William HARRIS^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]}

1505 - 1556  (51 years)

• Name	William HARRIS  [8]
  Birth	1505	Prittlewell, Southminister, County Of Essex Squire, England   [2, 8, 9]
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	[10]
  	High Sheriff of Essex
  Reference Number	99571
  _FSFTID	G1PR-WFV
  _FSLINK	https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G1PR-WFV
  _UID	F1D8D34130DF40C98683FF80ACAF677EBD3D
  Death	16 Sep 1556	Southminister, County Of Essex Squire, England.   [2, 8, 9]
  Burial	Saint Leonard's Church, Southminster, England   [8]
  Person ID	I5123	Carney Wehofer July 2025
  Last Modified	17 Dec 2024

  
  

  Father	Arthur HARRIS, Of Prittwell,   b. Abt 1475, Prittlewell, Rochford, Essex, England d. Aft 1537, France (Age ~ 63 years)
  Mother	Catherine DePercy PIERCE,   b. Abt 1525, Pearce Hall, Yorkshire, England d. 22 Aug 1572 (Age ~ 47 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1549	France
  Family ID	F2598	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Johanna "Joane" SMYTHE,   b. Abt 1501, Bocking, Essex, England d. Abt 1527, England (Age ~ 26 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1515	Southminister, County Of Essex Squire, England.   [8, 11]
  	Reference Number:137208 [8]
  Children	1. Rowland HARRIS,   b. Abt 1516, Essex County, England d. Aft 1567, France (Age ~ 52 years)   2. William HARRIS, Jr.,   b. Abt 1518, Essex, Essex County, New York d. 1559, Essex, Essex County, New York (Age ~ 41 years)   3. George HARRIS,   b. Abt 1520, Essex, Essex County, New York d. 1558, England (Age ~ 38 years)   4. Susanna HARRIS,   b. Abt 1522, Essex, Essex County, New York d. Yes, date unknown   5. Felice HARRIS,   b. Abt 1524, Essex County, England d. Yes, date unknown   6. Vincent HARRIS,   b. Abt 1526, Essex County, England d. 18 Nov 1574, Maldon, Essex, England (Age ~ 48 years)   7. Richard HARRIS,   b. Abt 1528   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F2501	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2016

  
  

  Family 2	Johanna COOKE,   b. 1500, Bocking, Essex, England d. Abt 1531, Essex County, England (Age 31 years)
  Marriage	1525	, Southminster, Essex, England   [8, 12]
  	Reference Number:112154 [8]
  Children	1. Arthur HARRIS,   b. 24 Oct 1530, Woodham Mortimer, Essex, England d. 30 Jun 1597, Woodham, Mortimer, Essex, England (Age 66 years)
  Family ID	F2597	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2016

  
  

  Family 3	Anne RUTTER,   b. Abt 1524, Essex County, England d. Aft 1556, Essex County, England (Age ~ 33 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1536	France   [2, 8]
  Children	1. Christopher HARRIS,   b. 1538, Shellow Bowells, Willingale Doe, Essex County, England d. 26 Dec 1571, Margaretting, Essex, England (Age 33 years)   2. Edmond HARRIS,   b. Abt 1539, Shellow Bowells, Willingale Doe, Essex County, England d. 1539-1555 (Age ~ 16 years)   3. Edward HARRIS,   b. Aft 1541, Shellow Bowells, Willingale Doe, Essex County, England d. Aft 1621 (Age ~ 80 years)
  Family ID	F2502	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2016

  
  

• Notes

  To Noël J. Harris Robertson You definitely have the proof that William Harris of Southminster is the son of John Herrys of Prittlewell & not Arthur Harris who married Joan Percy. "Glenn Gohr" More About WILLIAM HARRIS, SIR: Aka (Facts Pg): Sir William of Prittlewell Occupation: Merchant in London Probablly never knighted. In his will he refers to himself as the Elder of Southminster parish in the County of Essex Squire and Neither does the courtindicate him either as Knight or Sir The main records we have to rely on for William Harris of Southminster are the Visitations of Essex 1552. Essentially that information tells us the basics about the first three generations. William Harris first married Joanna Smith, had son and heir William who married Jane Semer, and who likewise had a son named William. The Visitations of Essex 1558 go on to list all three wives, all thirteen of his children, as well as a number of his grandchildren. Since he was a prominent Essex official, there are other court records that substantiate the time period in which he lived. His will in 1556 confirms five of his sons, that his last wife was named Agnes (Rutter), and lists the properties he owned.The five surviving sons that were still living in 1556 were William and Vincent by the first marriage, Arthur by the second marriage, and Christopher and Edward by the third marriage. (A full copy of the will submitted by Noël Robertson can be found in the archives of Harris-Va on Rootsweb.) Even if the Visitations of Essex are inaccurate, we know that he did have those five sons, and he names them in that order in his will. The oldest son William actually does not receive a legacy from his father in the will. Wording in the will implies that the son William Harris had already been provided for and was well established in 1556. It is stated that he had already been assigned property that was not named in the will. We do not know the location of that property. Although there are few actual parish records for the early 1500s, we can estimate by various sources that William Harris married his first wife Johanna Smith around 1515. With thirteen children, if William Harris averaged one child every two years over all three wives, that would put the last child being born in 1541. We already know from the 1556 will that Christopher and Edward Harris were still underage in 1556 confirming that Edward, the last son, was probably not born until around 1540-1545. If William, the first son, was born shortly after the 1515 marriage, then he was just coming of age, marrying, and having his first son William in that same 1540-1545 time period. That means William Harris of Southminster had a son Edward and a grandson William who were approximately the same age. [8]

  
  

• Sources

  [S437] Pedigree Resource File CD 2, ((Salt Lake City, UT: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., 1999)). [S103] http://genweb.net/~wombats, (http://genweb.net/~wombats). [S629] Tami Bunch, Tami Bunch. [S429] GEDCOM File : ~AT6343.ged. [S414] 269747. [S453] 789167. [S434] 2154700. [S22] Myrlene Jack. [S264] Captain John Bunch.ged. [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 24 Nov 2024), entry for William HARRIS, person ID LZ89-YH7. (Reliability: 3). [S102] Phil Harris posts many interesting and well thought out theories on Harris-Va Rootsweb list. He cautoins that all is not proven and requires anyone using hisdata to verify with their own research., (Phil Harris posts many interesting and well thought out theories on Harris-Va Rootsweb list. He cautoins that all is not proven and requires anyone using hisdata to verify with their own research.). [S104] http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/3778/ancestor.html, (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/3778/ancestor.html).