Can anyone prove the existence of Lady Jane Pickering?

Question

The wife of George Stillman (Stileman) (Stillman-17) of Hadley & Wethersfield, is currently on this tree as Jane, the daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering of Titchmarsh; and there is a fanciful story attached to this couple involving the Monmouth Rebellion (and in many versions George Stillman changing his name to Pickering because 'Lady Jane' was an heiress 'of the nobility'.)

The fact that Sir Gilbert Pickering of Titchmarsh only had 1 daughter who lived to adulthood (& this was Elizabeth Creed (pickering-1287)) is easily proven & to this effect I have posted Sir Gilbert's will on his profile (pickering-14). 

There are various pedigrees showing between 1 - 4 daughters, but none are ever named Jane. None of the other daughters (Mary, Ann & Frances) are mentioned anywhere else, so if they lived, they seem not to have lived long.

Further corroborating evidence is found on the monuments erected by Elizabeth Creed in Titchmarsh church to her brothers Theophilus & Francis, in which she names herself as their only sister & that of her son Richard Creed in Westminster Abbey (& also another to him in Titchmarsh) where she names herself as the only daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering. (It would seem heartless of her to do this if her sister had lived and had children. And from the wording of Sir Gilbert's will, the monuments themselves, & Elizabeth rushing back to Titchmarsh when her brother Oliver died, (also mentioned in Pepys diary) they seem mostly a loving family.)

https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/richard-creed

(e.g. Here is the link to the monument of Richard Creed & the brother's monuments can also be viewed online. If you can't find, I can point you in the right direction.)

Besides this evidence, the whole story, as told on numerous trees, is historically & practically unconvincing and I am not sure why it's been copied so many times without question - 

Firstly, if Jane were a daughter of Sir Gilbert she would never have the title 'Lady' as Sir Gilbert was  only a baronet. 

Secondly, as can be seen from the will, & from various entries in the diary of Samuel Pepys, the Pickering family were on their uppers & Jane would have had little or no inheritance (so Mr Stillman would have no reason to change his name.) 

Thirdly, the idea that the couple were pardoned for their part in the Monmouth rebellion because of Jane's 'nobility' - oh dear! (Just to add, the Monmouth rebellion is well documented, but no trace of this couple can be found. And what were they doing there anyway??)  If we imagine for a moment Jane was the daughter of Sir Gilbert; he was a regicide, who was only pardoned by the intercession of his brother-in-law, & banned from public office. I imagine this would add to the severity of the couple's punishment & not have alleviated it.

These bonkers stories fascinate me, and looking at where this one came from it seems there are no sources; although 'Lady Jane Pickering' is repeated in many old books. The wording is always 'tradition' or 'probably', and it seems the surnames Pitcairn, Pigot and Picard have also been mentioned 'traditionally' with this lady. (Here I must mention that there is also a 'tradition' in most of these books that George Stillman was a Cromwellian, or a regicide. For someone born circa 1654, the word precocious doesn't even cover this.)

It is not until 1989 in The Stillman Family by Francis D Stillman that Sir Gilbert Pickering is mentioned. To quote: -  ‘Lady Jane may have been the daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering, one of the judges on the commission to try Charles I, and his wife Elizabeth, sister of the Earl of Sandwich.’  

This idea seems to have been picked up and run with. (with no sources or evidence.)

 The story of the Monmouth Rebellion is not mentioned in any book and seems to have grown to life on the internet.

There is a website called www. stillman.org which is, uh-hum, disengenuous in it's laying out of 'facts' &  misleading in a number of areas. I note a lot of the biographies on family trees borrow from here. 

(The owner of this site is either extremely gullible and misinformed, or should be a little ashamed, quite frankly. This site makes good use of a lot of work by others which does not prove either Jane or George's heritage, but is nicely worded & insinuates documented sources exist where they don't.)

Incidentally, after the will of Sir Gilbert was probated the remaining children put forward a suit against brothers John & Gilbert regarding property in Titchmarsh. 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5417332

The diary of Samuel Pepys is also handily online & the various mentions of the Pickering family can be found quite easily. 

https://www.pepysdiary.com

(As far as I'm aware, the evidence for the parents of George Stillman, the husband, is not conclusive either.)

P.S.

Another researcher got in touch with me to say they are pretty much convinced that Jane Pickering et al are the work of Gustave Anjou - but I don't know anything about this - possibly worth looking into?

Comments

Per Timothy Venning, "Pickering, Sir Gilbert, First Baronet, appointed Lord Pickering under the protectorate (1611-1668)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press 2004, Sir GIlbert and Elizabetth Montague had 8 sons and 4 daughters.  So, was Jane the 4th daughter?  A lot more research needs to be done before this can be ruled out, though right now it seems ify at best.  Some conclusions based on not being mentioned don't necessary rule out existence.  The daughter that married Creed lived for some time.  It would be interesting to see the root sources for the book above.  I've read Pepys' diary and he doesn't come close to mentioning all 12 of Sir Gilbert's children so that doesn't discount a person.  I do agree something more substantial needs to be found before this line can be claimed.  But it's worth researching.  Also, I'm seeing that Pickering was appointed a Lord.  So besides the Baronetcy, as a Lord, his daughters could be called ladies. I agree it was Earl Montague who got him off the hook with Charles II but only possible because Sir GIlbert didn't sign the death warrant (smart man.)  Also, Pepys implies bribes (silver) given to him by Betty Montague Pickering and the down fall of that side of the family.  "Oh how the mighty have fallen." he mused.  BTW  I have a full copy of the pardon (its in Latin.)  I'm working on having it fully translated.  Good luck in your endeavors.

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Re the ODNB's 8 sons and 4 daughters, this seems to be sourced from the 1681 visitation of Northamptonshire. The 4 daughters are as  named by the original post : Elizabeth (Creed) Ann,Mary both died young and Frances died unmarried, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015039595635&view=1up&seq=190&q1=Pickering  Sir Gilbert Pickering was Lord Chamberlain during the protectorate. This office is usually held by a peer but he was one of a few that haven't been peers .

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I didn’t imply that because Jane isn’t mentioned in Pepys, it’s another piece of evidence against her; I think you have mistook me there.

The four daughters mentioned in the ODNB can be found in pedigrees and are named (mentioned above.)

Yes. I had overlooked Gilbert being appointed a Lord, thank you for that.

I know, not being mentioned somewhere doesn’t necessarily prove non-existence, but my point was, is there anywhere where she IS mentioned (besides the Stillman family tree?)

Part of the story of Jane was her vast inheritance and her husband changing his name to Pickering because of it - the will of Sir Gilbert only mentions one daughter & he basically had nothing to give her. (As Elizabeth is well documented & verifiable as his daughter, is it jumping to too many conclusions to think the daughter mentioned is her?)

It does need to be researched, that’s my point. There is a lot iffy about it; but still it’s repeated ad infinitum.

I would like someone to find evidence of her existence, if she really existed. I can’t find anything, can anyone else? (Personally, I don’t think she did, but I would love to be wrong.)

I’m pretty sure the pardon of Sir Gilbert has been transcribed somewhere, I will see if I can find it for you.

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Awesome, thanks.  It actually looks unlikely that that a daughter of Sir Gilbert  married Styleman.  However, if he was married to a Jane Pickering (hypothetical) seems a  more likely candidate would be Jane Pickering the heir of Christopher Pickering.  He was the grandson of James Pickering (1560-1618) and Anne Clifford (1567-1602).  Christopher left his estate, Tyrrinhams, to two heiresses, Anne the wife of Alexander Wilkinson and Jane (no mention of marriage.)  They sold the property in 1769 and, interestingly,  it was again sold in 1685 to John Creed who married Elizabeth Pickering.  So we see what seems to be a Jane Pickering, apparently single at the time of Christopher's death, who sold her stake in Tyrringhams in 1679,  the year Dr, George Stillman born in August.  That Jane Pickering of Tyrringhams, seems to disappear from history at that point.  So if it can even be established that Styleman married a person named Jane Pickering, I would think that might be a more plausible investigation.  The reference on the Pickerings above from A History of the County of Northhampton, Vol 3 pages  142-149.

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You're right about the will of Sir Gilbert.  Doesn't make sense.  You know the alternate Jane I mentioned above would at least explain the Stillman stories of inheriting vast wealth and ties with royalty.  That Jane's Great Grandmother. Anne Clifford, had ancestors that included the Dukedoms of Sommerset and Buckingham, Earls of Huntington, etc.  Probably worth more research that trying to extract a fifth daughter out of Sir Gilbert. lol

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I searched the "compleat" list of those pardoned and punished in the Monmouth Rebellion using a word search and no Pickering or an variant of the name Styleman/Stillman, etc. showed up.  Nothing in the regicides about him either.  Seems the stories are really baseless.  Someone may have assumed that since he left England in 1685, he was running after the Monmouth Rebellion rebellion, that ended in July of that year.  Makes a great story but nothing factual to base it on.

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I did smile, I suspected that Jane may be the next candidate. She is obviously a better fit than someone who didn't exist, but this Jane would not be a ‘Lady’ either as her father was just an Esq.

 If you look at the wording of the sentence you are basing your narrative on, it’s pretty sketchy  - ‘…On his death, it seems to have been divided between his two heiresses, Anne the wife of Alexander Wilkinson and Jane Pickering. They probably sold it in 1679 to John Farrer and William Sherard, who sold it in 1685 to John Creed, of Oundle…’ – ‘it seems’, ‘probably’. (The sources for that book would need to be viewed to see what they actually say.)

 Is this Christopher Pickering the same Christopher of Titchmarsh whose property was sequestered during the Civil War? (He appears in the Journal of the House of Commons in 1645 & looks to have compounded: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol8/pp48-52 , but in 1648 he appears on a list as one of those sequestered:  https://www.british-history.ac.uk/compounding-committee/pt1/pp83-96  Then in 1673 he petitions for a pension, due to being sequestered and in financial straits – he received a pension of £10 per annum. https://www.civilwarpetitions.ac.uk/petition/the-petition-of-christopher-pickering-of-titchmarsh-northamptonshire-7-january-1673 )

 Why are the profits of the rents from the manor of Tirringhams being paid to Ursula Bexwell and Robert Apreece (Apryce) of Washingley & wife Frances in 1675? (They are to enjoy the rest of the rents for life & then they go to their children) https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/fe0fd459-11c8-4a43-9223-5def3062bd27

 (There is also some wrangling going on between Christopher & Sir John Holland involving land in Tirringhams at around the same time, but to find out about all these things would involve a trip to the archives.)

I think there is more going on with Tirringhams than is suggested in the ‘History of Northamptonshire’., and I doubt there is any great inheritance there. I'm also unsure your assessment of the conditions required for sale are necessarily correct – wouldn’t it depend on the terms of inheritance? There are instances of women selling land etc. Also, records of the sons of deceased daughters being on a level pegging in inheritance with their aunts, so I don’t see it necessarily follows that Ann’s son (if she had one) had rights over Jane’s inheritance.   And, if Jane was married at the time of the (possible) sale & she was our theoretical Jane Stillman, then there could be mention of George somewhere in documents regarding the sale.

 

But there is no more likelihood of Jane coming from this family as from any other Pickering family (if she is a Pickering.) As already mentioned, the family of Sir Gilbert Pickering isn’t in the frame in this family history until 1989.( See ‘The Stillman Family’ by Francis D. Stillman https://archive.org/details/stillmanfamilyde00stil/page/n9) There are Janes in the Titchmarsh family, there are Janes in the Yorkshire Pickering family, and there are other Jane Pickerings to be found in other places, London etc., who probably aren’t related to either of those families. How do we know where to look?

I am not saying a ‘Jane’ did not exist, George had to have a mother; I do not believe in the existence of ‘Lady Jane Pickering’ (or the stories that surround her & her husband.)

 Apparently, what is known comes from a family history recorded by William Pickering in 1852.  This is the book that needs to be found. Does anyone know of its whereabouts?

 William Pickering apparently writes that he was told by his grandfather, George (son of George Stillman & Jane Pickering), that his father was born in 1654, his mother Jane Pickering (?) was born in 1659, they married in 1677 & that he (George the son) stayed behind in London to finish his apprenticeship to a tailor. He also says that his father changed his name from ‘Spickard (Picard or Packard, but pronounced with an S by George senior)’ to Stillman when he came to America and George the son followed suit, but he did not know why they’d done it. (https://archive.org/details/babcockalliedfam00defo/page/94/ - An example from ‘Babcock & Allied families.’ Louis De Forest, 1883. See also account in footnotes in The History of Ancient Wethersfield below too.)

Isn’t the name change a weird thing to say if it’s not true? (I suppose there is the possibility that he was suffering from dementia?)  From these few facts the rest has grown with little or no evidence. Including the name change to & from Pickering due to an inheritance/ the noble angle. The name-change because he was a regicide/Cromwellian (impossible given his age.) The Monmouth rebellion – I still can’t find where this one started.

 The Stileman family of Steeple Ashton, who appear in the Visitation of Wiltshire, are first mentioned by Henry Stiles in his ‘History of Ancient Wethersfield. Vol 2’. He prints their coat of arms and then says George was ‘probably’ of Steeple Ashton (without any evidence). He then mentions in a footnote that evidence of George hasn’t been found in any Stillman/stileman etc. family yet; which is still the case.

 https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/180119-the-history-of-ancient-wethersfield-connecticut-comprising-the-present-towns-of-wethersfield-rocky-hill-and-newington-and-of-glastonbury-prior-to-its-incorporation-in-1693-from-date-of-earliest-settlement-until-the-present-time-vol-2

 

 (There is a legend, started in the above book, & carried on to 1989 by Francis D Stillman, that states that the relevant pages for George have been ‘ripped’ from the Parish registers of Steeple Ashton, which isn’t quite true – one Parish register seems to end in 1647 & the other begins in 1653, so 1647-1652 are ‘missing’, there are baptisms from 1653 onwards & 1654 is there. Francis Stillman and Stillman.org also talk about the work  ‘The Stylleman Family’ by Geoffrey Stileman, as if this corroborates George’s descent and place in that family.  Geoffrey Stileman’s work charts the documented Australian descent from the Stilemans of Steeple Ashton & does not mention a George that fits this one. There is also an apocryphal bible – has anybody seen it?)

With no evidence yet found in England for George (senior or junior) how can we begin to find Jane? The only certain thing is that she is not the daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering. (See the Deed of gift for Ringstead upon Elizabeth’s marriage to John Creed, in which Elizabeth is named as ‘sole daughter’ of Gilbert - meaning all other daughters were dead by 1668. Even if there was a Jane (which there wasn’t) she would have been dead long before the 1677 marriage date. http://nro.adlibhosting.com/Details/archive/110156061)

Jane should really be removed as a daughter of Sir Gilbert.

Unfortunately, if she is detached,  I fear she will probably  end up as the daughter of Christopher of Tirringhams; her bio will say: ‘Newly discovered research shows…’ or ‘Family records indicate…’ And she’ll still be ‘Lady’ and born in 1659 (though Christopher’s Jane wasn’t.) All from one sketchy sentence. Internet genealogy is a lovely digital Penrose staircase.

 

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Thanks for all of the insight.  You're right about the myriad of internet genealogies.  One of my lines had this "traditional" ancestor in many trees as some obscure general who seem to have never existed.  I was finally able to trace the real person to a normal guy living in Buffalo New York.  lol  It did feel good to find a true ancestor with multiple solid sources.

Answer 1

Have any articles appeared in the major genealogical periodicals or elsewhere on George Stillman of Hadley, Massachusetts, and Wethersfield, Connecticut. Where can I find verifiable information on him?

Thanks.

Answer 2

I have detached the parents for Jane Stillman, supposed daughter of Gilbert Pickering. There is enough evidence to suggest that she is not his daughter, and no evidence to back up that she was his daughter or the story of Jane and George in England.