By Jared L. Olar
December 2018
The surname of "Bingley" is a toponymic surname that derives from the village of Bingley in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book in A.D. 1086 as "Bingelei," from the Anglo-Saxon Bynningaleah, meaning "the woodland clearing of Bynna's folk." While the surname of Bingley is quite old and some Bingleys were of knightly or gentlemanly rank, the knowledge of our own Bingley ancestors extends only two generations, and does not reach back to the family's origins in Yorkshire. We first meet them in the parish of Salford in Bedfordshire, some 150 miles south of Bingley.
1. THOMAS BINGLEY, ancesty unknown, born circa 1556 in England, died July 1639 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, buried 11 July 1639 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England. Mr. Thomas Bingley, M.A., was the vicar of Salford, assuming his duties on 26 May 1600. Salford's previous vicar had been Nicholas Lemme, clerk, but the post of vicar in the parish had been vacant for an indefinite length of time before Thomas Bingley was named to the office. Since Bingley did not come to Salford as vicar until 1600, he must have been born somewhere else. In the summer of 1621, "Mr. Thomas Bingley" was one of the three men appointed as Overseers of the estate of the late AGNES ODELL, stepmother of Thomas' son-in-law JOHN ODELL (see below).
Thonas Bingley married at least twice. Salford parish records list the burial on Thomas' wife MARTHA on 20 Dec. 1633. Martha may have been the mother of Thomas' daughter Joan (Johan), our ancestress, who was born circa 1582, but it is notable that none of Joan's daughters were named Martha, and by chronological considerations alone Joan may rather have been born of an unrecorded earlier wife (perhaps a woman named Joan, Gertrude, Mary, or Isabel). The year after Martha's death, Thomas remarried on 6 Sept. 1634 in Salford, Bedfordshire, to JUDITH SMITH of Claydon, Buckinghamshire, England.
About five years after his marriage to Judith, Thomas died in July 1639 in Salford, and was buried there on 11 July 1639. The Salford parish register records his burial under the name of "Thomas Bengly, vecker," but in all other records his surname is spelled "Bingley." The parish register mistakenly records his burial in 1638, but a footnote corrects that to 1639.
Earlier genealogists were uncertain whether Thomas was the father or brother of John Odell's first wife Joan Bingley, but it is chronologically impossible for him to have been her brother -- and as he there was no other Bingley family in Salford during this time, Thomas could only be her father.
2. JOAN BINGLEY, born circa 1582 in England.
2. JOAN BINGLEY ("Johan"), daughter of Thomas Bingley, born circa 1582 in England, died June 1640 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, buried 28 June 1640 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England. Joan married on 5 Dec. 1603 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, to JOHN ODELL, born circa 1577-78 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, died Jan. 1656 and buried 12 Jan. 1656 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, son of Richard and Elizabeth Odell. John and Joan had five sons and five daughters. A few years after Joan's death, John remarried on 24 June 1645 in Salford to SUSANNA NICHOLS, born circa 1585 in England. No children were born of John's second marriage.
The 1938 article, "Turney - Odell," published in The American Genealogist (April 1938), vol. 14, pages 226-227, provides this information about John Odell:
"John, b. [say 1577-8]. He was head of the next generation of Odells at Salford, and is placed as son of Richard Odell (probably the eldest surviving son) because a legacy was given to John's eldest daughter and other children in the will of Richard's widow. He named children Richard and Isabel [Elizabeth] for his parents. . . . John Odell, born [1577-8], no record of burial, and no record of will found; married first, 5 Dec. 1603, Joan Bingley, who was buried 28 June 1640, possibly daughter or sister of the Thomas Bingley who was an overseer of the will of John Odell's step-mother; married second, 24 June 1645, Susanna Nichols."
John's date of burial was subsequently discovered in the Parish Register of Salford (1558-1812), which shows the burial of "Jn Odell, sen." on 12 Jan. 1655-56. Some family trees erroneously state that John was baptised on 24 March 1575, but that is the baptismal date of John's same-named older brother who had died not quite a month old.
"Turney - Odell" shows this list of children born to John and Mary Odell:
Children by first wife:
Robert, bapt. 19 Aug. 1604; m. Sarah -----, who was buried 12 Aug. 1650.
Gertrude, bapt. 19 Aug. 1604; m. 10 July 1626, John Chad or Chard.
Mary, bapt. 10 Nov. 1605; m. 12 July 1630, Benjamin Turney; . . . .
John, bapt. 29 Mar. 1607; bur. 22 Sept. 1682; left a will; m. 1 May 1632, Elizabeth Wheeler, who was bur. 4 Oct. 1676.
Thomas, bapt. 1 or 12 July 1608.
Richard, bapt. 3 June 1610.
Edward, bapt. 26 Jan. 1611/12.
Isabel, bapt. 9 Jan. 1613/14; called Elizabeth in the Bishop's Transcripts; m. 4 Feb. 1632/3, John ------.
Joan, bapt. 21 July 1616; bur. 30 Apr. 1618.
Joane dau. of John, 3 Oct. 1619.
John and Mary's children, all born at Salford in Bedfordshire, were as follows:
-- ROBERT ODELL, baptised 19 Aug. 1604 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, married Sarah (NN).
-- GERTRUDE ODELL, baptised 19 Aug. 1604 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, married John Chad (or Chard).
-- MARY ODELL, baptised 10 Nov. 1605 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England.
-- JOHN ODELL JR., baptised 29 March 1607 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, buried 22 Sept. 1682 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, married Elizabeth Wheeler.
-- THOMAS ODELL, baptised 1 or 12 July 1608 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England.
-- RICHARD ODELL, baptised 3 June 1610 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England.
-- EDWARD ODELL, baptised 26 Jan. 1612 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England.
-- ISABEL ODELL ("Elizabeth"), baptised 9 Jan. 1614 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, married John (NN).
-- JOAN ODELL, baptised 21 July 1616 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England, buried 30 April 1618 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England.
-- JOANE ODELL, baptised 3 Oct. 1619 in Salford, Bedfordshire, England.
Bingley Genealogy Resources:
Mindrum Family History, with information on Joan (Bingley) Odell and her ancestry. We Relate: Joan Bingley Find-A-Grave Memorial of Joan (Bingley) Odell, with links to her husband, and children. Bingley, British History Online. Parishes: Salford, British History Online. St. Mary the Virgin Church at Salford in Bedfordshire St. Mary's Church in Salford