Mary (Need) Levis (abt. 1625 - 1664)

Born about 18 Apr 1625 in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Christopher Levis — married 22 Jul 1648 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

Descendants

Died 16 May 1664 at about age 39 in Harby, Leicestershire, England

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Magna Carta Surety Baron Descendant (see text). Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

Mary Need is a descendant of a number of Surety Barons. See below.

Biography

Birth and Parentage

Mary Need was baptized on 18 Apr 1625 at Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England. She was the only daughter of Humphrey Need, a yeoman (farmer), of Arnold and Dorothy (maiden name unknown).^[1] Mary is mentioned (as a legatee) in the will, dated 16 Mar 1638,^[2] of her great-uncle Gervase Melford (her grandmother Mary Melford's brother), as the daughter of Humphrey Need.^[1]

Marriage and Issue

On 22 July 1648 at St Peter's, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Mary married Christopher Levis of Harby, Leicestershire, yeoman, the son of Richard Levis^[1] and Issabell Duberrie.^[3] Mary was 23 and Christopher was 26. They had 5 children, all born in Harby, Leicestershire, England:^[4]

1. Samuel, b. 30 Sep 1649, married Elizabeth Claytor^[1][5] Samuel came to America in 1682; he "returned to England and brought his family over in 1684" (removal certificate "dated 5-20-1684 [July 20], from Harby, is found in Philadelphia, Pa. Friends' records")^[2][4]
2. Mary, b. 8 May 1652^[5]
3. Richard, b. 8 May 1654, d. 23 Jun 1663^[5]
4. Sarah, b. 30 Sep 1663,^[5] married Thomas Bradshaw^[1]
5. Hannah, b. 30 Sep 1663,^[5] married Michael Blunston (no issue)^[1]

Mary died on 16 May 1664 in Harby, Leicestershire, England.^[1][6] She was survived by her husband, whose 19 Oct 1677 will named Samuel, Mary, Sarah, and Hannah.^[1] Their son Richard had previously died on 23 Jun 1663.^[5]

Research Notes

There are a few discrepancies between Cope, Comly and Richardson. One child, Richard (born 8 May 1654),^[5] is listed by two different authors, Comly and Cope (plus two additional on-line sources),^[7][8] but he is not listed by Richardson, who states "one son, Samuel, and three daughters, Mary, Sarah, and Hannah."^[1] Also, Comly states that the daughter Mary died in 1664 which is thirteen years prior to the will of Christopher Levis, dated 19 Oct 1677, that names four living children (Samuel, Mary, Sarah, and Hannah).^[1] Comly footnotes the death dates of Mary and Richard as being in the Leicestershire Friends Records.^[5] The most liking explanation is that Comly confused the mother Mary's death date as the daughter Mary's death date. The death date for Mary's daughter Mary from Comly is most likely wrong. Also, Comly has Mary, the mother, marrying Thomas Wright as a second marriage in 1680 well after the date she died as recorded by Richardson.^[5] Again, Comly could have confused the mother with the daughter and Thomas Wright may have married the daughter in 1680. Further research is required.

Birth dates given for the other children come from a single source and may also be suspect:

Mary and Richard are shown as born on the same day, 8 May (different years) - Mary in 1652 and Richard in 1654.^[5]

Sarah and Hannah are shown as twins born 30 Sept, the same as Samuel, but in 1663^[5] (Samuel was born in 1649).^[1]

Royal Ancestors

Through her father Humphrey Need:
Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor^[9] - 28th great grandfather.
William I, "The Conqueror", King of England^[10][11] - 18th great grandfather.
Henry I, King of England^[10]
Henry II, King of England^[12] - 15th great grandfather.
Philippe IV, King of France ^[13] - 12th great grandfather.
Edward I, "Longshanks", King of England^[14] - 12th great grandfather.
Edward III, King of England^[2] - 10th great grandfather.

She is also a descendant of Magna Carta surety baron Saher de Quincy (see details below).

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), volume IV, page 205 NEED 21.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Mahler, Leslie: "Samuel Levis, Quaker Immigrant to Pennsylvania", The Genealogist, Spring 1999, Vol 13, No 1, p. 30-36 (PDF download)
3. ↑ Richard Levis' Find A Grave: Memorial #147843761 shows his wife as Issabell Duberrie.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Cope, Gilbert; Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Chester and Delaware counties, Pennsylvania. V.1. Salem, Mass. :Higginson Book Co.,[1993]. Pages 250-251
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10} Comly, George Norwood. Comly Family in America (Privately published under supervision of J.B. Lippincott. Philadelphia, Pa. : 1939). Pages 922-923. Note: Dates from this book are Quaker.
6. ↑ Walker, Need Family of Arnold, Appendix 2. Her death is recorded in Quaker Registers, Leicester Monthly Meeting, 1648 to 1837, FHL microfilm 1484596.
7. ↑ Maier Associates - MARY NEED. Note: Their dates have not been converted from Quaker.
8. ↑ Rash's Surname Index Note: Use with caution. Some dates are Quaker and some are not.
9. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), volume V, page 481 Appendix Line B and C. 8th great grandfather of Maud of Flanders, wife of William The Conqueror
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Richardson, Royal Ancestry, 204-206 NEED
11. ↑ Great grandfather of Henry II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror)
12. ↑ Great grandfather of Edward I (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England)
13. ↑ Maternal grandfather of Edward III of England (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_IV_of_France)
14. ↑ Grandfather of Edward III (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of_England)

See also:

• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
• Richardson, Douglas. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 3 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition ([volume II, page 602 NEED 18.ii). Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for Plantagenet Ancestry.
• Walker, Michael L: History of the Family of Need of Arnold, Nottinghamshire (London, 1963). Not seen. (Google)
• Society of Friends. Bi-centennial of old Kennett meeting house, Kennett Township, Chester Co., Pa. Philadelphia, W. H. Jenkins[1910]. See also https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t2g74616f;view=1up;seq=11

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was reviewed/approved for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 28 January 2020.

Mary (Need) Levis is the mother of Gateway Ancestors Samuel Levis, Hannah (Levis) Blunston and Sarah (Levis) Bradshaw (and the aunt of Mary (Need) Cartledge and Joseph Need, other Gateway ancestors) and appears in a Richardson-documented trail from the Levis Gateways to Magna Carta Surety Barons Hugh le Bigod and Roger le Bigod (vol. II, pages 221-223 NEED). This profile is also in trails identified by the Magna Carta Project to surety barons Saher de Quincy, John de Lacy, Gilbert de Clare, Richard de Clare and John Fitz Robert. These trails were developed for the Project by John Sigh, were badged in February 2020 by Michael Cayley, and can be seen in the Magna Carta Trails section of Samuel Levis' profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".