Friday, July 26, 2013

Mystery #18: Will the real Phillip Babb please stand up!



Phillip Babb is one of my early ancestors in the New World. He emigrated from England before 1652. In that year, he was made a freeman in Massachusetts. (Massachusetts Applications of Freemen, 1630-91) 

It is reported that he later moved to York, Maine. (Maine Pioneers, 1623-60)

He then settled on the island Appledore, Isles of Shoals, located at the border between Maine and New Hampshire. My ancestor Sampson was apparently born there in 1668.

A problem arises when most of the researchers of this family decided that the Phillip Babb, son of Phillip and Mary, baptized in Stepney on 6 April 1634 was the Phillip that emigrated to the Colonies.
(London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Dunstan and All Saints, Register of baptisms, Sep 1608 - Jan 1637/8, P93/DUN, Item 256.) 

This in itself should have raised some concern. That Phillip would have been 18 years old in 1652. Freedom was not granted until a man was at least 21 years old.

The other, more serious problem with choosing this individual is that Phillip, the son of Phillip and Mary, died and was buried on 15 November 1640. (London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Dunstan and All Saints, Register of burials, Jun 1622 - Nov 1644, P93/DUN, Item 277.)

So, where did our Phillip Babb come from? Who were his parents? Hopefully, further research will locate a baptismal record for this "mystery man.".