The Case for William Isome

I have spent the majority of May, 2022 working with researcher Joshua Isom to review his findings and collaborate with him on shoring up the following hypothesis. After much checking, and double-checking, and many hours of questions, and research in the records, I am happy to present these findings, which Joshua has uncovered and I have verified and expanded upon. As with most cases in genealogical research, there are still some gaps, however, there is quite a bit of direct evidence to support these claims, and quite a bit of circumstantial evidence as well.

For nearly 400 years, researchers for the Cleborne family of Henrico County Virginia as well as researchers for the descendants of Robert Isham have been wrestling with unanswered questions of parentage. Until recently, the only thing that these two families had in common was that their ancestors shared passage to the Virginia Colony aboard the same ship, a vessel called the Globe, which sailed from London on 11 Aug 1635, captained by a young man named Jeremy Blackman. Edward Cleiborne is listed as aged 20 years, and Robert Isham is listed as 14 years old.

On the Cleborne side of things, it has been long understood that Edward's ancestry traces back to the village of Cliburn in Westmorland County, although no definitive parentage could be found because none of the known Edwards on the list were a very close match. Isham researchers had similar luck with their endeavors to determine Robert's ancestry. The advent of Y-DNA testing changed all of that, and new evidence uncovered has turned what we know about the origins of these two families on its head.

The Y-DNA test establishes patrilineal ancestry in the form of direct male descendancy. In the case of descendants of Robert Isham, the Y-DNA profile is an exact match for descendants of Edward Cleiborne. The irrefutable conclusion is that these two families are directly descended from the same male ancestor. Since descendants of other Cleburne families also match this profile, the logical conclusion is that one of Robert Isham's ancestors was a Cleburne, rather than all of the Cleburne ancestors being an Isham.

In examining the passengers of the Globe, we know that Robert Isham and Edward Cleiborne are related, and descended from the same direct male ancestor. The DNA evidence alone does not tell us when this genetic confluence occurred. It may be with their father, or with their 4th great-grandfather, or anyone in between. At this point all that can be concluded is that they are kin.

The vast majority of Cleborne researchers know that the family originated in Westmorland so they have looked for Edward in Westmorland, but have not produced any statistically confident matches. This is a type of research fallacy that exists that is an easy trap to fall into. I've seen this on my mother's side with other families as well. In essence, its a type of cherry picking the data to fit what we think or know about the story, while excluding all other possibilities.

Trying to place Edward directly into Westmorland raises many objective questions that must be answered. First among them, if Edward lived in Westmorland why did he sail on a ship that sailed from London? Travel during this time period was not common or easy. Westmorland was quite a distance from London and there were many ports that were much closer to Westmorland, so why the long trip? Liverpool, for example, would have been a much closer port of origin for a Westmorland-born Cleborne to emigrate to America from. Another question that arises from the Edward-in-Westmorland approach, is that there are no Ishams in or near Westmorland. We do know from the DNA evidence that, at some point, a Cleborne and an Isham crossed paths. Because there are no Ishams nearby in Westmorland, and because Edward sailed from what is arguably the furthest port away from Westmorland, it must be asked if Edward is from Westmorland at all. We know that his ancestors originated there, but there is no evidence that Edward did, and the examination of all of the facts suggests that he likely did not.

Isham researcher Joshua Isham looked at these questions and focused specifically on places where Clebornes and Ishams habitated in close proximity, as this would be a much more likely place for a Cleborne to have fathered an Isham. On the northern outskirts of London is a small town called Waltham Cross, where there is record of an Edward Cleborne who was born on 22 May 1614*. This would have made him 20 or 21 when the Globe sailed from London. Living 1.2 miles further north, in a town called Cheshunt, is a Robert Isham who was born 1621. This pair lives in close proximity to each other, they are the correct age to be the Globe passengers, and they live on the outskirts of London, where the Globe was known to have sailed from. All of these things taken together provide strong evidence that these two individuals are the passengers from the Globe. (*Note that the baptism record lists him as Edmund, but we know from other records that Edward and Edmond were commonly used interchangeably during this period as there are many such examples.)

What we know about Edward Cleborne is that he was a minor child when his father, James, died in 1625. He was also the youngest child of his father. James named his executors as Thomas and Edward, whom he denoted as his two youngest sons. The will of James was proved on 3 Oct 1625 and establishes Edward's parents and his line of brothers and sisters. Further search of the records of Waltham Cross show that James married Agnes Jurye, Edward's mother. This also provides a possible motive for Edward's journey to America. As the youngest son of his father, he did not receive much inheritance and his parents were already dead by the time he was a teenager. There was promise of a new life in America, one that, perhaps, may have been more than he was expecting from his life in England.

Switching gears to young Mr. Isham, Robert was born in Cheshunt, just 1.2 miles to the north of Edward Cleborne and his father, James. Robert has a baptism record where he is recorded as being the son of William Isham and Marie Harding. On paper, at least, Robert's parents are established as Ishams. Further research into this line suggests that this set of parents is correct, and that Robert is not directly the son of a Cleborne, despite his Y-DNA being a match, so the convergence of the trees must be further back. Robert Isham's mother died on 18 Jan 1634, which could provide a reason for Robert wanting to leave England in August of 1635.

Going back to the Clebornes, we know from careful examination of the parish records that James Cleborne, father of Edward of the Globe, appears to have been born or lived in South Mimms, Hertfordshire. South Mimms is approximately 11 miles west of Waltham Cross. His parentage is not known, but we know that he was born in 10 May 1564.

In examining the records for William Isham (also listed as Isome), we start to come across our first mysteries. There is no baptism record for William Isome in any nearby parish that has been found. Some possibilities to explain this are; 1) the parish records with his baptism information were lost and no longer exist, 2) the records do exist, but were not digitized or transcribed for some reason, 3) the researchers have failed to locate them, despite serious efforts to do so, or 4) there never was a baptism record for some reason. Given the examination of the records in the area, most of the other records appear to be intact and there are no known missing records from this specific location and time, so option 1 seems somewhat unlikely. Options 2 or 3 could exist, but it is impossible to estimate any likelihood. The majority of records from this time period have been transcribed, cataloged, and digitized over the centuries by various groups such as local historical societies, religious groups, government groups, genealogical groups, and today with modern mega-genealogy corporations like Ancestry. It is possible that some records exist in a basement or a vault somewhere that have not previously been digitized or cataloged, but give all of the various groups engaged in these activities, it seems unlikely that this is the case. If the records have been digitized or cataloged, then it also seems unlikely that the researchers would have missed it. However, the chances of researchers missing the records does increase drastically if the records were never cataloged. Given the social and cultural traditions of the time, and the short life expectancy of infants during this time period, not baptizing a child would have been very unusual. And thus, we have our conundrum. Either a very, very small window of records are missing, a very small selection of records are not cataloged, or the child was never baptized. None of these possibilities seems obviously more probable than the others.

In looking through the other Isome/Isham records and trying to find a match for William we are forced to make some assumptions. Since a baptism record either does not exist or cannot be found, an estimate of his birth year is necessary. We know that William Isham married Marye Harding on 13 Oct 1619. The last child of William Isome and Marie Harding, Rachell Isome, was christened 22 November 1629 in Cheshunt. The parish records do not record another birth to Marie before her burial, as wife of William Isome, on 18 January 1634. William and Marie lived together as a couple between 1629 and 1634 and did not have another child suggests; 1. Marie was at the end of her child-bearing years, 2. Marie had fallen ill and her health did not support bearing any more children (miscarriages were not recorded, but stillbirths were), or 3. some combination thereof. If Mary was at the end of her child-birthing years, that would suggest that she was around 40 years old in 1629. That would place her birth between 1589-1590. Another way to estimate this is based on the fact that women were typically an average age of 21 when married during this time. This would estimate her birthdate around 1598. So we can reasonably assume that Marie's birthday is between 1589-1598. Men, during this period, were almost always older than their wives, and typically by several years. Approximately 3-5 years is an average age separation between spouses during this time. This would put William's birth between 1583-1593.

Working within that decade and looking at the available Ishams in the area who would be the right age to be William's mother, there is one strong candidate that comes up, Apollonya Isham of South Mimms. From the records of the Isham family that lived in the area we know that Apollonya was born 12 Jul 1567 in St. Olave Old Jewry, London to a merchant named Henry Isham. Henry purchased a hall in South Mimms called "Dancer's Hill" in 1577, so there is a connection tying this Apollonia Isham together. We also know that she married Robert Lee on 20 June 1587 in St. Giles Church, South Mimms. It was traditional for a woman to marry in her home parish, so that suggests that she lived there for some time, probably since her father bought Dancer's Hill. There is also evidence that William Isham was raised by an aunt living in London. The fact that William was raised by an aunt implies either; that his mother had died, or that his mother had given him up. If William Isham was the son of Apollonya and Robert Lee, then certainly he would have been named William Lee instead of William Isham. There are not any good death records in the area that suggest that William Isham's father was an Isham who died, nor that there was an Isham couple who died. This lends more weight to the conclusion that William was given up by his mother. In examining the tree of the aunt that he was raised by, there is a connection to Apollonya. If Apollonya was William's mother, then her marriage to Robert Lee would be a potential motivating factor for her giving up her child. If that is the case, and since we know the marriage took place in 1587, then that narrows down William's birth year to between 1583-1587. Apollonya was born in 1567, so she would have been 20 in 1587. Based on her age, it makes it more likely that William's birth is between 1585-1587, when Apollonya was between 18-20 years old.

Also living in South Mimms at this time period is James Cleburne, the father of Edward. James was born in 1564, so he would have been between 21-23 during those years. We know that one of the Ishams was fathered by a Cleburne, and we know that James lived in the same town as Apollonya, and they both were the right age to have had a child together. Although the entire case is circumstantial, it is the best fit for the evidence. A Cleburne and an Isham are living near to each other and had opportunity. There is no other situation where a Cleburne and an Isham are living that close to each other and are of the right ages. From the records it appears that James' father was not born in South Mimms and came from elsewhere in England, so James is really the first generation that lived near Ishams his whole life, and thus had the best opportunity.

We also know that in 1590 James Cleborne married Agnes Jurye in Waltham Cross. Young William Isham would have been 3-5 at the time. What we cannot tell is why James and Apollonya never married. Perhaps their family forbade the union for some reason. We also do not know if James was aware of William or what his reasons for moving out of South Mimms are. It is possible that he was driven out by Apollonya's family in protest of their relationship.

There is further evidence that William Isome was associated with the extended Henry Isham family in London. When William married Marie Harding on 13 October 1619, he did so at the church of St Peter Paul's Wharf in London. This church was just 0.5 miles from St. Olave Old Jewry in London, the parish in London where most of the extended Henry Isham family lived, and the parish where Apollonya Isham was born.

There is evidence that William Isome may have been raised primarily by Apollonya's older sister, Susan Isham Sturdevant. Susan, born about 1559, was married first to a successful Mercer Edmund Borlase. After Edmund's death in 1584, Susan married Francis Sturdevant, a London grocer. Francis also died in 1587, leaving 27-year-old Susan a wealthy widow in London. William was probably born just the year before, in 1586, so Susan would have been a good position to adopt the infant William and help her sister Apollonya to start a new life. The hypothesis that Susan was the guardian of William is bolstered by the fact that Susan was the guardian of Apollonya's second child, Mary Lee. The 1612 marriage allegation for Mary Lee, described Mary as a "maiden of London aforesaid aged 18 yeres or there abowtes whose parentes are both deceased and she solie at the goverm[en]t and disposinge of Mris Suzan Sturtivant widowe her aunt w[i]th whome she nowe dwelleth, and whose consent is obteyned hereunto." If Susan was the guardian of Mary, it is reasonable to believe that she had also been the guardian of Mary's older half-brother William.

To date, we have not been able to trace the Cleburne line back further, but we are reasonably confident in the conclusions presented herein as they fit the evidence we know to be true and we have either exhausted all other possible leads, or explained any other possible outcomes.