In February of 1997, when I became fascinated with genealogy over the Internet, I queried my mother about her ancestry. At this point, I was the only one in my family interested in delving into our ancestry, and she was happy to have a family member take over the precious, old items. When I received the old documents, I felt like I had come into possession of a treasure chest, and was hopelessly hooked on solving the puzzle of the people behind the papers, particularly one Lancelot Larkham, the son of Thomas Larkham, the progenitor of my line of the Larkham family.

Lancelot Larkham of South Kingstown, Rhode Island and Voluntown, Connecticut is my fifth great-grandfather and my line of ascent to him is proven through public and family records. These records show that Lancelot Larkham was the son of Thomas and Frances (__) Larkham who lived in South Kingstown, Rhode Island in the mid-18th century. Thomas Larkham's relationship to Lancelot Larkham as his father is documented through family records and the series of recorded events that align Thomas Larkham's life with Lancelot's.  My great-grandmother had, among her hand-written notes on her ancestry, a piece of paper bearing what is the patrilineal line of descent of her Larkham family in the United States.  At the top of the list is the name "Thomas Larkham", followed by Lancelot and his male descendants down to her grandfather (my third great-grandfather), William H. Larkham, and three of his brothers.

My earliest record of Lancelot is an 18th century apprenticeship contract in which Frances Larkham, identified as Lancelot's mother in the contract, placed him into an apprenticeship with the weavers Joseph and Margaret Enoss of Richmond, Rhode Island on 7 July 1749.  In the apprenticeship contract, Lancelot's mother, Frances Larkham, was listed as of "South Kingstown in Kings County in the Colony of Rhode Island & Providence Plantation in New England woosted corner". I haven't been able to identify where "woosted corner" was located in mid-18th century South Kingstown, however it must have been a street corner or other locale within South Kingstown where the production of worsted yarn or worsted wool fabric took place.  This is consistent with the placement of young Lancelot into an apprenticeship to learn the "trade or mystery of a weaver" as is stated in his apprenticeship indenture. Young Lancelot’s term of indenture was very specific: 12 years, 4 months and 13 days.  From 7 July 1749, this calculates to 20 November 1761.  I later learned through family records that Lancelot's birth date was 20 November 1740, so his apprenticeship was to end on his 21st birthday.  He was only age eight-and-a-half years old at the time of his apprenticeship.

Lancelot's Father, Thomas Larkham

Rhode Island records show why it was Lancelot's mother who placed him in the apprenticeship.  In The Muster rolls of three companies enlisted by the colony of Rhode Island in May, 1746 appears the record of Thomas Larkham who enlisted in Captain Edward Cole's Company on  8 July 1746 in the campaign against Canada, King George's War.  Two months later, Thomas Larkham died, having served 58 days, wages due 1£ 6S  on 4 September 1746.

Arnold wrote in  History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: 

“These troops were quartered on Goat Island by July and from that time until November 2, when they finally sailed for Nova Scotia they were in a state of uncertainty as to their destination. . . .The number of desertions in the third roll is noticeably large. The fact that the pay of these men was recorded just as it was for those who stayed with the colors is evidence that the authorities knew of extenuating circumstances, or in some way looked leniently upon what is technically a serious fault.”

Thomas Larkham apparently never left Fort George on Goat Island in Newport Harbor.  It's possible that disease was one of the extenuating circumstances of which Arnold wrote. Of 100 men listed on the muster roll of Captain Cole’s Company, twenty-five men died and twenty deserted. Thomas Larkham’s death in 1746 explains why, in July of 1749, it was Frances Larkham who placed young Lancelot into an apprenticeship at the young age of eight-and-a-half years.  Normally the father would have been the more likely party in such a contract, and as a widow, Frances Larkham may have had few resources to raise a child.  

The Origins of the Mid-18th Century Rhode Island Larkhams

 Lancelot's father, Thomas Larkham, first appeared in South Kingstown records in August 1728 when he witnessed the purchase of 15 acres of land in South Kingstown, Rhode Island for £300 by the tailor, Aaron Milliman, from his in-laws, Joseph Case, yeoman and his wife Elisabeth of South Kingstown(South Kingstown, Rhode Island Town Clerk, 1696-1885).  It may be significant that Aaron Milliman was a tailor, as will be discussed later. 

Research of early-to-mid 18th century South Kingstown records reveal no records of people with the surname Larkham, aside from Lancelot, his parents Thomas and Frances, and a probable sister, Elizabeth [1], so it can be assumed that Thomas Larkham was not from Rhode Island. When Thomas Larkham arrived in South Kingstown, the economy of Rhode Island flourished with profitable plantations in Narragansett country, sea trade, and the export of rum, other goods, and slaves in the profitable but cruel "triangle trade". Providence and Newport were among the busiest ports in the New World, booming with trade activities to England, other European countries, other colonial ports, the West Indies and Africa (The John Carter Brown Library, n.d.), so Rhode Island colony likely drew those seeking economic opportunity.

Extensive research into the family of the controversial "non-conformist" Puritan minister, Thomas Larkham of Tavistock, who came briefly to Dover, New Hampshire in 1636-1642, indicates Thomas Larkham of South Kingstown was very likely his great-grandson. Reverend Thomas Larkham’s son, Reverend George Larkham (also a non-conformist minister), had a son named Lancelot Larkham, who was born 29 November 1661 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, England, and he had a son named Thomas. I believe he is Thomas Larkham who came to South Kingstown, Rhode Island.

The Significance of the Name Lancelot

In the family of the Reverend Thomas Larkham and his son, Reverend George Larkham, the name Lancelot came from the family of Dorothy (Fletcher) Larkham, wife of George Larkham and mother of Lancelot Larkham of Cockermouth, Cumberland, England.  Her father was Lancelot Fletcher, the son of Lancelot Fletcher. Several of the Fletcher family were named Lancelot.  Burke wrote, “It appears by the parish of Dean that Lancelot Fletcher and his son Lancelot, held the living of Dean from 1546 to 1635.  Another Lancelot Fletcher d. 1680. Lancelot Fletcher of Mockerkin, m. 1660, Alice Holstock, of Mossergate, and d. 1698…” (Burke, C.B., LL.D., 1875) According to the Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames with Special American Instances by Bardsley, the name Lancelot “was very common in Cumberland and N[orth] England generally for many centuries.” (Bardsley, 1901)

The name, Lancelot, was relatively rare in colonial New England and even more rare in 18th century Rhode Island. However, the name was significant in the Rhode Island and Connecticut Larkham family, passed down through several generations from my fifth great-grandfather, the first Lancelot Larkham born in America, to his son, my fourth great-grandfather, Lancelot Larkham, Jr., who later went by "Lot", to a succession of descendants including Lancey Lot Larkham, Lot Larkham Colegrove, Lancey Lott Witter, Lance Himes, and more. Similarly, the name Thomas was also prevalent in the Rhode Island and Connecticut Larkham family and their descendants.  Lancelot Larkham of Rhode Island named his second-born son Thomas, who in turn named his eldest son Thomas.

Lancelot Larkham, son of Reverend George Larkham, and his son Thomas

Even more compelling is the fact that Lancelot Larkham, son of Reverend George Larkham, had a son named Thomas. In Reverend George Larkham’s will, dated 10 January 1699 and proved 17 March 1700, he names both his son Lancelot and his grandson, Thomas:

The will of Reverend George Larkham, original held at the Carlisle Library, Cumbria, United Kingdom.

Transcription:
Itm My will is and I doe hereby bequeath to my Son Lancelot for a Legacy Ten pound; Itm to his Son Thomas (my Grandchild) Ten pound, To be let out for him; in order to his bringing up to some trade; And I hope his parents will not defraud him &c.

 I believe this grandson of Reverend George Larkham, Thomas, is Thomas Larkham who first appeared in South Kingstown, Rhode Island in 1728 and was the father of Lancelot Larkham of Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Following the paper trail of Lancelot Larkham of Cockermouth, Cumberland, England (son of Reverend George Larkham and father of Thomas Larkham) provides evidence of this. A letter written about 1671 by Reverend George Larkham to his brother-in-law, Daniel Condy of Tavistock, shows that young Lancelot was sent to live with the Condy family in Tavistock when he was about 9 years old.  Reverend Larkham encouraged his brother-in-law to "deal truly with me in the business of his capacity. I shall not discourage the lad; let him fancy his own employment, and I will do my best for him. In the mean time, I should desire, if you think fit, that he learn to write a good hand, and to cast accounts; that so he may be fit for an employment." (Lewis, 1870)  

 The Court Minutes Book of the Upholders Company of the City of London shows that Lancelot was placed in an apprenticeship with the upholder, John Howard (Haward) of London about March 1646 when he was 14 years old, from which Lancelot earned his freedom on 6 March 1683 at age 21 years (The Worshipful Company of Upholders, 1683) :

 Upholders were typically represented by various trades, including the manufacture and sale of upholstered goods, cabinet makers, undertakers, soft furnishers, auctioneers, and valuers. 17th and 18th century upholders were part of the mercantile class and some were involved in overseas trade

 Two of Lancelot Larkham's first cousins, raised for the most part by their grandfather, Reverend Thomas Larkham, were involved in overseas trade. Lancelot's cousin, Thomas Larkham, identified himself as "Merchant of Saint Martin Orgar, City of London" in his will, written June 21, 1685, and proved February 4, 1686 (Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1686) .  His grandfather, Reverend Thomas Larkham, in his will referred to funds provided to his grandson, Thomas, “to set him forth to sea” and “lately returned from the Barbadoes” (Moore, 2011) [2][3]. Lancelot's cousin Thomas Miller, trained as an apothecary with his grandfather, then became involved in the colonial trade for tobacco in Virginia (Moore, 2011) [4] and the American colony of Albemarle, now North Carolina [5] (Parker, 1991). On 1 March 1672/73, Thomas Miller was recorded in Albemarle (now North Carolina) contracting for shipment of a large quantity of tobacco from Albemarle to England as well as his own passage. In his contract Miller was identified as an apothecary of “Balley Samson in the County of Waxford in Ireland.” (Parker, 1991)  Thomas Miller was named Interim Governor and President of the Executive Council of Albemarle and was a central figure in the Culpeper Rebellion (McIlvenna, 2009; Parker, 1991). After his return to England, Thomas Miller was imprisoned for mishandling funds while he was customs collector at Weymouth.  His cousin, Thomas Larkham (merchant of Saint Martin Orgar), gave £1,000 in bond as surety for Thomas Miller. Unfortunately, Thomas Miller died in prison in 1685 (Daniels, 2005), after which Thomas Larkham was arrested and imprisoned for the debt owed by his cousin Miller (Shaw, Ed., 1923).  Conditions in the prison must have been deplorable because Thomas Larkham also died in prison, sometime between 21 June 1685 when he wrote his will and 16 October 1685 when his widow, Hannah, made her first petition to the Customs Commissioners to be discharged of the bond given by her late husband as surety for Thomas Miller (Shaw, Ed., 1923). In his will, Thomas Larkham made the following bequest to his cousin Lancelot Larkham:

Transcription:
Item I give and bequeath unto my cousin Lancelott Larkham the sonne of George Larkham of Cockermouth my Seald Ring which was left me by my grandfather [Reverend Thomas Larkham].

It is probably significant that Thomas Larkham bequeathed his grandfather's ring to Lancelot, because Lancelot wasn't the oldest living male descendant of Reverend Thomas Larkham in 1685.  Lancelot’s father, George, was still living, as well as two older living brothers, Thomas [6] and Deliverance, and a living cousin, Daniel Condy. This indicates Lancelot may have had a close relationship with his older cousin, Thomas Larkham, and this relationship influenced the bequest.

Lancelot probably remained in the vicinity of London during the remainder of his adult life because records are found for him in the London parishes of Battersea and St. Olave.  In addition to his son, Thomas, who is named in George Larkham's will, Lancelot had a daughter, born some time before 1707. Among the burial records of St. Mary's Church, Battersea, is a record for a "Hide's nurse child", Mary Larkham, daughter of Lancelot, who was buried on 28 July 1707 (Society of Genealogists, 2020). These are enhanced copies of records of two concurrent registers for St. Mary's Church, Battersea.

These records show that Lancelot was paying a woman of surname Hide in Battersea to care for his young daughter, Mary. In A Study of Nurse Children, 1550-1750, Gillian Clark notes that nurse children are "children sent away from the parental home to be reared by another family", usually in an arrangement where the child's parents pay for the care of their child.

Just over two years later, the records of St. Olave parish, Bermondsey, Surrey, England included the burial record of Lancelot Larkham on 21 September 1709 (London Metropolitan Archives) .

  Lancelot's burial at St. Olave Church indicates he lived in Bermondsey, perhaps in the vicinity of Tooley Street where the church was located.  In the late 17th and early 18th century, Bermondsey was the location of manufacturing and warehouses along the banks of the Thames River. If Lancelot was still working as an upholder, perhaps he was dealing in the import of furniture, carpets and tapestries, and was centered at a warehouse in this district.

Thomas Larkham becomes the ward of his Uncle Deliverance Larkham
and is apprenticed to the tailor, Samuel Cole

Less than one year after Lancelot's death, a 1710 apprenticeship contract was signed by Deliverance Larkham, of Exeter, Devonshire, England (older brother of Lancelot Larkham and son of Reverend George Larkham of Cockermouth), placing his nephew, Thomas Larkham into an apprenticeship with the tailor, Samuel Cole [7] of Exeter (The National Archives, Kew, 1710-1811; The Society of Genealogists, 1921-1928) . 

Master's Names Places of Abode & Employment: Saml Cole of the City of Exon Taylor
Clerks and Apprentices to their Parents &c: Thom. Nephew of Deliverance Larkham of the City and Conv. of Exon Clerk
Date: 10th July [1710] Terms of Years: 8 yrs. fr. Date

Source: National Archives IR 1/41

This contract provides fairly solid evidence that Lancelot Larkham of Bermondsey was Lancelot Larkham of Cockermouth, son of Reverend George Larkham. Following Lancelot Larkham's death in 1709, custody of his son, Thomas, would have gone to Lancelot's next surviving relative, which was his older brother, Deliverance. 

Deliverance Larkham was a bachelor clergyman with probably limited capability to raise a pre-teenaged boy, so it is not surprising he placed Thomas into an apprenticeship, which was an accepted way for teenaged boys to learn a trade in 17th and 18th century England.  Lancelot Larkham of Cockermouth/Bermondsey was himself apprenticed to the upholder John Howard of London between 1676 and 1683.  Perhaps significantly, this practice was followed when Thomas Larkham of South Kingstown, Rhode Island died. His son Lancelot was also placed into an apprenticeship.

If the apprenticeship of young Thomas ended on his 21st birthday, which was customary, and considering the length of the apprenticeship was eight years, which is one year more than the standard term of apprenticeship, it's likely that Thomas was thirteen years old on 10 July 1710, which would place his birthdate at 10 July 1697. He would have been about eighteen-months-old when Reverend George Larkham named him in his will. Of note, the £10 Deliverance Larkham paid for Thomas Larkham's apprenticeship was the exact amount Reverend George Larkham bequeathed to his grandson "in order to his bringing up to some trade". 

The  apprenticeship of Thomas Larkham, son of Lancelot Larkham of Cockermouth / Bermondsey, establishes that he spent much of his youth, between the age of thirteen and twenty-one, in Exeter, Devonshire, England, between 1710 and 1718, if he completed his apprenticeship. In the early 18th century, Exeter was at the height of its commercial prosperity. It was a major shipping port for England, with a canal for loading and offloading imported and exported goods, Exeter's wool trade flourished, and trade thrived with countries such as Holland, Portugal, Spain and Italy (Kemp, 1992).  Exeter would probably be a good place to serve an apprenticeship to learn the trade of tailoring, as Thomas Larkham did.  Here he was probably exposed to a wide variety of textiles to work with, as well as the maritime trade aspects of the products of his trade.

Despite the lack of records for Thomas Larkham, son of Lancelot Larkham, between 1710 and 1728, it is plausible that he went to Rhode Island colony.  There are some interesting parallels between 18th century Exeter, England,  and 18th century South Kingstown, Rhode Island.   Both locations had thriving economies near key shipping ports.  The production of wool, linen, and other fabrics was prevalent in both places.  In the 1749 apprenticeship contract of Lancelot Larkham of South Kingstown, his mother, Frances Larkham was described as, "of South Kingstown in Kings County in the Colony of Rhode Island & Providence Plantation in New England Woosted Corner".    The name, Woosted Corner, indicates that Lancelot's mother (and probably his father as a tailor) worked in a locale where worsted wool was produced. This would explain why Lancelot was placed into an apprenticeship to learn the trade of weaving.   The records show Thomas Larkham of Exeter was apprenticed to the tailor, Samuel Cole.  It may be significant that the first record of Thomas Larkham in Rhode Island was his witnessing the land deed of another tailor, Aaron Milliman.

The pattern of family naming of the father, Lancelot, to his son Thomas, to his grandson Lancelot, the similar timelines of Thomas Larkham who was born in 1697 and Thomas Larkham who is recorded in South Kingstown in 1728, the rarity of the named Lancelot in colonial Rhode Island and the significance of the name in the Cumberland Larkham family, the relationship between the tailor and weaver trades, the involvement of English Larkham family members in the transatlantic trade -- all provide clues to the English origins of the Rhode Island and Connecticut Larkhams.  Although no conventional proof has yet been found that Thomas Larkham of South Kingstown is the same person as Thomas Larkham, son of Lancelot Larkham of Cumberland and London, there are plenty of clues that he was. My research will continue in an effort to narrow the record gap between the English and American Larkham families.