Multiple Anne Shermans in Dedham Essex

Question

I have an ancestor named Anne Sherman whose descendants moved to New England and discover there are six profiles for Anne Sherman in Dedham, Essex, in the same time period. I've placed a "Disambiguation" listing all 6 and their current dates and connections on each of the six profiles.  Some or all of them are the same person, but the first step is research.  Who can suggest useful (and reliable).sources for an Anne Sherman in Dedham, Essex in the late 1500's?

Answer 1

Looking at the profiles these publications seem good starting points, and then see what sources they cite. The NEHGR article may well have dealt with the disambiguation, it certainly seems to treat multiple Sherman families with a lot of detail.
    
Michael Johnson Wood. "The Earliest Shermans of Dedham Essex and their wives"; NEHGR Vol 166 Oct 2012; page 245 onwards

Thomas Townsend Sherman, Sherman Genealogy, Including Families of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk England: Some Descendants of the Immigrants. (New York: T. A. Wright, 1920)


 

Answer 2

Essex Archives Online has the historic records - Wills, Depositions etc and also the parish registers for St Mary the Virgin Dedham - baptisms 1560-1620/marriages 1560-1613/burials 1560-1613 at https://www.essexrecordoffice.co.uk/research/

Answer 3

Well, after some research (research is never done!) here's what I discovered:  Five of the seven (the number expanded) are granddaughters of the same man by three fathers who were brothers..  Three of the seven are daughters of the same brother.  He married an Anne and named a daughter Anne.  She died young, so after a few years they named another daughter Anne.  Then his wife Anne died and he married another Anne.  The two of them wanted to have a daughter Anne as well, so they did.  .The other two brothers also like the name Anne, but they couldn't keep up with brother #1.  

And some people think genealogy is boring!