Family of Francis * BILLINGTON and Christian * PENN

Husband:	Francis * BILLINGTON (1606-1684)
Wife:	Christian * PENN (1613-1684)
Children:	Elizabeth BILLINGTON (1635- )
	Joseph BILLINGTON (1636- )
	Isaac BILLINGTON (1638- )
	Martha * BILLINGTON (1639-1704)
	Mary BILLINGTON (1641- )
	Rebecca BILLINGTON (1642- )
	Francis BILLINGTON (1653- )
	Desire BILLINGTON (1654- )
Marriage	16 Jul 1634	Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, US1

Husband: Francis * BILLINGTON

Wife: Christian * PENN

Name:	Christian * PENN
Sex:	Female
Father:	George * PENN (1571-1632)
Mother:	Elizabeth * BRINKSWORTH (1571- )
Birth	2 Sep 1613
Immigration	1621 (age 7-8)	to Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, US2
	arrived on the vessel Anne
Death	Jul 1684 (age 70)	Middleborough, Plymouth, MA, US

Child 1: Elizabeth BILLINGTON

Name:	Elizabeth BILLINGTON
Sex:	Female
Birth	10 Jul 1635

Child 2: Joseph BILLINGTON

Name:	Joseph BILLINGTON
Sex:	Male
Birth	2 Feb 1636

Child 3: Isaac BILLINGTON

Name:	Isaac BILLINGTON
Sex:	Male
Birth	1638

Child 4: Martha * BILLINGTON

Child 5: Mary BILLINGTON

Name:	Mary BILLINGTON
Sex:	Female
Birth	1641

Child 6: Rebecca BILLINGTON

Name:	Rebecca BILLINGTON
Sex:	Female
Birth	1642

Child 7: Francis BILLINGTON

Name:	Francis BILLINGTON
Sex:	Male
Birth	1653

Child 8: Desire BILLINGTON

Name:	Desire BILLINGTON
Sex:	Female
Birth	1654

Note on Husband: Francis * BILLINGTON

MAYFLOWER!! rancis Billington Birth: BET 1606 AND 1609 in Spaulding, Lincolnshire, England. Death: 3 DEC 1684 in Middleboro, Plymouth, MA . Francis was clearly an active and troublesome youth. He nearly caused a disaster onboard the Mayflower shortly after arrival, when he shot off his father's musket inside the Mayflower's cabin and sent sparks raining down near an open barrel of gunpowder. After he got to shore, he climbed up a tree and spotted a "great sea," which turned out to be a lake that even today is still known as "Billington's Sea". He and one of the Mayflower's crewmembers went to explore the sea, but became alarmed when they saw some abandoned Indian houses (they were alone with only a single gun).

 

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Title: The Mayflower Descendant Quarterly magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Author: George Ernest Bowman, Editor Publication: Boston, Mass.: The Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants Page: Volume 1, December, 1913, No. 8.

 

1606c: Francis Billington was born. "New England Marriages Prior to 1700" compiled by Clarence Almon Torrey; p. 70; The Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc.; Baltimore, Maryland; 1985 (974.0 NEa/Marriage SCGS)

 

Note: Early in January, shortly after the settlement at Plymouth, son Francis Billington saw from the top of a tree on a high hill "a great sea as he thought" which he later explored with one of the ship's crew. The two lakes thus discovered have ever since been known as "Billington Sea". "Mourt's Relation" pp. 31, 44 and 69-70

 

1642, April 18: He (Francis Billington) apprenticed his daughter Elizabeth. "Plymouth Colony Record" II:38.

 

1684: Francis Billington died at the age of 80 years of age.

 

Francis Billington, the sole surviving son: John's son Francis was one of the first Pilgrims punished for premarital sex. How he and Christian Penn were "caught" is unknown; their first child, Elizabeth wasn't born until a year, to the month, after their marriage. He lived at Plymouth until 1669; then he moved to Middleboro and lived on land granted to him as one of the "First Comers." "Plymouth Colony Land Records" I:344 and III:129

 

He (Francis Billington) lived there until his death, except for a few years when he took refuge at Plymouth during the King Philip's War.

 

1643, January 14: He bound-out son Joseph, "aged vi or vii" and two daughters, probably Martha and Mary, one five years old and the other even younger. Plymouth town records"

 

1651: Francis Billington had eight children. In his old age, Francis was dependent on his son Isaac for support and died intestate. No probate record appears, although Isaac petitioned the probate court in 1703/4 for title to his father's Middleboro lands, stating he had had sole care of his parents in their old age. "Plymouth County Property Records"

 

1719: A quitclaim deed from Francis's grandson, Francis Billington (Family #12) reading "my father Francis and grandfather [unnamed] Billington" seems to imply a son Francis, Jr. But in the absence of any mention of such a son in contemporary Plymouth records, coupled with the fact that Francis's deed evidently transferred the shares of Joseph Billington, we conclude that the deed contains a clerical error. The origional must have read "my father Joseph and grandfather Francis Billington." Plymouth County Land Records"XIV:255

 

1722, September: A Plymouth County Court case brought by Isaac's daughter Desire (Billington) Bonney and her husband, James, shows that Francis Billington died intestate leaving issue, two sons and five daughters [see below]. Isaac as the eldest undoubtedly got a double portion as there were a total of eight shares in the estate. "Plymouth County Court Records, 1686-1859" V:145

 

Indications are that the seven children named in the Bonney suit and their progeny were the only survivors of Francis Billington.

 

"Mayflower Quarterly" MII:137-44 "The Genealogist" III:23; 1980 "History of Plymouth Plantation. 1620-1627" by William Bradford; Russell and Russell; New York City, New York; 1968.

 

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Biographical SummaryThe Billington family may have originated from around Cowbit and Spaulding, in Lincolnshire, England.

 

Francis Longland named young children Francis Billington son of John, and Francis Newton son of

 

Robert, as heirs. In 1650, a survey of lands indicated that Francis was "about 40" and living in New

 

England. Francis' himself stated in a 1674 deposition that he was 68 years old, so he was about 14

 

years old when he made the voyage on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620 with his parents John and

 

Eleanor, and older brother John.

 

Francis was clearly an active and troublesome youth. He nearly caused a disaster onboard the

 

Mayflower shortly after arrival, when he shot off his father's musket inside the Mayflower's cabin and

 

sent sparks raining down near an open barrel of gunpowder. After he got to shore, he climbed up a

 

tree and spotted a "great sea," which turned out to be a lake that even today is still known as

 

"Billington's Sea". He and one of the Mayflower's crewmembers went to explore the sea, but became

 

alarmed when they saw some abandoned Indian houses (they were alone with only a single gun).

 

Francis' father was hanged for murder in September 1630, and his brother John had died not to long

 

before. In July 1634, Francis married Christian Eaton, the widow of Mayflower passenger Francis

 

Eaton who had died the previous year autumn. Christian brought three of her own children, and one

 

step-child from her deceased husband's previous marriage, all under the age of 14. With Francis

 

Billington, she had nine more children. They raised their family at Plymouth, and moved in their later

 

years to Middleboro, where they both died in 1684

 

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Francis BillingtonBack to the Mayflower Passenger List

 

Birth: About 1606, possibly near Spaulding, Lincolnshire. Mayflower Families: Edward Winslow and

 

John Billington for Five Generations, contains the best, most thorough and completely researched

 

genealogy on John and Eleanor Billington and their two children John and Francis. It covers every

 

known descendant for the first five generations, to the birth of the sixth generation. This book is

 

packed full of pure genealogical research. Published by the General Society of Mayflower

 

Descendants.Marriage: Christian (Penn) Eaton, July 1634, Plymouth. Death: 3 December 1684, Middleboro. Children: Elizabeth, Joseph, Martha, Mary, Isaac, an unnamed child who died young, Rebecca, Dorcas,and Mercy.

Sources

1	"US New England Marriages prior to 1700".

2	"Passenger and Immigrations Lists Index 1500-1900".