John Doolittle and Margaret Best

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Husband John Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 16 Jan 1584-16 Jan 1585 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: 1 Aug 1651 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
         Buried: 

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         Father: Thomas Doolittle (1559-1624)
         Mother: Ann (      -1592)

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       Marriage: 21 Dec 1615 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England

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Wife Margaret Best

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 U Infant Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 18 Sep 1616 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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2 M Tymothye Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 14 Apr 1618
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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3 M John Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 20 Jul 1623 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: 8 Jun 1670 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
         Buried: 

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4 M Thomas Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 11 Jun 1626 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: 
         Buried: 23 Nov 1697 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England

         Spouse: Sarah (      -      )

         Spouse: Elizabeth Jones (      -      )
           Marr: 2 Feb 1653-2 Feb 1654 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England

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5 M Humphrey Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 3 Jan 1628-3 Jan 1629 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: 21 Dec 1698 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
         Buried: 

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6 U Infant Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 17 Jun 1632 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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7 F Anne Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 13 Aug 1634 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: 27 Nov 1635
         Buried: 

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8 M Richard Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 13 Aug 1637 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: 1 Jun 1645 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
         Buried: 

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9 F Anne Doolittle

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           Born: 
     Christened: 9 Jun 1639 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Simon Harrington (      -      )
           Marr: 25 Jan 1602 - Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England

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General Notes (Husband)

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Clothier, weaver. Reconstruction of his line is from Bruce Moorhouse, probably following Gillian Dollittle.
Bruce has two children listed as ? Doolittle with christening dates; I'm assuming they did not live.

His signature shows a clear and well formed hand. Dollittle says he was educated at the free grammar school. His father left him one shilling, meaning that he had already received his inheritance. Children often got their portion at age 21 or at marriage.

The Kidderminster Charter, granted in 1636, named the Capital Burgesses. Two of them were John Doolittle and his younger brother Simon, both described as clothiers. Unclear how we know which John and which Simon - but we DO now know which ancestors Gillian Dollittle THINKS these were. The other burgesses were John Radford, Richard Potter, William Best, John Pearsall, Elias Arch, William Yates, Robert Greene, Simon Potter, Willian Syner and Willia Brown. It is apparent that John Doolittle was of the right class to be a Burgess.

Dollittle repeats the old Puritan gibberish about Kidderminster being possessed by ignorant drunk clergy and carousing people. She takes no account of the fact that it was extreme Evangelicals who were saying this stuff.

Dollittle says that in 13 Nov 1636 there was "a greate floude". "The river Stour ran through the middle of the town of Kidderminster and was crossed by the Town Bridge that linked the western part of the town including the mill and Mill Street with teh eastern part where the church stood on high ground and below it the main town centre. Since medieval times floods had been a problme and this one must have been very severe and disrupted the market trading which took place in the area near the bridge. It would also have flooded the many houes and workshops that backe don to the river in the lower part of town."

The following year, in October, November and December 1637 there was an outbreak of bubonic plague, and 169 burials were attributed to the sickness. Burials for March 1637/8 show the deaths of John the son of Humphrey Doolittle, Joyce the wife of Humfrey Doolittle, Tholams teh son of Humfrey Doolittle, and Humfrey Doolittle. Sounds like what they get for leaving all that wool piled up in the servants' bedroom.

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