the Harleian Society, vol. 22). This pedigree gives children of George and Elizabeth (Sedley) Tucker as follows: 1. George. 2. Francis. 3. Robert. 4. Elisabeth. It is, therefore, in agreement with the statements of the will of George Tucker. Cf. also the pedigree of Darrell, in The Visitation of Kent, 1619, p. 187.
[4] In the History of Milton, Mass., and in the Genealogy this entry, under the year 1604, is given as follows: "Robert ye sonne of George Tucker Gent one of the Burghers at this font was baptized ye VII of June." The correct reading of this entry is "Robert ye sonne of George Tucker Gent one of the Searchers at this port was baptized ye VII of June." The father was, therefore, in the English customs service.
in that Colony, a town which might have been named in honor of the English home of one or more of its settlers, Mr. Tucker in the "Genealogy" stated that Robert Tucker of Milton next Gravesend was "doubtless the progenitor of the Milton (Mass.) Tuckers," and identified his brother John with the settler of that name in Watertown and Hingham.
The wills given below, however, prove that John and Robert Tucker, sons of George Tucker of Milton next Gravesend, co. Kent, were living in England after their namesakes appear in Massachusetts--John being in England in 1639, 1642, and 1644, and his brother Robert being there in 1639, when, according to the will of his half brother George, he was evidently incapable of managing his own affairs. Neither John nor Robert Tucker of Massachusetts is ever called Gentleman in the Colonial records, although the members of the Kentish family are regularly designated as Gentlemen or Esquires. The conclusion is, therefore, unavoidable, that the English ancestry of these two settlers of Massachusetts has yet to be discovered.
FROM PROBATE RECORDS
The Will of GEORGE TUCKER of Milton next Gravesend, co. Kent, Esq., dated 11 November 1622. To be buried in Milton under my stone. To Mary, my wife, all corn and grain and household stuff. To my son Robert Tucker £300, to be paid him when twenty-four at or in the porch door on the south side of the Gravesend parish church. To my sons Henry and Daniell 500 marks each. To my daughter Maria Tucker £500 when twenty-one. My daughter Ann Tucker has already been provided for in marriage. To my daughters Sarah, Martha, and Hester Tucker £500 apiece when nineteen, in performance of an indenture made 16 February, 41 Elizabeth (1598/9), between me, George Tucker John Darell, Esq., deceased, my wife's father, and Sir Robert Darell, Knt., her brother. Residuary legatees: my wife Mary and my eldest son, George Tucker. Executrix: my wife Mary. Overseers: my brothers Sir Robert Darell, Knt., and John Darell, Esq.
[Footnotes]
[1] Vide supra, p. 231, second footnote.
[Footnotes]
[1] The abstract of this will published in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography reads here: "Sir Robert Marvell, knight."
The Will of SIR ROBERT DARELL, Knt.,[1] dated 16 July 1644. To be decently buried without any solemnity of torches or Black in the same manner I buried my father in my chancel called St. Katherine's Chancel in the parish of Little Chart. To the poor of the said parish £3--30s. at my burial and 30s. in the poor man's box. To the poor of Charing £3 in the like manner. To my wife, Dame Jane, my coah, my now usual coach geldings and money in her purse, her rings, jewels, and chamber plate upon her cupboard there, and a basin and ewer, all silver, which is used in my parlour, to be given to my son Edward after her death. All my other plate whatsover (excepting the basin and ewer that came from Waltham, the great gilt saltcellar and gilt spoons and the two flagon pots of silver, the greater and the lesser saltcellars, the spoons given to me by my Aunt Hales, the basin and ewer that my Lady Abergavenny gave me, the gilt tanker which was my first wife's with the Galthorpe arms upon it, and my silver pot with the lion engraven thereon) I give to my eldest son, Sir John Darell, Knt., in recompense and discharge of two small silver and gilt pots given him by my said Aunt Hales' will and of a small spout pot of silver given to him by Lady Boys, his godmother, which said pots, etc. I did change away, being old and of less value than the plate by me hereby given to him. To my wife all household stuff brough with her, all other household stuff (except hangings, pictures, tables, brass andirons, fire shovel, tongs, chairs, stools, and the greater and lesser Turkey carpets in my dining chamber), and all household stuff as came to me by my former wife; but such household stuff as came to me as executor from my later father and mother, the hangings, etc., excepted above, and what was given me by my Aunt Hales I wish to remain to my son, Sir John Darell, or to my eldest son at time of my death. To my wife £100, the chain of gold set with diamons and pearls which I bought for her and which cost me £210, and all my old gold, about £30, in lieu of moneys I borrowed from her. I forgive my brother Robert Darell all moneys he oweth me, about six or seven score pounds. To my brother John Darell the gilt tanker with the Galthorpe arms on it. To my brother, Capt. Nathaniel Darell, £20, and I forgive him the £15 I laid out for him when he sent his daughter into England. To my said brother Robert £20. To my son, Sir John, my tent, drums, colors, leading staff armor, and all other provisions tending to the war and all my books (not being law books) excepting six for my wife at her election. To my son Edward my law books, my chamber in Gray's Inn, and all furniture therein, my son Sir John to have his lodging there when he comes to London. To Anthony Balducke and his now wife 20 nobles apiece. To Thomas Scott, my servant and brewer, 40s., and to all my servants one quarter's wages. To my son James Darell and his heirs all my lands, etc., about 108 acres, in Hollingbourne, Harrietsham, Leeds, and Bromfield, co. Kent, which I bought of Thomas Stede, Esq., and Elizabeth, his wife, and other lands in those parishes, and also the parsonage or rectory of Halstowe, co. Kent, with all lands, tithes, etc., and term of years to come in the same. Whereas my son, Sir John, is bound in the sum of £1200 to William Sedley, Esq., Thomas Prude, Gentleman, and John Tucker, Gentleman, for payment of £600 as I require by my last will, he is to pay to my son James £200, to my son Christopher £200, and to my son Edward £200, within three years of my decease. All my other lands are by conveyances
[Footnotes]
[1] This testator was uncle of John, Robert, and Henry Tucker.
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