William Dawtrey of Petworth, Sussex (Born 1624)

9^th Great Grandfather – FFFMFFMFMFF¹

Thomas Dawtrey’s father was William Dawtrey of Petworth.

William Dawtrey was born in December 1624 to Henry Dawtrey and Anne (nee Dunne) Dawtrey. He was baptised in Petworth Sussex on 1^st January 1624/5². His mother, Anne died within 2 months of his birth and was buried on 25^th February 1624/5.³

While there was a history of Dawtrey boys being educated at Oxford University, there is no record of William’s education. His older brother, Henry did attend Oxford⁴, as did his father.

On 25^th April 1650 William married Amy Strutt at Little Horkesley in Essex⁵. It is not clear why the marriage took place at Little Horkesley. The register entry clearly states that William was from Petworth in Sussex and Amy was from Hadley in Suffolk

William and Amy had 5 children, the first four children were all baptised at St Mary, Hadleigh the local church of Amy’s parents, so she likely went to stay with her parents when she was due to deliver her children. This was not an unusual practice in the landed gentry during the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

First was Anne, baptised on 3^rd November 1651, followed fifteen months later by my 8^th great grandfather, Thomas on 7^th February 1652/53⁶. Amy was next, being baptised on 17^th February 1655/56 followed by Mary on 9^th July 1663⁷. The last child Jane was baptised at Harrow in Middlesex on 25^th March 1666[^12..2.8]

William Dawtrey died in 1679 and was buried in the family grave in the chancel of Petworth parish church on 4^th November 1679⁸. In his will⁹ he gives most of his Estate to his only son Thomas, with legacies to his unmarried daughters Mary and Jane, and small tokens to his wife Amy and his older daughters Amy and Anne who were married. His wife Amy survived him and died in 1713. She was also buried at Petworth on 2^nd September 1713¹⁰

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