Andrew Bird, Brazier, of Philadelphia and New England

ANDREW BIRD, BRAZIER, OF PHILADELPHIA AND ENGLAND Sherry L. Johnson* A ndrew Bird, a brazier, first appeared in Philadelphia records in 1702. He purchased a city lot in 1704. He resided in Philadelphia probably less than twenty years. The will of his widow Ann Bird names eight children, for whom only a few records have been found in America. The surname is common. It was his occupation, in brass-working, a restricted colonial trade, that eventually led to his origins in England. THE BIRD FAMILY IN PHILADELPHIA Andrew Bird was on the grand jury convened at Philadelphia on 26 7th month [September] 1702.1 In 1703 he opened an account with William Trent, a wealthy local merchant.2 He purchased property on High Street in Philadelphia in 1704, which he mortgaged in 1706 and sold in 1711. The transactions describe him as a brasier/brazier. 20 March 1704. Joseph Taylor of the City of Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania cordwainer conveyed unto Andrew Bird of the City of Philadelphia brasier a lot in Philadelphia containing in breadth twenty four feet and in length sixty two foot, bounded eastward by Randall Janney, southward by High St., westward by Ralph Jackson, and northward by Henry Prestone, paying unto the said Joseph Taylor “the yearly rent or sum of four pounds currant silver money of Pennsylvania on two of the most usual days of payment in the year,” 25 March and 29 September.3 28 October 1706. Andrew Bird of the city of Philadelphia brazier sold to George Smith of Burlington, Western division of New Jersey, yeoman for £100 * 2414 Rutherford, Irving, TX 75062. The author works in the Genealogy Section of the Dallas Public Library. She is a descendant of Andrew Bird of Berks County and Virginia, who is not firmly connected to the brasier Andrew or any other Birds. 1 “Notes and Queries,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 22(1898): 508. 2 Charles Henry Browning, “Philadelphia Business Directory of 1703,” The American Historical Register 4(1895):725—32. In the abstracts from the ledger Judge William Trent used in his mercantile transactions in Philadelphia in 1703, Andrew Bird’s name appeared on the list of account holders. 3 Philadelphia Deeds D39:454—56 (FHL #21,925). This conveyance is dated 1744, but is in the “fourth year of the Reign of Queen Anne,” i.e., 1704; it was not recorded until 2 April 1794. This transaction, with correct year, is also in the chain of title in the 1711 indenture (note 6). Editor’s note: In England, rents and other payments were typically made on one of the four quarter days: Lady Day (March 25), Midsummer Day (June 24), Michaelmas (September 29), and Christmas Day (December 25), a practice continued in the American colonies. 198 Review copy 12 June, 2008 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 45 (2008) 2008 Andrew Bird, Brazier, of Philadelphia and England 199 unless he repay £124, the lot he had purchased 20 March 1704 from Joseph Taylor, on which he had “since erected a brick messuage or tenement.” [signed] Andrew Bird’s mark ( overlaid with ¨).4 16 May 1709. George Smith assigned all his right, title, and interest in the property to Josiah Appleton.5 15 September 1710. Joseph Taylor of Philadelphia cordwainer sold to Jacob Kolluck of Sussex County, Delaware, cooper for £195 all the yearly rents for several parcels of land (including the parcel leased to Andrew Bird in 1704). [This is a mortgage, which Kolluck acknowledged as paid 19 July 1716.] 6 20 January 1711. Andrew Bird of Philadelphia brasier and Ann his wife and Josiah Appleton of the said city cooper and Mary his wife (“the said mortgage money not yet paid,” which gave Appleton an interest in the property) conveyed the lot and brick dwelling to Pentecost Teague for two hundred and fifty pounds lawful money of America, “bounded eastward by Randal Janney (now Thomas Coats), southward into the high street, westward with Ralph Jackson’s house, and northward with the ground late of Henry Preston, but now of Pentecost Teague.”7 A study of the neighbors’ deeds shows that Andrew Bird’s was the second lot from the northeast corner of High and Second Streets. High Street, later renamed Market Street, was the main east-west street laid out through Philadelphia and was of double the normal street width. In the middle of High Street the early city fathers built the first courthouse and the jail, the latter standing directly in front of Andrew Bird’s home and shop. The shambles, as the marketplace was called, was attached to the end of the jail and ran eastward toward the wharf on the Delaware River. On his lot Bird built a brick dwelling and probably also a workshop. Its location along the main street of town and near the market was no doubt a prime location for his brass business. Pentecost Teague, a wealthy Quaker merchant, was consolidating a larger tract of land, so it is possible that the family remained as renters, and Andrew kept his shop at its bustling High Street location. Andrew died before 12 September 1720, when Ann Bird of Philadelphia, widow, wrote her will. In it, she bequeathed [emphasis added] unto all my children to wit Andrew, George, John, Rachel, Elizabeth, Grace, Ann & Sarah all my Estate both real and personal whatsoever & wheresoever the same may be found in Great Brittain or elsewhere. 4 Andrew Bird to George Smith, originally recorded in B3:231; this is one of the lease-and-release-records transcribed in Exemplifications 8:328—31 (FHL #21,872, item 2). Editor’s note: Lease and release are a legal fiction, paired documents to establish lawful possession of land. Land ownership in fee simple was not normal in England; proprietaries often used lease and release as the mechanism for selling land. 5 Described in the chain of title in the 1711 transaction (note 7). 6 Joseph Taylor to Jacob Kolluck. Philadelphia Deeds E6:253—56 [stamped, crossed out} 209—12 [handwritten] (FHL #21,875). 7 Andrew Bird to Penticost Teague. Philadelphia Deeds D41:285—87 (FHL #21,926). Signed by Andrew Bird, Ann Bird, Josiah Appleton, and Mary Appleton. Review copy 12 June, 2008 200 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 45 She also mentioned her “grandaughter Mary King, daughter of my daughter Elizabeth.” The inventory, dated 13 8th month [October] 1721 is headed “Ann Bird Widow of Andrew Bird late of the City of Philadelphia Brazier dec’d.”8 Ann was buried from Christ Church in Philadelphia on 10 October 1721,9 but there was no burial record at Christ Church for Andrew Bird, although he had previously been a member. In early 1715, Christ Church in Philadelphia was plunged into a bitter controversy over their temporary minister Rev. Francis Phillips, who was accused of boasting of having sex with some of the leading women of the city, including the wife of William Trent, merchant and Anglican provincial councilor, and the daughter of John Moore, the collector of customs. This tumultuous controversy resulted in numerous letters being sent to the Bishop of London demanding Phillips’ removal from the church, and other letters, including one from Lt. Governor Charles Gookin, asserting Phillips’ innocence of the charges and urging that he be left in his position. Moore and Trent instigated the arrest of Phillips in the middle of the night, and he was dragged bare-legged to the jail. When the members of Christ Church arrived to find their church locked that Sunday morning and their minister in jail, two hundred to three hundred men and boys marched on the jail in High Street (in front of Andrew Bird’s home) demanding that the jailor release Rev. Phillips. In his own letter to the Bishop of London describing his mistreatment at the hands of these prominent laymen, Phillips included another letter bearing the signatures of many of his church’s members who supported his continued service at Christ Church, including Andrew Bird. Phillips was ordered by the Bishop of London to vacate Christ Church in October of 1715; some of his supporters also left the church.10 Whether Bird was one of them is unknown, but no later mention of him is found at Christ Church. Only a few additional records have been found for the children of Andrew and Ann in Philadelphia (see Genealogical Summary). BRASS-MAKING IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES Braziers and other workers of nonprecious metals faced special challenges in the New World before the mid-eighteenth century. At that time, 8 Philadelphia Wills D:207—8, #233, written 12 September 1720, probated 14 February 1721/2; executor daughter Elizabeth Bird [sic]; witnesses Joseph Shippen, William Ireson, and Joshua Lawrence; the document indicates it was signed with her mark, which was actually a badly written and incomplete signature Ann B (FHL #21,722). Andrew is not named as her husband in the will, but is identified in the heading of the inventory (below). Copies of the original will and unrecorded inventory are in the author’s possession (Philadelphia Register of Wills). 9 Christ Church, Philadelphia, Burials 1709—1785, #2714. 10 October 1721 burial of Ann Bird (certified transcript from Sue Wright at Christ Church, Philadelphia). 10 William Stevens Perry, Historical Collections Relating to the American Colonial Church (New York: AMS Press, 1969) 2:90—93. Review copy 12 June, 2008 2008 Andrew Bird, Brazier, of Philadelphia and England 201 the mercantile policy of Great Britain was to acquire raw materials from the colonies and sell the finished products back to the colonists. Most manufacturing was banned by law in the colonies in order to provide two major benefits to England: supporting industry at home and keeping the colonists under control. Most brass objects were imported. When mining operations began to develop, deposits of copper were often found in connection with silver-mining, which was subject to the laws of “Mynes & Mynerals” and “Royal Mines of Silver and Gold,” giving the prerogative of mining both ores only to the crown and thus restricting the availability of copper. Not until the middle of the eighteenth century did the mining and smelting of metals and the proliferation of craftsmen become increasingly common in the colonies, despite England’s efforts to control and eliminate such production.11 Further limiting opportunities for braziers in America was the imperfect understanding of the science of making brass in Great Britain during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The brass found in most colonial homes of the period was probably of European origin, the product of craftsmen in Europe, where techniques in brass-working were more advanced and were widely considered to produce items of superior quality. Andrew Bird and other early colonial braziers, most of them trained in England, would have used techniques that produced products considered less desirable by the colonists. It is likely that most of his work in Philadelphia involved retailing imported brass, repairing imported pieces, or creating new products from old or new imported pieces.12 There were only a few metalworkers in colonial America; in a list of early eighteenth-century coppersmiths and braziers in Philadelphia, an historian includes only Peacock Bigger and Peter Steel, but omits Andrew Bird. Caspar Wistar and James Winstanley of Philadelphia were the only two brass founders listed for the early eighteenth century.13 A skilled occupation is one of the best markers during the colonial period for linking records of two men of the same name. London was the likely place to search for Andrew Bird’s apprentice record as a brazier. 11 Henry J. Kauffman, Early American Copper, Tin and Brass (New York: Medill McBride Company, 1950) 89. 12 For more information on brassmaking, see Kauffman, Early American Copper (note 11) and “Brief Early History of Brass” by Vin Callcut. Innovation: The Online Magazine from the Copper Development Association. <www.copper.org/innovations/ 2000/01-brasses/history_brass.html>. 13 Henry J. Kauffman, Early American Copper, Tin and Brass (New York: Medill McBride Company, 1950) 108—10. The entire list for the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries included 216 persons who were identified in records as either coppersmith or brazier by trade. An even smaller number of men, eighty-eight, were listed as brass founders for this time period. Since Kauffman missed Andrew Bird, it is likely his counts are low, but indicative of the situation. James Winstanley brasier was admitted a freeman of the City of Philadelphia 27 May 1717 (“Persons Admitted as Freeman to the City of Philadelphia,” PGM 33[1983]:114). Caspar Wistar, among other skills, was well known as a maker of brass buttons. Review copy 12 June, 2008 202 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 45 BRASS-MAKING IN ENGLAND Brass is an alloy of two base metals, copper and zinc, to which a skilled brazier can give the appearance of gold. Brassmaking in England became established in the seventeenth century. The Thirty Years War in Europe (1618—1648) caused numerous skilled workers to cross the English Channel seeking refuge and economic stability. As that war was dying down on the Continent, before England’s brass industry could become stable, the English Civil War (1642—1651) began, and many of these workers left England, taking their skills and knowledge of brass-making with them.14 Braziers at times worked with copper, iron, tin, and pewter, as well as brass. Becoming a brazier began with an apprenticeship, usually of seven years, with a master brazier in a city. Due to various Royal monopolies, brass-working was concentrated in the City of London; families from a variety of locations in England sent their sons to London to learn the trade. A family often paid a substantial premium for their son to enter into a formal indenture, which would provide seven years technical training, some education, moral training, clothing, and room and board with the master’s family. In return, an apprentice was “faithfully his master to serve, his secrets to keep, his lawful commands gladly do, as well as refrain from the playing of cards, tables or other unlawful games.”15 During the apprenticeship, he could not marry. The secrecy of the craft was unusually rigidly adhered to in the case of the brazier’s apprentice. Most apprenticeships ended by age twenty-five and were followed by paid employment as journeymen. Few apprentices could anticipate ever becoming a master brazier. One of the responsibilities of the livery company was to control the number of apprentices, journeymen, and masters to assure there was enough work in the City for them all. Records of the Armourers and Brasiers Livery Company indicate that in 1663 there were twenty-three apprenticeships, in 1670 twenty-six, in 1680 twenty-eight, and in 1690 twenty-seven, seemingly small numbers considering the size of the City of London.16 The Birds entered the brass trade in the mid-1600s. The London Livery Company of Armourers and Brasiers has the following Bird records:17 27 January 1650/1. Robert Bird, son of Andrew, Gedling, Notts, yeoman; apprenticed to John Rivett (jnr.). 14 Rupert Gentle and Rachael Feild, English Domestic Brass, 1680—1810, and The History of Its Origins (New York: Dutton, 1975), 1—4. 15 Kauffman, Early American Copper (note 11), 26. See also Peter Earle, The Making of the English Middle Class: Business, Society and Family Life in London 1660— 1730 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989). 16 Peter Hornsby, Collecting Antique Copper and Brass (Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Moorland Publishing Company, 1989), 13. 17 Cliff Webb, Armourers and Brasiers’ Company (London: Society of Genealogists, 1998) 22:6, 8, 9, 21, 25, 26, 31, 35, 44, 48, 57, 58, 64. Review copy 12 June, 2008 2008 Andrew Bird, Brazier, of Philadelphia and England 203 21 July 1660. George Bird, son of William, Clifton, Notts, husbandman; apprenticed to Robert Bird 23 April 1668. James Bird, son of James; apprenticed to Edmund Clarke. 15 November 1669. Andrew Bird, son of George, Gedling, Notts, yeoman; apprenticed to Robert Bird. 8 April 1670. Nathaniel Browne, son of William, Cricklade, Wilts, brazier; apprenticed to George Bird. 23 November 1672. William Harris, son of William, Barrington, Gloucester, clerk; apprenticed to Robert Bird. 24 June 1674. Charles Geere, son of Woolston, citizen and merchant tailor; apprenticed to George Bird. 17 February 1676/7. Henry Thirscro, son of Henry, citizen and merchant tailor; apprenticed to Robert Bird. 16 April 1678. John Harris, son of Thomas, Keevil, Wilts, yeoman; apprenticed to Andrew Bird. 24 June 1678. Stephen Hall, son of Stephen, citizen and clothworker; apprenticed to George Bird. 3 November 1680. William Tredwell, son of William, Clinton, Oxford, yeoman; apprenticed to Robert Bird. 19 December 1682. Daniel Rogers, son of Edward, Upper Heyford, Oxford, yeoman; apprenticed to Andrew Bird. 11 November 1687. Richard Wolstonholme, son of Godfrey, Chesterfield, Derby, blacksmith; apprenticed to Andrew Bird. 2 July 1690. John Gamond, son of James, Putney, Surrey, gardener; apprenticed to George Bird. 28 September 1699. Andrew Bird, son of Andrew, citizen and armorer; apprenticed to Elizabeth, widow of George Bird 26 August 1691. Jonathan Bird, son of Hugh, Coventry, Warwickshire, hatmaker; apprenticed to Roger Bartlett. 2 May 1705. Thomas Pickett, son of Moses, Kent, sawyer; apprenticed to Joseph Bird. 17 February 1715/6. Isaac Broughton, son of Abraham, Cheam, Surrey, carpenter; apprenticed to Andrew Bird. 18 November 1718. John Bridger, son of William, St. George Southwark, Surrey, mealman; apprenticed to Andrew Bird. 16 February 1725/6. Richard Lawrence, son of Richard, citizen and butcher; apprenticed to Andrew Bird. 22 February 1736/7. Jonathan Bird, son of Jonathan; apprenticed to his father. 9 May 1744. William Ingram, son of Moses, Christ Church Southwark, Surrey, nailer; apprenticed to Jonathan Bird. The first person of the Bird surname to appear in the Armourers and Brasiers Livery Company of London was Robert Bird of Gedling, Nottinghamshire in 1651, who is shown below to be the uncle of Andrew1 of Philadelphia. He was apprenticed to master brazier John Rivett, Jr., who lived in the Dial on Snow Hill near Holborn Conduit, a short distance outside Newgate in the western part of the medieval wall surrounding the Review copy 12 June, 2008 204 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 45 old City of London.18 After the beheading of the defeated King Charles I on 30 January 1649, Parliament in 1650 sold to John Rivett for £215 a large brass statue of the unfortunate king on horseback, with orders that it was to be destroyed by breaking it into pieces. Rivett buried the statue instead and upon the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, he restored the statue to the grateful King, who eventually rewarded Rivett well and appointed him King’s Brazier.19 Rivett had already gained considerable benefit from his daring deception by selling trinkets, supposedly made from the statue, as mementoes of the martyred King to Royalists and as trophies to Parliamentarians, but this was probably done to allay any suspicions that he had not destroyed the statue.20 In 1666, four-fifths of what lay within the ancient walls of the City of London was destroyed by fire. In 1672 City Surveyor Robert Hooke began work on “The Monument” to the Great Fire of 1666, to be constructed in Fish Street near where the fire started. Christopher Wren, another member of the Rebuilding Committee, wanted to crown the column with a golden phoenix; Hooke wanted a statue of the King. The King, because of the cost, wanted a simple gilded ball. Hooke used his knowledge of London craftsmen to find cheap and skillful founders, turners, and braziers to make the ball, which was to be a wooden core covered in finely chased copper, brass and gilt. Master brazier Robert Bird was hired to make the ball, which eventually was changed to a flaming urn. After initially bungling the urn, Bird completed the job. In January 1676, the urn, weighing over 1,450 pounds, was ready to mount atop the column designed by Hooke.21 Sir Christopher Wren’s grandson later recorded in Parentalia that the brass urn was not “artfully performed,” and was set up contrary to Wren’s opinion.22 Nevertheless, eight months later Hooke commissioned Bird to make the golden ball for the top of the Royal College of Physicians’ theatre. He was also chosen to make the nine-foot-long copper dragon weathervane for the spire of St. Mary-le-Bow church and several 18 G. H. Gater and E. P. Wheeler, “The statue of Charles I and site of the Charing Cross,” Survey of London, Volume 16: St Martin-in-the-Fields I: Charing Cross (London: Country Life for the London County Council, 1935), 258—68 (www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68141). 19 Jean Hood, Trafalgar Square: A Visual History of London’s Landmark through Time (New York,: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2005), 16. 20 John Timbs, Curiosities of London: Exhibiting the Most Rare and Remarkable Objects of Interest in the Metropolis, with Nearly Sixty Years’ Personal Recollections (London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1868), 757. 21 Stephen Inwood, The Forgotten Genius: The Biography of Robert Hooke, 1635— 1703 (San Francisco: MacAdam/Cage, 2005) 204—05. This landmark, crowned with Robert Bird’s flaming urn, can still be seen on Fish Street in London. At 202 feet it remains the tallest free-standing Doric column in the world. Its height is said to be the distance from the monument’s base to the bakery in Pudding Lane where the fire started. 22 Eric Samuel De Mareì, Wren’s London (London: Folio Society, 1975), 118. Review copy 12 June, 2008 2008 Andrew Bird, Brazier, of Philadelphia and England 205 other adornments for the churches being rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren.23 Since Andrew Bird’s apprenticeship began in 1669, he would have been nearing the end of his apprenticeship or may already have been working as a journeyman when Robert Bird began working on The Monument to the Fire in 1675, so it is likely that Andrew Bird was involved in that project, and possibly in others attributed to his master, Robert Bird. Andrew’s apprenticed son, Andrew, did not emigrate with his parents and siblings about 1702. He remained in London to finish his apprenticeship (begun in 1699), marry, and become a master brasier. LONDON CHURCH RECORDS24 Baptisms of children of Andrew and Ann Bird were found in London, the order consistent with the order in Ann Bird’s will. A baptism for a much earlier Andrew was also found (which does not seem to belong to his family), as was a marriage for Andrew Bird after Andrew Bird appeared in Philadelphia. Chronology then shows that it was Andrew, son of Andrew, who remained in London. Saint Margaret Westminster, London25 Andrew and Elizabeth Bird, son and daughter of Thomas, christened 8 September 1617 St. Giles Cripplegate, London26 Christenings in August 1678. George, S. Andrew Bird Brazier & of Ann borne 26 July, Christen 11 [August] St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, London 27 Rachell Bird, daughter of Andrew and Ann, born 27 September 1680, baptized 14 October 1680 Elizabeth Bird, daughter of Andrew and Ann, born 25 March 1682, baptized 8 April 1682 Andrew Bird, son of Andrew and Ann, born 12 March 1684, baptized 19 March 1684 Stepney28 Marriages in the Parish of Stepney, April 1708. 15 Andrew Bird of Ratcliffe Brassier [and] Sarah Hoare of Wapp[ing] Spinster 23 Inwood, Robert Hooke (note 21), 204—5. 24 Bird is a common surname. Only those records for Andrew’s family (plus the one for an early Andrew) are presented here. 25 Arthur Meredyth Burke, Memorials of St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster: Comprising the Parish Registers, 1539—1660, and the Churchwardens’ Accounts, 1460— 1603 (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1914), 96 (FHL #908,519). 26 Parish Register of St. Giles Cripplegate (FHL #380,202). 27 William Bruce Bannerman, The Registers of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, London in Publications of the Harleian Society, 62(1932):196, 199, 204. 28 Parish registers, Stepney, Middlesex (FHL #597,246). Review copy 12 June, 2008 206 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 45 St. Botolph Bishopsgate, in London29 Christnings May 1713. 13 John Son of Andrew Bird & Sarah Christnings July 1716. 25 Grace Daughter of Andrew Bird & Sarah Christnings August 1718. 6 Ann Da: of Andrew Bird & Sarah Christnings November 1722. 15 Amye Da: of Andrew Bird & Sarah Christnings July 1726. 13 Grace Da: of Andrew Bird & [blank] GEDLING, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, RECORDS The following records were found for the surname Byrde in Gedling, Nottinghamshire, identified as the home of Robert, apprenticed in 1651, and Andrew, apprenticed in 1669. Bishop’s Transcripts30 Anne Byrde ye wyffe of Andrew Byrd was bur ye xith Sept 1615 Andrew Byrde signed as one of the churchwardens in 1621/2 Wm Byrde ye sonne of Andrew was bapt. ye 18 of June 1623 John Birde ye sonne of Andrewe was bapt ye fourth of December 1625 Judeth Birde ye wyfe of Andrewe Byrd was bur 29th of Octobr 1629 Robt Birde the sonne of Andrewe & An bapt the 24th October 1634 Andrew Birde signed as one of the churchwardens in 1634/5 George Burd signed as one of the churchwardens in 1665/6 Elizabeth the daughter of George Bird & alece was baptized december ye sixt 1667 George Bird was buried March the 17th 1671/2 George Bird was buried June 30th 1682 Mary ye daughter of George & Elizabeth Bird was christnd May:31th 1693 Elizabeth ye daughter of George & Elizabeth Bird was baptized June 16th 1697 George Bird signed as one of the churchwardens in 1698/9 John the son of George & Elizabeth Bird bapt Aprill ye 7th 1702 Geo: the son of George & Elizabeth Bird was bapt March 20th 1704/5 Alice Burd was buried the 31th of January 1705/6 Marriages31 Andrew Bird & Anne Knight, 6 July 1607 Andrew Byrde & Anne Westbie, 15 July 1632 George Byrd, of Gedling, & Alice Bowskill, of Bridgford, 31 May 1651 Nottinghamshire Marriage Licenses32 11 October, 1616. Andrew Byrd, of Gedling, yeoman, and Judeth Hornbuckle, parish of St. Peter’s, Nottingham, spinster, at St. Peter’s 29 St. Botolph Bishopsgate Parish Registers, London (FHL #380,142—43). 30 Bishop’s Transcripts, Gedling, Nottinghamshire (FHL #503,495, item 1); missing many years. 31 W. P. W. Phillimore and Thomas M. Blagg, Nottinghamshire Parish Registers, Marriages (London: Phillimore, 1907), 10:44, 46, 49. None of these years are in the Bishop’s Transcripts. Also in Charles Gerring, A History of the Parish of Gedling, in the County of Nottingham (Nottingham: Murray’s Nottingham Book Co., 1908), 80, 82, 100. 32 Thomas M. Blagg and F. Arthur Wadsworth, Abstracts of Nottinghamshire Marriage Licences in The Index Library (London: British Record Society, 1930), 58:64. Review copy 12 June, 2008 2008 Andrew Bird, Brazier, of Philadelphia and England 207 GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY33 1. ANDREWB BIRD was born say 1582 (estimating marriage at 25). He married first 2 June 1607 at Gedling, Nottinghamshire, ANNE KNIGHT, who was buried 11 September 1615 at Gedling. He married second 11 October 1616 (license) at St. Peter’s, Nottingham, JUDITH HORNBUCKLE of St. Peter’s, spinster, who was buried 29 October 1629 in Gedling. He married third 15 July 1632 at Gedling ANNE WESTBIE. Child of Andrew Bird and Anne Knight:34 i. MARIE BIRDE, baptized 8 December 1611 in Gedling. Children of Andrew Bird and Judith Hornbuckle:35 i. ELIZABETH BYRDE, baptized 19 October 1617 in Gedling. 2 ii. GEORGE BYRDE, baptized 19 April 1620 in Gedling; married 31 May 1651 in Gedling ALICE BOWESKILL. iii. WILLIAM BYRDE, baptized 18 June 1623 in Gedling. iv. JOHN BIRDE, baptized 4 December 1625 in Gedling. Child of Andrew Bird and Anne Westbie: v. ROBERT BIRDE, baptized 24 October 1634 in Gedling; married ELIZABETH –?–; apprenticed 27 January 1650/1 in London. 2. GEORGEA BIRD (AndrewB) was baptized 19 April 1620 in Gedling, Nottinghamshire. He was buried 17 March 1671/2 or 30 June 1682 at Gedling at Gedling.36 George Byrd of Gedling married 31 May 1651 in Gedling ALICE BOWESKILL of Bridgford, who was buried 31 January 1705/6. He was a churchwarden for the year ending in March 1665/6. Children of GeorgeA Bird and Alice Boweskill, baptized in Gedling:37 3 i. ANDREW1 BIRD, baptized 29 February 1651/2; died between 15 March 1715 and 12 September 1720; married say 1677 ANN –?–. 33 All uncited events presented previously in this article. 34 This baptism is a patron-submitted IGI entry, but appears valid, apparently having been read in England from the original parish registers (Bishop’s Transcripts are missing for 1606—1608, 1611—1612, so this entry cannot be confirmed, nor other children, if any, identified). 35 The first three baptisms are in a patron-submitted IGI entries (with four children of Andrew, see below) as children of “Andrew Byrde and Alice.” The parish registers have not been microfilmed, and the Bishop’s Transcripts are missing for the first two entries; the date matches for the third entry, although the wife is not named in the church record. The first birth is one year after the marriage, suggesting that the first two submissions are valid, apparently having been read in England from the original parish registers. 36 The only other known George in Gedling was his son George, who is likely that man who married and had children through 1705, so the problem of the two burials is unresolved. 37 All four of these baptisms are in a patron-submitted IGI batch (with three children of Andrew, see above) as children of “George Bird and Alice.” The parish registers have not been microfilmed, and the Bishop’s Transcripts are missing from 1641—1661, but the last child is in the Bishop’s Transcripts (see page 206) with this date and the marriage license is nine months prior to the first birth, suggesting that all are valid, apparently having been read in England from the original parish registers. Review copy 12 June, 2008 208 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 45 ii. JOHN BIRD, baptized 14 July 1657. iii. GEORGE BIRD, baptized 3 November 1661; married by say 1693 ELIZABETH –?–. Children of George Bird and Elizabeth –?–: 1. Mary Bird, baptized 31 May 1693. 2. Elizabeth Bird, baptized 16 June 1697. 3. John Bird, baptized 7 April 1702. 4. George Bird, baptized 20 March 1704/5. iv. ELIZABETH BIRD, baptized 1 December 1667. 3. ANDREW1 BIRD (GeorgeA, AndrewB) was baptized 29 February 1651[/2] in Gedling. He died between 15 March 171538 and 12 September 1720 (widow’s will) probably in Philadelphia. He married say 1677 (estimating age 26 at marriage),39 probably in London, ANN –?–, who died by 14 February 1721 (probate). They emigrated to Philadelphia between 1699 (last mention of the elder Andrew Bird in the livery company records) and 1702 (Philadelphia jury). He apprenticed 15 November 1669 in London. Children of Andrew Bird and Ann –?–: i. GEORGE BIRD, born 26 July 1678, baptized 11 August 1678 at St. Giles Cripplegate, London; died between 28 July 1724 (will) and 26 January 1724[/5] (probate) in Philadelphia, leaving all property to wife Mary, the sole executor;40 George Bird of ye County of Deptford in ye Province of New Jersey married 9 July 1721 at Christ Church, Philadelphia, MARY GREEN;41 on 27 December 1728 in Deptford Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, Edward Richardson registered the mark [brand] of George Bird, deceased [probably because he had purchased George’s livestock; no relationship is known between them].42 She is possibly the Mary Bird who married 15 March 1736 Arthur Burrows at Christ Church.43 ii. RACHEL BIRD, born 27 September 1680, baptized 14 October 1680 at St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, London. 38 This was the date on the letter from Rev. Phillips naming Andrew Bird as one of his supporters. 39 Philip J. Greven, Four Generations: Population, Land, and Family in Colonial Andover, Massachusetts (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970). The book mentions a study showing the average age of men at first marriage in the late 1600s in Massachusetts was 26—27 years of age and states that this age was similar to that in England. This age was especially true of apprentices, who were not allowed to marry until the apprenticeship was completed, usually about age twenty-five. 40 Philadelphia Wills D:416—17, #344 (original will missing from file at City Archives); witnesses George Allen and John Cadwalader (FHL #21,722). 41 Certified transcript of Christ Church marriages from Sue Wright at Christ Church in author’s possession. He would have been forty-two at this marriage, suggesting it was not his first marriage. 42 Alfred M. Heston, South Jersey, A History, 1664—1924 (New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1924), 411. 43 Transcript of Christ Church marriages (note 41). Review copy 12 June, 2008 2008 Andrew Bird, Brazier, of Philadelphia and England 209 iii. ELIZABETH BIRD, born 25 March 1682, baptized 8 April 1682 at St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, London; died after 23 April 1729;44 married first by say 1719 –?– KING (Elizabeth’s daughter Mary King mentioned in Ann Bird’s will); married second as Elizabeth Bird 21 April 1720 at Christ Church, Philadelphia, THOMAS COLE, both of Philadelphia.45 Child of Elizabeth Bird and –?– King: 1. Mary King, living 12 September 1720 (grandmother’s will). iv. ANDREW BIRD, born 12 March 1684, baptized 19 March 1684 at St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, London; died probably in England; married 15 April 1708 St. Dunstan’s, Stepney, SARAH HOARE; apprenticed 28 September 1699 in London; did not emigrate. Children of Andrew Bird and Sarah Hoare:46 1. Rachel Bird, baptized 20 March 1708 at St. Dunstan’s, Stepney. 2. John Bird, baptized 13 May 1713 at St. Botolph Bishopsgate, London. 3. Grace Bird, baptized 26 July 1716 at St. Botolph Bishopsgate; died young (see below). 4. Ann Bird, baptized 6 August 1718 at St. Botolph Bishopsgate. 5. Amye Bird, baptized 15 November 1722 at St. Botolph Bishopsgate. 6. Grace Bird, baptized 13 July 1725 at St. Botolph Bishopsgate. v. JOHN BIRD, born say 1686 (order from mother’s will); died after 23 April 1729 when John Burd of Salem County was fellow bondsman with his sister Elizabeth on her husband’s estate;47 he was a cabinetmaker who made chests between 1715—1717 for James Logan, one of the wealthiest and most influential men in Philadelphia. 48 vi. GRACE BIRD, born say 1688 (order from mother’s will). vii. ANN BIRD, born say 1690 (order from mother’s will).49 viii. SARAH BIRD, born say 1696 (estimating marriage at 25); married 5 November 1721 at Christ Church WILLIAM LEDER, both of Philadelphia.50 44 Elizabeth Cole of Salem County named as administrator of the estate of Thomas Cole of Salem County; fellow bondsman John Burd of Salem County (William Nelson, “Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, etc.,” Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey [New Jersey Archives], 1st series [Paterson: Paterson Press Printing and Publishing, 1901], 23:102). 45 Transcript of Christ Church marriages (note 41). 46 Sarah’s name is not on Grace’s baptism. 47 Note 44. 48 William Macpherson Hornor. Blue Book: Philadelphia Furniture: William Penn to George Washington (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1935), 2. “John Bird [son of Andrew Bird, a brazier], briefly noticed March 10, 1710—11; made chests for James Logan, 1715—17.” 49 Ann Bird married 21 September 1734 at First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, by license, Joseph Hall (John B. Linn and William H. Egle, “Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810,” Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd series, 9[1896]:30), but she is almost surely the Anne Bird who with husband Robert had children baptized at that church in 1724 and 1727 (John T. Humphrey, Philadelphia Births, Philadelphia County, 1644—1765 [Washington, D.C.: Humphrey Publication, 1994], 41). 50 Transcript of Christ Church marriages (note 41), which gives his surname as Teder, but the Leader family left records at Christ Church. Review copy 12 June, 2008