Abram Gawkroger (bef. 1574 - bef. 1625)

Born before 21 Nov 1574 in Sowerby, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Martha Riley — married 16 May 1605 in St John the Baptist, Halifax, Yorkshire, England

Descendants

Died before 15 May 1625 at about age 50 in Warley, Yorkshire, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Glenn Kittredge [send private message]

Biography

Surname

The surname Gawkroger is derived from the Yorkshire dialectal term “gawk” and the personal name Roger. Then name may have been given to one particular Roger due to a particular incident or was a nickname for Roger but was taken on as a surname. Gawk is a term referring to a clumsy, simple person so the name means “awkward Roger”. The surname was first recorded in the mid 16th century. The first recorded spelling was Gawkeroger, dated 1539 in the Parish of Rothwell, Yorkshire.^[1]

Notes

"Mr. Torrey agreed with the present contributor that Genet or Jenet Fairbank named in his paper [TAG, 37:68] did not die young as stated. She married, it now seems certain, James(Richard, John, Richard, John) Platts alias Gawkroger of Sowerby. They had, with others,Abraham Platts alias Gawkroger and James. This Abraham Platts was father of Mary who married in 1629 John Prescott of Sowerby with whom she shortly removed to New England,where he became principal promoter of Lancaster, Mass., which seems to have been named to honor him."^[2]

Baptism Record

Abram, son of James Gawkroger de Sourbi, baptized on Nov. 21,1574,^[3] at Halifax Parish, York, England.

Abram Gawkroger was born in the township of Sowerby in the ancient parish of Halifax, the son of James Gawkroger, and was baptised on 21 November 1574 at St John the Baptist's Church, Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.^[4]

Abraham Gaukroger of Warley married Martha Riley on 16 May 1605 at St John the Baptist's Church, Halifax, Yorkshire, England.^[5]

Abram Gawkroger died in the township of Warley in the ancient parish of Halifax in 1625 and was buried on 15 May 1625 at St John the Baptist's Churchyard, Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Internet Surname Database Gaukroger,
2. ↑ The American Genealogist, vol. 40 no. 1 (January 1964): pages 22-29. "Notes on Families from the Parish of Halifax, Yorkshire: Farrer, Deane, Platts, Fairbank, Prescott", by John G. Hunt.
3. ↑ The parish register of Halifax, co. York by Halifax (England); Crossley, E. W. (Ely Wilkinson), 1863-1942,Volume 37,page 223, https://archive.org/details/parishregisterof37hali/page/222/mode/2up?q=Gawkroger+
4. ↑ Baptism: "West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812"
   West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; New Reference Number: WDP53/1/1/2
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2256 #8871221 (accessed 22 April 2023)
   Abram Gawkroger's baptism on 21 Nov 1574, child of James Gawkroger, in Halifax, St John the Baptist, Yorkshire, England.
5. ↑ Marriage: "West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812"
   West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; New Reference Number: WDP53/1/1/4
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2256 #8913287 (accessed 22 April 2023)
   Abraham Gaukroger's marriage to Martha Riley on 16 May 1605 in Halifax, St John the Baptist, Yorkshire, England.
6. ↑ Burial: "West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812"
   West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; New Reference Number: WDP53/1/1/5
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2256 #8945934 (accessed 22 April 2023)
   Abram Gawkroger's burial (died in about 1625) on 15 May 1625 in Halifax, St John the Baptist, Yorkshire, England.

Source list:

• White, Almira Larkin. Genealogy of the Descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster ... volume 4 of 4 (Haverhill, 1909):161-186. Appendix: The Ancestry Mary Gawkroger alias Platts wife of John Prescott. Google Books Link. Note: Identifies wrong Mary Gawkroger; Mary d. of James and Martha Ainsworth bp. 19 March 1606/7 was too old to have been the daughter Mary (Gawkroger) Prescott. Correct Mary is her cousin, dau. of Abraham and Martha (Riley) Gawkroger.

• The American Genealogist, vol. 37, no. 2 (April 1961): pages 68-. "The English Ancestry of Jonathan Fairbanks of Dedham, Massachusetts", by Clarence Almon Torrey.

p. 68: Genet5 bp. April 26, 1552 d. young. [Daughter of George Fairbanks and Sibyl Wade; others later say she did not die young but was the wife of James Gawkroger]

• The American Genealogist, vol. 40 no. 1 (January 1964): pages 22-29. "Notes on Families from the Parish of Halifax, Yorkshire: Farrer, Deane, Platts, Fairbank, Prescott", by John G. Hunt.

• Abram Gawkroger via Cookie Crumbs Ancestry

• Abraham of Platts NEEDHAM GENEALOGY. Last updated on Thursday, 12-Feb-2015.
• Title: Mary Gawkroger/Platts Prescott (1612 - After 1678) of Sowerby, Yorkshire, England and Watertown & Lancaster, Massachusetts, New England ; Daughter of Abraham and Martha (Riley) Gawkroger and Wife of John Prescott. Editor Cline Doris Ward.Publisher Ward Publishing Company, 1985