So here we are on very the day of the Inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, who, as we know, was Vice President to Barack Obama. Having just finished writing about the third of the three Wilton brothers, Henry, Richard (my 3rd great-grandfather) and Joseph, last night I decided to research the area where their ancestors had come from.
What's the link? Apparently, both Barack Obama and I can claim links back to the same two villages in Cambridgeshire; Great Shelford and Stapleford.
The Blossoms had lived at
Great Shelford, then possibly in Little Shelford, and moved to Stapleford, probably about 1582. My Wilton ancestors may have been there at the same time. A baptism record from 1695 shows we were in the village of Stapleford then and later ones were in Great Shelford.
The earliest records I can find for my ancestors [so far], are for the baptisms of the children of Henry Wilton & Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) - that's 10 generations: they were my 7th great-grandparents - in Stapleford:
- Sarah Wilton bap. 14 Jul 1695 (presume died in infancy)
- Martha Wilton bap. 27 Dec 1696
- Sarah Wilton bap. 14 Apr 1700
- Henry Wilton bap. 12 Apr 1702
- Richard Wilton bap. 7 Oct 1705
Elizabeth Wilton died and was buried on 15 Oct 1705. (I think we can guess the cause.) Henry does not appear to remarry and there are no other children listed born to a Henry in that period with a different mother. Henry Wilton Snr died and was buried on 30 Jun 1726, in Stapleford, Cambridgeshire.