Getting the Right William Gylby
Almost all the pedigrees that I have found so far assume that this William Gylby is the William Gylby who was Recorder of Lincoln (1669-1744) - let's call him
WGRoL - but I don't believe that to be true:
WGRoL's will is available through the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (Probate 19 Oct 1744) and in that will he says:
"I give to my
cousin [emphasis mine] Col. Lovelace Gylby, son of my
late uncle Col. William Gylby [emphasis mine]...". Later on he refers to his
cousins, the daughters of that same uncle Col. William Gylby: Elizabeth Fosse, Ruth Welsh and Bridget Fretwell.
Thus it is clear that
WGRoL was not the father of Bridget Fretwell, nee Gylby, but rather her cousin. Let us call the other William Gylby, the object of this note,
WGFoB (William Gylby, father of Bridget).
So who was the
WGFoB? In
Everton Holy Trinity church, a blue slab by the altar rail in the choir, in line with the aisle (now covered by flooring)
reads:
Colonel WILLIAM GYLBY, Lt. Governor of Hull
Youngest son of ANTHONY GYLBY late of this place died
March 1707 aet 53 [this is a typo, it was May 1707]
ELIZABETH GYLBY relict of the above William GYLBY
Died September 3 1733 Aet 66
ANN their eldest daughter died June 11 1752 Aet 17 [this is a typo, it's 1705]
ISABELLA SCOTT, another daughter, died June 11 1752 Aet 61
JOHN FOSS late vicar of this place died Feb 11 1753 Aet 70
ELIZABETH FOSS relict of the above JOHN FOSS and daughter of the above William and Elizabeth Gylby died March 9 1761 Aet 74
CHRISTOPHER FOSS son of the above John & Elizabeth Foss died December 2 1759 Aet 439
BRIDGET FRETWELL another daughter of the above William & Elizabeth Gylby died June 4 1779 aged 79 years
ANN FOSS daughter of the above John & Elizabeth Foss died July 15 1780 aged 56 years
WILLIAM FOSS son of the above John & Elizabeth Foss died September 12 1791 aged 63 years
There can be little doubt that
this is
WGFoB.
The next question is, who was the Elizabeth that he married? Most online pedigrees have
WGRoL marrying Elizabeth Bluck, and a record for the marriage of a William Gilbey [sic] and Elizabeth Bluck in
Holy Trinity, Knighstbridge, exists for 1687. However,
WGRoL's will makes no mention of a wife or children, so it seems more likely that online pedigrees have again got confused, assigning Elizabeth Bluck as the wife of the wrong William Gylby. Here, we assume that she instead was the wife of the "right" William Gylby, Lt Governor of hull and father of Bridget, Lovelace et al, aka
WGFoB.
The next question: who were
WGFoB's parents? Again, many pedigrees make his parents Anthony Gylby and Elizabeth Scroggs, but it seems that these were actually the correct parents for
WGRoL (based also on comments in his will and on his memorial at Lincoln). But the memorial from
Everton Holy Trinity quoted above says that
WGFoB's father was Anthony Gylby - ridiculously confusing! We know of at least one other potential Anthony Gylby who could be right: the Anthony Gylby of Everton who married Ruth Rogers. That Anthony could be the right one, given that he was called "of this place [i.e. Everton].
Familiae Minorum Gentium, which has the incorrect
WGRoL as father of Bridget, does also say "I do not feel absolutely satisfied about this part of the pedigree" where he links Anthony Gilby of Everton (who married Elizabeth Scroggs) as the son of Anthony Gilby of Everton who married Ruth Rogers.
In conclusion
- William Gylby, Recorder of Lincoln, died 10 May 1744; we have his will and it makes no mention of wife or children, but does speak about his uncle Col. William Gylby and his cousins Lovelace, Isabella, Bridget and Ruth. This William was not the father of Bridget, Isabella, Lovelace etc as mistakenly shown in Familiae Minorum Gentium
- The above William Gylby, Recorder of Lincoln, was the son of Anthony Gylby and Elizabeth Scroggs, as shown in a memorial in Lincoln; he died 10th May 1744
- Bridget Gylby was baptised daughter of Guglieglmi (William)
- Col. William Gylby, Lt Governor of Hull was the father of Bridget (as shown in the memorial at Everton Holy Trinity). This William was the son of Anthony Gylby, of Everton (as shown at Everton Holy Trinity). This William died 11th May 1707 and was buried on the 12th at Everton Holy Trinity. The memorial transcription above has got both his date wrong and tha for his daughter Ann.
Abt 1654 - 1707 (~ 53 years)
