Katherine More

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LHQ1-PN1
• Initiatory (LDS): 7 Jun 1927, SLAKE

Katherine married Samuel More on 4 Feb 1610 in Shipton, Shropshire, England. Samuel (son of Jasper More and Agnes Anne Norwood) was born in 1585. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: 27GX-MJJ
• Initiatory (LDS): 27 Apr 1939, MANTI

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: MHX4-2XR

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): COMPLETED, SLAKE
• FamilySearch ID: LB5Q-Y42

Notes:

Mayflower - Pilgrim

Richard More (1614—c.1694/1696) was born in Corvedale, Shropshire, Engla n d and was baptised at St. James parish church in Shipton, Shropshire o n 1 3 November 1614. Richard and his three siblings were at the center o f a m ystery in early 17th century England that caused early genealogist s to wo nder why the More children's father, believing him to be Samuel M ore, wou ld send his very young children away to the New World on the May flower i n the care of others. It was in 1959, that the mystery was expla ined. Jas per More, a descendant of Samuel More prompted by his genealogi st friend , Sir Anthony Wagner, searched and found in his attic a 1622 do cument, wh ich detailed the legal disputes between Katherine More and Sam uel More an d what actually happened to the More children. It is clear fr om these eve nts that Samuel did not believe the children to be his offsp ring.To rid h imself of the children, he arranged for them to be sent t o the Colony o f Virginia. Due to bad weather, the Mayflower finally anch ored in Cape Co d Harbor in November 1620 where one of the More childre n died soon after ; another died in early December and yet another died l ater in the firs t winter. Only Richard survived, and even thrived, in th e perilous enviro nment of early colonial America, going on to lead a ver y full life.
Richard More was a passenger on the MAYFLOWER. At the time he was six ye a rs old. In 1616, Samuel More accused his wife of adultery and, at the d ir ection of his father, Richard, devised a plan to rid himself of Kather in e and the children. The adultery was supposedly committed with Jacob B lak eway, a young man near in age to Katherine who lived close by and who se f amily had been More tenants for several generations. In 1608, Jaco b Blake way and his father Edward, a yeoman, had renewed a lease on a par cel of l and owned by Katherine More's father, Jasper More of Larden Hall . The man or of Larden Hall was about half a mile from Brockton where th e Blakewa y family lived. By a deed dated 20 April 1616, Samuel cut the e ntail on t he Larden estate to prevent any of the children from inheritin g. During t he long court battle, Samuel would deny that he was the fathe r of the chi ldren borne by his wife, Katherine, and stated them to be ch ildren of th e adulterous relationship. Katherine did not deny her relati onship with J acob Blakeway, stating there was a former betrothal contrac t with him, an d therefore he was her true husband. This would have mad e her marriage t o Samuel invalid. Samuel quotes her words in his declara tion, "though sh e could not sufficiently prove by witnesses yet it was a ll one before go d as she sayed". At that time any of the usual witnesse s would likely hav e been dead. David Lindsey has written a book about hi m entitled THE MAYF LOWER BASTARD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_More_%28Mayflower_passenger%29

The story of the four More children, Ellen, Jasper, Richard, and Mary , i s a tragic one. They were all baptized in the parish of Shipton, Shro pshi re, England to Samuel and Katherine (More) More, cousins from a weal thy a nd prominent family that had had their marriage prearranged. It wa s no t a happy marriage, and Katherine had a longstanding but secret extr amari tal affair with a neighbor by the name of Jacob Blakeway. At some p oint , husband Samuel More began to notice a resemblance between "his" ch ildre n, and Jacob Blakeway whom he had come to suspect was with his wife . Whe n he realized his four children were not actually "his", but were b astard s, he and his wife engaged in a bitter divorce and Samuel ended u p gettin g custody of the children he claimed were not his. He promptly p aid for t hem to be shipped off to America with a band of "honest and rel igious" Se paratists.

The four children, aged 4 to 8 years old, were placed into the househol d s of some of the most prominent Pilgrims. Richard and Mary More were pl ac ed with Elder William Brewster. Jasper was placed with Governor John C arv er. And Ellen was placed with Edward Winslow.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: LZ42-JYG