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Buildings in Billingshurst are many times from the 1500's such as the
Tavern whose name is The King's Arms. Stane Street, which passes through
the center of the town, is also known as London Road.
Eight miles east of Billingshurst is Cowfold. The church there (St
Peter's) is nestled among businesses and private homes. It is accessible
by means of a "Public Footpath". You cannot drive directly to
the church. This church also has a graveyard surrounding it with
inscriptions worn badly.
John Freeman "paterfamilias", according to the Parish
Records of St Mary's of Pulborough, had two sons: Edmund Freeman and
William Freeman and a two daughters Harte and Jone (Joan). Researcher
Glenna F McLaughlin informs me she has discovered two additional sons:
Thomas and Christopher and a daughter, Bennet. We estimate John
Freeman's birthdate to be in 1530, or about 64 years before the known
birthdate of his grandson, Edmund Freeman, the immigrant. The latter
date was 1594 according to several sources. John's burial took place 99
years later on May 2, 1629. He outlived his son Edmund. The burial
ceremony took place in St Mary's. We do not know who he married, nor
when or where.
John Freeman's son, Edmund, was born approximately 1560. He married
Alice Coles of Amberly, co. Sussex on January 1, 1591-2 in Pulborough,
and they had seven children, all of whom were baptized at St Mary's
according to Church records.
Primary sources, such as the aforementioned Parish Records of St
Mary's of Pulborough; Vital Records of Plymouth Colony; and a book
titled "Sandwich, A Cape Cod Town" by Russell A Lovell provide
significant insights into the life of Edmund Freeman, the immigrant,
both in his native Sussex County, England, and in Plymouth Colony.
His father, Edmund Freeman, Seniour, was buried in Pulborough in
1623/4, and the inheritance received by son Edmund was significant, a
value of 800 pounds.
The Pilgrims had been in America since 1620, and were becoming
established enough that their life was attracting significant attention
in England. But Edmund Freeman, born in 1594, and baptized in 1596, did
not migrate to the New World until 1635. What prompted him to finally
make the migration in 1635?
1. He had married Bennett Hodsoll (born ca 1598) on June 16, 1617 at
St Peter's Church in Cowfold. She was from Cowfold. They had children:
Alice, born 1618; Edmund Jr, born 1620; Elizabeth, born 1623; and John
(my ancestor), born 1627, all of whom sailed across the Atlantic in July
1635 on the Abigail, arriving in Saugus, Massachusetts, now called Lynn,
in October 1635.
2. His first wife, Bennett had died and been buried in Pulborough on
April 12, 1630. His daughter Bennett, baptized in 1621, had died on or
before January 13, 1634; and his son Nathaniel, baptized in 1629, had
died 12 days later.
3. Edmund Freeman married a second time to Elizabeth Rayment in
neighboring Shipley on August 10, 1632.
4. These conditions, plus the inheritance received in
January 1623-4, had a bearing on his decision to migrate.
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