VIII. How do the Albros Relate to the Earl of
Pembroke?
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One can find claims that The first Albro in America, John
Albro who arrived in Boston aboard the ship
Francis
out
of Ipswich, England in 1634, was descended from the Earl of
Pembroke through his mother. In addition, his daughter
Elizabeth (b.abt. 1647 in Portsmouth, Newport, RI) married
Benjamin Congdon (b. 1642 in St. David, Pembrokeshire, Wales)
in 1671. Benjamin was thought to be the son of John Congdon and
an unidentified daughter of the Earl of Pembroke.
The basis for the claim that John Albro's mother was a
daughter of the Earl of Pembroke is unclear. It is a little
hard to accept that there was hard evidence on the subject
available to those who make this claim, since none of them
suggest a given or family name for her. John's father was speculated134 to
also have the name "John" in the Georgen gedcom
103
and the Ramsell gedcom
104
. The on-line database of Guyette, Sherman, Autry
et al.
105
, citing as reference the
Greenwel.ged of Jo Anne Rolston, rel.3 March 1999, lists John's
father as "John Albro Sr" with a date of birth of 1590. The Dennis2 gedcom
106
(owner, Susan
Dennis Winters) pgs. 0346 and 0649, also reports that John, Sr.
was born in 1590, and states that John, Jr. had a brother
Benjamin, as was also claimed in the Georgen gedcom. The
Ramsell gedcom (owner, Y.A.R. Simonson) shows "Mrs. Albro" as
the daughter of the Earl of Pembroke (pgs. 1103 and 1340) while
the Georgen gedcom (p.912) lists the Earl of Pembroke as the
father of "Mrs. John ?-Albro". "Mrs. Albro" was suggested to
have been born abt. 1594, according to LDS records.
107
.
The first Earl of Pembroke, William Herbert, died March 17, 1569, much too
early to have had a child around 1594. The third Earl of Pembroke, another
William Herbert, was born April 8, 1580, and married Mary Talbot November 4,
1604. However, he is said to have had an illegitimate child by his mistress, Mary
Fitton, in 1601146. He also had children by his first
cousin Lady Mary Wroth after 1614, closer to the time John Albro was born than when John's mother was born. The fourth Earl of Pembroke, Philip Herbert, was
born October 16, 1584, and married first Susan de Vere December 27, 1604, later
Mary Villiers January 8, 1635. These two Earls were born too late
to have had a child in or before 1594, while the fifth Earl of Pembroke,
Philip Herbert, was not born until 1621. The second Earl of
Pembroke, Henry Herbert, was born in 1534, died January 19,
1601. During the 1590s he was married to Lady Mary Sidney, who
died September 25, 1621. Thus he is the Earl of Pembroke most likely
to have had a child around 1594.
108
.
Henry had four identified children, Katherine110,147
born in 1581 and died 16 October 1584; William, who became the
third Earl of Pembroke, Philip who became the fourth Earl of
Pembroke, and a second daughter, Anne. She was born abt. 1586
according to LDS records
109
, which is a few years early but not enough so to make it impossible
for her to have been John Albro's mother. There appears to be
no information in LDS records about Anne ever having been married,
ever having had children, or her date of death. However, William Camden,
a London historian (1551-1623), reported146 that
Anne had died in Cambridge (unmarried) "probably in 1606." The Herberts,
including Anne, lived in Wiltshire, close to the port of Southampton, but quite
far from the port of Ipswich from which John Albro sailed. John's daughters and
granddaughters were named Dorothy, Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, Susanna, Abigail
and Ruth, but Ann or Anne is not found.
On the other hand, there was an Anne Harbart
111
, christened at St. Olave's in
York, Yorkshire, on September 8, 1593, just about right.
Yorkshire having several places where surnames that are
variants of Albro were common, more speculations become
possible. There is certainly no evidence that Anne Harbart was
in any way associated with John Albro, nor is anyone claiming
that she was. The point is, there is no
less
evidence
that she was John's mother than that a daughter of the Earl of
Pembroke was. All zeros are equal. We can rule out all the legitimate
children of the Earls of Pembroke from being John Albro's mother.
2. John Albro's Daughter Elizabeth
That Elizabeth Albro, daughter of John Albro, did marry
Benjamin Congdon abt.1741 is not in dispute. The issue is
whether or not Benjamin's mother was a daughter of the Earl of
Pembroke. This time the claim is a long-standing Congdon family
tradition, albeit lacking documentary proof. Beaman states
112
that "Benjamin CONGDON b ca 1642
probably near St. David, Pembrokeshire, Wales, according to
secondary sources the son of John Congdon (br 1610) and a
daughter of an Earl of Pembroke."
If Benjamin was the eldest, and we assume his mother would not
have been less than 16 when he was born, the latest she could
have been born would be abt. 1626. If we instead assume
Benjamin was the youngest and his mother was not over 50 when
he was born, the earliest she could have been born would be
abt. 1592. The phrase "a daughter of the Earl of Pembroke"
implies that she was not the daughter of someone who would at
some time in the future become an Earl of Pembroke, but rather
the daughter of someone who was then or had in the past been
the Earl of Pembroke. The range of time between 1592 and 1626
requires us to consider the second, third, and fourth Earls of
Pembroke.
If we, as did the Congdon family, identify Benjamin's father
as John Congdon at least tentatively, then it seems unlikely he
would have married a woman more than 10 years older than himself.
This lets us raise the lower limit to at least 1600, and we
need no longer concern ourselves with the second Earl of
Pembroke. The fourth Earl of Pembroke had three daughters
108
; Catherine, who died young;
Mary, who died unmarried; and Anna Sophia, who married Robert
Dormer in 1625. Their only recorded child was Charles Dormer,
second Earl of Carnavon. Thus the case narrows to the third
Earl of Pembroke.
William, third Earl of Pembroke, had no legitimate children of
record (which is why his brother became the fourth Earl of
Pembroke.) However, he is known to have had illegitimate
children, including a daughter Catherine by his first cousin,
Lady Mary Wroth. The only information that seems to be
available about Catherine is that she married a Mr. Lovel and
lived in Oxford. Thus there is no recorded evidence in support
of the claim that John Congdon married a daughter of an Earl of
Pembroke.
One can find some very strange claims related to John Congdon
among the LDS records, including the ancestral file
113
for AFN: JRTG-TX John Congdon,
supposedly born 1610 in Pembrokeshire, Wales, died 1646 in
York, VA, and married abt. 1649 in Pembrokeshire, Wales. (If
you see nothing wrong, please read that again.)
Austin in his 160 Allied Families
114
was skeptical of the Congdon
family tradition, and even questioned that Benjamin was born in
Pembrokeshire. He points out that the coat of arms claimed by
the descendants of Benjamin Congdon was in fact the arms
assigned to "the ancient family of Condon of Willerby in
Yorkshire, descended out of Wales, now of Rhode Island, Anno
1811."
We must contrast that skepticism with the claim in the on-line
family tree of Martha S. Finfrock
115
that Benjamin Congdon's mother was, specifically, Mary Herbert,
supposedly born abt. 1627. Note above that Mary is officially
recorded as having died unmarried. On the other hand John
Congdon's wife and family - at least two children - reportedly
came to join him in America
116
,
settling in York Co., VA in 1642 (according to York County
records), when someone born in 1627 would have been only 15
years old (with two children?)
A final speculation: the genealogy report posted by Donna F.
Potter
117
states that " 1864 .
Benjamin Congdon, born 1642 in St. David, Pembroke, Wales; died
June 19, 1718. He was the son of 3728. John Congdon and 3729.
Miss Pembroke. He married 1865. Elizabeth Albro 1671." The way
this is worded strongly implies that John and "Miss" Pembroke
were not married. But the surname of the Earls of Pembroke was
Herbert, not Pembroke. Anyone who lived in Pembrokeshire and
took their place of origin as a surname might have been a
Pembroke. Is there in fact some evidence that the maiden name
of Benjamin Congdon's mother was Pembroke? If so, it would be
evidence that she was
not
a daughter of the Earl of
Pembroke, who would have had the surname Herbert.
Could the Pembroke - Albro association be related to the fact
that there is an Albro Castle
119
near St. Dogmael's in Pembrokeshire? One would hope not, since
this group of buildings did not exist before 1839.
These controversies by their very nature can only be "settled"
if reliable evidence came to light in support of the connection
to an Earl of Pembroke. Nothing can ever be proven by the
absence of evidence - it might exist with no one having found
it. We can never prove it impossible that an illegitimate
child, unrecognized in the official records, was the "daughter
of an Earl of Pembroke" referenced in the above claims.
References
103
www.my-ged.com/db/page/georgen/884
and ibid. /912
104
www.my-ged.com/db/page/ramsell/1103
and ibid. /1340
105
Guyette, Sherman, Autry et al.,
P.J. Autry, WorldConnect Project #I1110; see ref.# 55762 and
1084.
106
www.my-ged.com/db/page/dennis2/0346
and ibid. /0649
107
Ancestral File for AFN:
10D8-F4F, submitted to the LDS by Carol Giffen Berchtold,
Brigham City, UT.
109
LDS IGI film number 456804 "Anne
Herbert" and FGR for Anne Herbert, AFN: 9TFZ-K9, submitted by
the Genealogical Department, Medieval Families Unit, Salt Lake
City, UT and by Hilary G. Jefferies, Aurora, CO.
110
The Life of Mary (Sidney)
Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561-1621)
,
www.luminarium.org/renlit/marybio.htm
.
111
The Parish Register of St.
Olave, York, Part I, 1538-1644, Church of England, St. Olave
with St. Giles' Church, York, Yorkshire, cited in LDS IGI batch
P011081 printout 0537064.
115
Ancestors of Martha S.
Finfrock
www.familytreemaker.com/users/f/i/n/Martha-S-Finfrock/index.html
, May 1998, updated Feb 20, 1999.
116
Ancestors of Olive "Polly"
Elizabeth Congdon, Generation No. 10, Nancy L. Owen owner,
available at
www.familytreemaker.com/users/o/w/e/Nancy-L-Owen/GENE1-0013.html
downloaded 12/24/2000.
117
Swamp Yankees – the Potters
of Rhode Island
by Donna Faye Potter, N. Kingstown, RI;
www.familytreemaker.com/users/p/o/t/Donna-F-Potter/index.html
; updated 8/26/2000.
119
See the Internet sites:
www2.hmc.gov.uk/NRA/searches/SIdocs.asp?SIR=40826
and
www.cardiganonline.com/teemi/teemi20.html
134
A common custom in 17th century England and the colonies was for the first-born son to be named after the mother's father, and the second to be named after the father's father. John's first son was named Samuel, and the second was named John. This is the only "evidence" for the mysterious "John Albro, Sr."
146
Information provided to The Albro Journal by Bob Hayes, 23 Jan 2002.
147
Information from two letters of Mary Herbert's that survived the fires at Wilton House and Baynard Castle, published by Professor Margaret Hannay, provided to The Albro Journal by Bob Hayes, 21 Jan 2002.