LEWES/LEWIS Ipswich St. Clement

    Hello Suffolk Researchers:

    I am searching for birth and marriage records for Edmond Lewes (Lewis) )(b. 1600/1601) who sailed on the Elizabeth from Ipswich to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1634, with his wife Mary (b. 1602) and two sons, John (3) and Thomas (9 months). The passenger list for the Elizabeth lists Edmond's age as 33 and Mary's age of 32.

    John Lewes was baptized to Edmond Lewes, July 18, 1630 at St. Mary le Tower. Thomas Lewes was baptized to Edm. and Mary, May 27, 1633 at St. Mary at the Elms. Edmond Lewes was listed in Freemen of the Borough of Ipswich in 1632, with no other information.

    A will for Richard Lewes of Ipswich, merchant, 14 October 1625, lists Edmond Lewes as a son, apprenticed to Luke Fisher of Ipswich, ropemaker. Richard Lewes was noted as Church Warden of the Parish of St. Clement Ipswich in 1598. Richard Lewes's burial in 1625 is noted in the St. Clement Parish records.

    Unfortunately, the microfilm of the St. Clement Parish Records available in the LDS FamilySearch catalog contains only marriages from this time period and an incomplete index compiled Edward Cookson in the 1800s.

    There are repeated references of Edmond Lewes's origins in Wales or Lynn Regis, Norfolk, as well as his wife's surname as Carey. I've not found any evidence to support these claims. I find it much more likely that Edmond Lewes was born in or around Ipswich, Suffolk, where there are numerous Lewes/Lewis families in the 1600s.

    I would especially appreciate any information from the Ipswich St. Clement Parish Records that might shed light on Edmond's birth around 1601.

    Thank you in advance!

    Michael Alan Lewis
    11th generation lineal male descendant of Edmond Lewes of Lynn, Massachusetts