Colonel Timothy Thornhill

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ChartsAncestors of Harriet Hanson Robinson
Colonel Timothy Thornhill, son of Thomas Thornhill and Mary (…), was born say 1620.1 He died 1 August 1681,2,3 and was buried at St. Thomas' Parish, Barbados, where his monument is inscribed:
Here lyes interred the boddy(sic)
of major Gennerall Timothy
Thornehill who died the
first of August 1681 as likewise
the boddyes of his two wifes
boeth named Sussana & his
Eldest sonn Timothy & his Daug
hter Elizabeth & his two bro-
thers John & Isaac Thornehill.3
Timothy married (1) Susannah (…), say 1644;3 he married (2) another Susannah (…), say 1663. The ancestries of both women are unknown (or not traced here).3

Several records show that he was one of four brothers who were in Barbados after the English civil war:

He was named in the nuncapative wil of Capt Thomas Thornhill, proved at Suffolk Co., Massachusetts, 20 March 1659/60 as "Brother coll Timothy Thornhill" to receive any "produce" of goods coming from Barbadoes, after his debts had been paid.4

28 December 1654. "William Manbye the younger of London, gent aged 32, deposes at the request of Thomas Overman of Southwark, Surre, gent, son and administrator of Thomas Overman Esq of Isleworth, Middlesex, deceased that Timothy Thornehill of London, merchant, now resident in Barbados and Thomas Thornehill, citizen and fishmonger of London now deceased, signed a financial obligation to Thomas Overman the elder, citizen and leather seller of London, on 27 Nov 1638.5

20 January 1658/59, John Thornhill of London, merchant, and Anne his wife, relict and Administratrix of William Phillipps of Barbados, gent deceased, appoint as their attornies their brother and friends Colonel Timothy Thornhill, Capt John Webster, Capt Laurence Hallsted and Mr John Horne of Barbados.6

16 July 1660. Mary Herauld, wife of Nicholas Herauld, citizen and merchant tailor of London, and relict of Thomas Thornhill, citizen and fishmonger of Lonodn deceased, deposes that her son John Thornhill of Barbados, merchant, was born in Botolph lane in the parish of St. Botolph, Listtle Eastcheap, London, on 1 Mar 1623[/4].77

As noted above, his monument at St. Thomas includes the names of two brothers, John and Isaac.8

He is shown in various lists as a prominent man among the early planters of Barbados:
With 500 acres, he was listed as one of "…ye most Eminent Planters in Barbados in 1673.9
20 Dec 1679, he was shown in the Parish of St. James with 7 servants, 268 acres, and 150 negros.10
6 Jan 1679/80, he is shown as the commander of a Regiment of Foot11 and had 655 men under his command.12
He was also a member of Major John Farmer's Troop of Horse in the Leward Regiment Commanded by the Hon. Col. Symon Lambart, deceased, 5 Jan 1679[/80].13
Timothy left a will dated 7 June 1681, and proved 10 August. In it he asked or named:
to be buried at the St. Thomas church near the graves of his two deceased wives, both called Susanna Thornhill;
eldest daughter Ann Thornhill, unmarried, to turn 18 on 4 May 1681;
youngest daughter Judith to turn 18 on 29 Mar 1686;
son Henry to turn 21 on 26 Feb 1689[/90];
youngest son Thomas to turn 21 on 31 Mar 1691;
grandchildren Susanna, Sarah, Elizabeth, John, Ann, and Mary Strode, children of his son in law John Strode and his deceased daughter Mary;
son in law John Lord and daughter Mary lord his wife;
son Capt Richard Salter and daughter Elizabeth Salter, his wife;
eldest son Timothy Thornhill, executor;
sons in law John Strode, Capt. John Samson, and Richard Salter, trustees for the four children;
brother, Major Hawesworth;
Charles Legard minister of St. James;
Honorable John Reid, Esq. and daughter Agnes Reid
-s- Tim: Thornhill
witnesses: Thomas Futter, Phillip Morgan, John Dubey.14

Family 1

Susannah (…) d. bef. 1663
Children
  • Mary Thornhill15 b. 22 Dec 1646, d. bef. 1681
  • Sir Timothy Thornhill, Bnt.2 b. 1650, d. Apr 1693
  • Susanna Thornhill15 b. 7 Nov 1650
  • Elizabeth Thornhill15 b. say 1652

Family 2

Susannah (…) d. bef. 1681
Children
  • Ann Thornhill2 b. 4 May 1664, d. 8 Jan 1733/34
  • Judith Thornhill15 b. 29 Mar 1668
  • Henry Thornhill+15 b. 26 Feb 1668/69, d. bef. 25 Aug 1694
  • Lt Col Thomas Thornhill15 b. 31 Mar 1670, d. bef. 22 Sep 1698
This person was last edited on29 Mar 2023

Citations

  1. [S1330] Estimated from approximate date of marriage (first child born in 1646).
  2. [S829] "Thornhill of Barbados," Genealogies of Barbados Families From Caribbeana and The Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, James C. Brandow, editor (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1983, 515-526, at 515-526; Originally published, The Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society IX (1942): 90-101, further cited as "Thornhill of Barbados."
  3. [S416] Vere Langford Oliver, The Monumental Inscriptions in the Churches and Churchyards of the Island of Barbados, British West Indies (1915; reprint, San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1989), 176:1239, further cited as Oliver, Barbados Inscriptions.
  4. [S2639] William B. Trask, "Abstracts of the Earliest Wills on Record, or on the Files in the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 2-48 (1848-1894), at 31:176, further cited as Trask, "Abstracts of the Earliest Wills in Suffolk."
  5. [S1492] Peter Wilson Coldham, The Complete Book of Emigrants: 1607-1660: A Comprehensive Listing Compiled from English Public Records of Those Who Took Ship to the Americas for Political, Religious, and Economic Reasons; of Those Who Were Deported for Vagrancy, Roguery, or Non-Conformity; and of Those Who Were Sold to Labour in the New Colonies (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1987), 280, further cited as Coldham, Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1660.
  6. [S1492] Coldham, Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1660, 410.
  7. [S1492] Coldham, Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1660, 463.
  8. [S416] Oliver, Barbados Inscriptions, 176.
  9. [S2615] James C. Brandow, editor, Omitted Chapters From Hotten's Original Lists of Persons of Quality…and Others who Went From Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700 (1982; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 2001), 215, further cited as Brandow, Omitted Chapters.
  10. [S1298] John Camden Hotten, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality; Emigrants; Religious Exiles; Political Rebels; Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years; Apprentices; Children Stolen; Maidens Pressed; and Others Who Went From Great Britain to the American Plantations 1600-1700: With Their Ages, the Localities Where They Formerly Lived in the Mother Country, the Names of the Ships in Which They Embarked, and Other Interesting Particulars (1874; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1983), 506, further cited as Hotten, Original Lists of Persons of Quality.
  11. [S2615] Brandow, Omitted Chapters, 146.
  12. [S2615] Brandow, Omitted Chapters, 213.
  13. [S2615] Brandow, Omitted Chapters, 199.
  14. [S410] Joanne McRee Sanders, compiler, Barbados Records: Wills and Administrations (3 vols., Houston, Texas: Sanders Historical Publications, 1979-1981), 2:344-345, further cited as Sanders, Barbados Wills.
  15. [S410] Sanders, Barbados Wills, 2:344.