Chilton

My Chilton Ancestors

The surname Chilton may mean "child's town", a place where young nobles prepared for knighthood.  According to the "Dictionary of English Surnames" published in 1958, the first Chilton recorded is William de Chilton in the year 1195.

01. Richard Chilton was born abt. 1505 in Canterbury, Kent, England.  He died in 1549 in Canterbury.  He was a member of Parliament and resided in St. Paul Parish.  His will mentions his deceased wife Isabell, and bequeaths bulk of his estate to his son Lyonell (per Mayflower Quarterly, 8/1977, p. 81).

02. Lyonell Chilton, son of Richard and Isabell was born abt. 1530 in Canterbury, Kent, England.  He owned a considerable amount of property.  His will, dated 9/7/1582 was proved 2/13/1583 and names children including James and Lyonell's wife Isabell.  James received 2 tenements in Canterbury.  It has been determined that Isabell was a 2nd wife of Lyonell and not the mother of James.  His mother is unknown.

03. James Chilton, son of Lyonell was the oldest passenger on board the Mayflower.  He was born bef. 1563 in Canterbury, Kent, England.  Around 1600, he moved to Sandwich, England.  By 1615 he was in Leyden, Holland with some of his children.  On April 28, 1619, James and his daughter Isabella were caught in an anti-Armenian riot and James was hit in the head with a large stone and required the services of the town surgeon, Jacob Hey.   On September 6, 1620, the Mayflower left Plymouth, England.  On board was James, his wife Susanna, and daughter Mary.  Both James and Susanna died before the Mayflower arrived.  Mary was orphaned and was assumed to have joined the Myles Standish household.  She earned the distinction of being the first female to step ashore at Plymouth.  She later married John Winslow who arrived on the ship "Fortune".  The claim by John Hunt in The American Genealogist 38:244-245 that his wife was possibly Susanna Furner has been recently disproven on the basis of the discovery of Susanna Furner's baptism record, which indicates she was far too young (only 12) to be married and having children in 1586.   The 10 children of James and an unknown wife according to the book "Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Volume 15, page 3" are:

GENERATION 4

04. Isabella Chilton, daughter of James was born on January 15, 1586 in Canturbury, Kent, England.  She did not come with James on the Mayflower, but arrived at Plymouth at a later date.  She married Roger Chandler on July 21, 1615 in Leyden, Holland.  I descend from Roger and Isabella's daughter Sarah Chandler who married Solomon Leonard.