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Person Info

• Name: John JENNEY
• Sex: M
• Birth: Abt 1570 ^b


Parents:

• Father:
  
• Christopher JENNEY Birth: Abt 1525 Death: Abt 19 Jul 1570
Mother:

• Avis HUMBERSTONE Death: Oct 1597 in London

Family:
Children:

1. John JENNEY Birth: Before 1589 in Norwich, England Death: Abt 1644 in Plymouth, Massachusetts

Bibliography

Sources for birth and parent Information

date:

1570 or 1571, likely posthumous [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p26],

parents:

[Ref: Hovius JENNEY p26]

___ JENNEY & Avis ___ [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p7]

Sources with Information about marriage to unknown

child:

[Ref: Hovius JENNEY p9]

Research Notes:
lived in the Lakenham area of Norwich, operated a mill [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p11]

1581: a combined muster roll and view of arms was taken in the city. The heading is dated 23 June 1581. Under the section dealing with Lakenham, we find the following entry: "Cn. John Jenne myller a Bille [shaft with hooked cutting edge and spike at end] and Sallet [light helmet]" {Norwich View of Arms & Muster List, 1581, NRO Case 13a/4. p. 115, sub Lakenham, NRO microfilm MF/X29}. This refers to the arms in possession of the individual named. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p8]

1588: in Lakenham the list shows that John Jenney was taxed on 5 pounds in goods, the precise amount that Avis Jenney, who previously had no taxable goods, inherited from Francis Southwell {Subsidy List, 1588, NRO Case 13a15, p 55 NRO microfilm MF/X29}. That same year John Jenney is listed in an assessment of arms made on 20 July 1588 as the owner of a calyver [light musket] {View of Arms., 1588, NRO Case 13a5, p. 110, NRO microfilm MF/X29}. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p8]

20 Jul 1588: listed in an assessment of arms as the owner of a calyver (light musket) [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p9]

September 1589/90: John Jenney is listed as the city's constable for Lakenham, apparently a substitute for someone else unable to complete his appointment {Norwich (Norfolk) Court of Quarter Sessions, FHL microfilm 1911841}. He did not appear in this capacity in any of the surviving previous lists, a fact which may suggest that he was not yet old enough to have held the post; nor does he appear as such in later years. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p9]

1591: John appears again armed with a calyver {View of Arms, 1591, NRO Case 13a/6, pp. 38, 48b, NRO microfilm MF/X29} [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p9]

17 July 1591, John Jenney paid tax on 100s. in land, the precise amount once owned by Avis Jenney {Subsidy List, 1588, NRO Case 13a/6, p.30, NRO microfilm MF/X29}. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p9]

17 July 1591, John Jenney paid tax on 100s. in land, the precise amount once owned by Avis Jenney {Subsidy List, 1588, NRO Case 13a/6, p.30, NRO microfilm MF/X29}. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p9]

29 Mar 1592: appeared before the Norwich Court of Quarter Sessions. He posted #10 in recognizances when appearing before the court on an unspecified matter and was bound to appear at the next session. In fact he did not appear at the session held on 11 July 1592 but did on 25 September of that year, when it is recorded that "Johanes Jenny de Lakenham myler" appeared to ask that his indictment be quashed {Norwich (Norfolk) Court of Quarter Sessions Minute Books 1571-1600, FHL microfilm 1911841}. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p9]

25 Sep 1592: appeared at Norwich Court and asked that his indictment be quashed. No mention of him in subsequent Quarter Sessions records [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p9]

1 February 159[4/]5 (and in other returns from 1595): Jenney is listed again with one corslet on the arms list {View of Arms, 1588, NRO Case 13a/5, p. NRO microfilm MF/X29}, and he also appears on a separate list of able-bodied men aged 16 to 60 taken on 10 August of that year {List of Able-bodied men, 1595, NRO Case 13a/7, p. 36, NRO microfilm MF/X29}. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p10]

June 1595: he presented a corslet {View of Arms, 1595, NRO Case 13a/6, p. 81, NRO microfilm MF/X29}, but by the following year his financial situation seemed to have suffered a serious setback: his taxable land was only valued at 20s. that year {Subsidy List. NRO Case 13a/8, p. 49v, NRO microfilm MF/X29}. This drop in his taxable worth between 1591 and 1596 may have been influenced by local events in Norwich. "In 1593, there happened so great a drought that many cattle perished for want of water; but in the year following, from the 21st of June to the end of July, it scarcely ceased raining day or night. In 1595, provisions were so scarce that wheat sold at twenty shillings a comb, rye at fifteen shillings, barley at ten shillings ? and cheese at 4d. a pound, prices at these times very extravagant" {Mostyn John Armstrong, "History and Antiquities of the County of Norfolk," 10 vols. [Norwich: J. Crouse for M. Booth, 1781], 1:244}. Hard times in Norwich, then, and John most likely felt the pinch as well; surely a drought cannot have favored the smooth operation of a mill. John's fortunes had not recovered from this apparent downturn by the time the next surviving subsidies were taken in January {Subsidy List, 1599, NRO Case 13a/3, p. 78, NRO microfilm MF/X29} and November 1599 {Subsidy List, 1599, NRO Case 13a/8, p. 156, NRO microfilm MF/X29}; both times he was taxed on 20s. worth of land. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p10]

10 Aug 1595: on a list of able-bodied men aged 16 to 60 [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p10]

1596: apparently suffered a financial setback; his taxable land was only valued at 20s that year [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p10]

Jan 1599: taxed on 20s worth of land [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p10]

Oct 1598 and Oct 1599: Two other subsidies place John in Lakenham. These two subsidies, were granted to the crown by Parliament in late 1597, to be assessed annually in October and paid by the following month of February. On each of the lists taken, in October 1598 and in October 1599, John Jenney is taxed on 20s. worth of land {Subsidy lists, TNA, E 179/152/497 and E 179/153/511}. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p10]

Oct 1599: appears on a subsidy list in Lakenham; taxed on 20s worth of land [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p10]

10 November 1599: a subsidy taken for the purpose of fortifying the defences of Great Yarmouth, is the last documented reference to John Jenney in the Lakenham area of Norwich. He was not listed on the next surviving view of arms taken at Lakenharn on 18 June 1602 {View of Arms, 1602, NRO Case 13a/12, p. 34b, NRO microfilm MF/X29}. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p11]

no appearance in any record of Lakenham after 1599 [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p11]

In summary, the documents mentioned so far indicate that a man named John Jenney, probably the son of a Mrs. Avis Jenney, lived in the Lakenham area of Norwich, where he operated a mill until around 1600. This information clearly suggests a connection with John Jenney who arrived in Leiden after 1600, stated that he was from Norwich, and settled later in Plymouth, where he named his farm Lakenham and operated a mill. I believe that the first solid proof of the Norwich origins of John Jenney of Plymouth has now been found. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p11]

There is a possibility that John Jenney of Lakenham was in fact the father of John Jenney of Plymouth, rather than having been the same man; father and son having presumably left Norwich together, and only the son traveling to North America. I base this possibility on the ages implied by the 1588 list of able-bodied men for Lakenham, and the similar list compiled in Plymouth in 1643, assuming that neither list is grossly erroneous; but it should be noted that on the original Plymouth list, John's name has been crossed off, with no reason for this having been specified. The 1581 assessment of arms and list of able-bodied men is not definitive as a tool for determining the possible birth date of John of Lakenham, because it merges three lists having uncertain dates, and it is not clear which date pertains to John. The first dated list specifically of able-bodied men is from 1588, which is also when John first appears as a constable in Lakenham. In addition, a man born in 1570 could well have had a son born near 1589 or a few years after, the likely period of birth for John of Plymouth, based on his 1614 marriage to Sarah Carey; and there would be no baptismal record, or a marriage record for the parents, given the lack of any sacramental records from Lakenham between 1578 and 1601. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p11]

After searching through dozens of parish record books, wills and civil records, I believe that a promising circumstantial case can be made eventually linking John Jenney of Norwich to the main branch of the family, the Jenneys of Knodishall in Suffolk. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p12]

So, was John Jenney, the miller of Lakenham, a posthumous son of Christopher Jenney of Dunwich, and by extension a great-grandson of the formidable Sir Edmund Jenney, Sheriff of Suffolk? Given the spotty record-keeping at Lakenham, the loss of most Dunwich registers to the sea, and the partial or total destruction of relevant parish records in other known Jenney home places such as East Walton and East Dereham, direct evidence of John's birth may never be found. At the moment, a circumstantial case can be made based on two sets of facts. Firstly, Christopher Jenney married the widow Avis (Homberston) Crathorne in 1568 and died in 1570, leaving her exposed financially, though clearly believing that her presenting him with an heir was still a biological possibility; and little of his estate was in fact specifically left to her, save a house and some lands in an unnamed location. His property was occupied by his testamentary executor in 1573, and his widow petitioned for administration of the remainder of the estate at Norwich Consistory Court, which record places her in Norwich on 18 June 1574 {when Norwich Consistory Court granted letters of administration of Christopher's estate to his relict Avis (will of Christopher Jenney, Norfolk Record Office, Norwich Consistory Court NCC, Will Register Fairechilde, 275)}. Secondly, less than two years later a Mrs. Avis Jenney who had not previously appeared in Lakenham records is found in the records of that area of Norwich, and she appears to have had a son named John, who can first be reliably shown to be of age by a 1588 list of able-bodied men, in which case he may have been born in 1570/71. [Ref: Hovius JENNEY p26]



Pedigree of John JENNEY
                                                       /-----Edmond JENNEY
                                              /-----William JENNEY
                                     /-----John JENNEY
                                    |         \-----Maud
                            /-----Sir William JENNEY
                           |        |         /-----John BOKILL
                           |         \-----Maud BOKILL
                           |                 |         /-----John LEYSTON
                           |                  \-----Jane LEYSTON
                           |                          |         /-----William GERARD
                           |                           \-----Anne GERARD
                   /-----Sir Edmund JENNEY
                  |        |         /-----Thomas CAWSE
                  |         \-----Elizabeth CAWSE
          /-----John JENNEY
         |        |                                             /-----William BOYS
         |        |                                    /-----John BOYS
         |        |                           /-----Roger BOYS
         |        |                          |        |         /-----Bertram SANDEBY
         |        |                          |         \-----Eustace SANDEBY
         |        |                  /-----Sir Roger BOYS
         |        |                 |        |         /-----Robert JENNYNGHAM Alias HONYNG
         |        |                 |         \-----Margaret JENNYNGHAM
         |        |         /-----Robert BOYS
         |        |        |        |                  /-----Edmond ILLEY
         |        |        |        |         /-----Sir Robert ILLEY
         |        |        |        |        |        |         /-----Sir John PLOMSTEAD
         |        |        |        |        |         \-----Alice PLOMSTEAD
         |        |        |         \-----Sibyl ILLEY
         |         \-----Katherine BOYS
         |                 |                                    /-----John WYCHINGHAM
         |                 |                           /-----Sir William WYCHINGHAM
         |                 |                  /-----Nicholas WYCHINGHAM
         |                 |                 |        |         /-----Sir John De BREUSE
         |                 |                 |         \-----Margaret BREWES
         |                 |                 |                  \-----Eve UFFORD
         |                 |         /-----Edward WYCHINGHAM
         |                 |        |         \-----Joan De ANTINGHAM
         |                  \-----Jane WYCHINGHAM
         |                          |         /-----Sir John FASTOLFE
         |                           \-----Alice FASTOLFE
 /-----Christopher JENNEY
|         \-----Anne THIRKILL
John JENNEY
|                           /-----John HUMBERSTONE
|                  /-----John HUMBERSTONE
|                 |         \-----(Unk) TURPIN
|         /-----John HUMBERSTONE
|        |         \-----Ellen BROWNE
 \-----Avis HUMBERSTONE
         |         /-----Alban HEWSE
          \-----Ceciley HEWSE



Descendants of John JENNEY

2nd generation


3rd generation


4th generation


5th generation