Introduction

What started out a few years ago as the search for Godfrey Nims’ birth record, has now morphed into a detailed investigation into Godfrey’s immediate family and their story, as well as his extended family and friends.

Once I uncovered Godfrey’s birth registration, I began the next step to diagram his family in England, whatever their origins, in the hopes of finding the connection to colonial America and possible reasons for his emigration. As I progressed, it quickly became evident that Godfrey’s parents’ story wasn’t a simple one. The link between London and Northampton, Mass. could have come from any number of sources.

Phase II: Emigration

If Phase I of the “Finding Godfrey” project centered on the Nims Family’s origins in the “Old World”, we have decidedly entered Phase II, which focuses on Godfrey’s emigration. We want to answer the questions: why, when, how, and with whom? As mentioned in the previous chapter, we will use the genealogical “FAN Method” – researching Friends, Associates, and Neighbors.

Henry Nims and the Elinors

Henry’s and his wives’ stories weren’t simple and we currently have very little information about their origins.

Current Chronology

1644 Bristol - Henry and Elinor Nimes first listed in Britain as “strangers” - meaning either “from another parish” or more likely “from another country”; 

1644 Bristol - Daughter Elizabeth, 1646 son Henry in 1646 born in Bristol and both died in infancy

1648 London - Godfrey born in St. Clement-Danes Parish in the City of Westminster, London, England

1651 London - Daughter Mary was born 1651. She died in 1653, St. Clement-Danes Parish

1653 London - A second daughter Mary (Mary II) was born in 1653, St. Clement-Danes Parish

1654 London - Henry’s first wife, Elinor [maiden name unknown], Godfrey’s mother died in Westminster

1655 London - Henry remarries also an Elinor (Davis / Denes) in Westminster: (Elinor II)

Elinor II is listed in the St Clement-Danes bann as a “single woman” and in the St Botolph Aldersgate bann as a “spinster”

Henry listed as a gunsmith

1658-1675 Nims family listed in St Clement-Danes records

1675 London - Elinor II died and is buried at St Clement-Danes

Henry is in receipt of Parish relief after Elinor dies and is recorded in two relief documents as “Hendrik” (there are other “Henry’s” on the page, ie it’s not a clerical error). This is exclusively a Dutch or Flemish name; and

1691 London - Henry died and was buried at St Clement-Danes

Godfrey Nims’ Solo Emigration?

As I detailed in the previous article, Godfrey Comes to America, I have established young Godfrey’s possible emigration window as 1660-1665. We had been working under the assumption that he traveled alone; however, David Nims’ family genealogical collection contains one of Godfrey’s grandsons recording that Godfrey was “…one of 4 Nims brothers that came to America from England [summarized].

We currently have little evidence that Godfrey had any living brothers so there could be several reasons that this was retained in the family records:

1- The apocryphal story is false

2- Godfrey travelled to America with companions who were erroneously referred to as “brothers”

3- Henry’s second wife Elinor Davis / Denes had children from a previous marriage, Godfrey’s step-siblings, some of whom may have been the “brothers” mentioned

The third reason requires us to look more closely at Elinor II Davis / Denes’ life to determine if she was married before Henry and if she had any children living from that marriage. And, we should look for any “Davis” boys who emigrated to America, in and around Godfrey’s emigration window.

New Data and Inferences

While perusing thousands of pages of State Papers in English Archives, I came across a license granted in Feb 1662 to Elinor Davis, “widow” “…near the Maypole…” in St Clement Danes to “sell fleshmeat during Lent”. 1662 would have been after Elinor II and Henry Nims married and before Henry’s death was recorded.

If this record relates to our Nims family it needs to be closely examined.

“Davis” also “Davies”, and “Davids” from the Welsh patronymic “ap Dyfed” or “ap Dafydd” [Son of David] was and is an extremely common name in Britain and now in the United States. Elinor Davis is listed as a widow. However, A 17th century UK marriage specialist I consulted explained that people of that era routinely provided half-truths to evade government regulations. It is possible that Elinor Davis Nims dropped her married name to disassociate Henry from her business ventures for some reason.

The reason this information is worth pursuing is that the license specifies that Elinor Davis is from “near the Maypole” in St Clement-Danes. Tax records show that Henry Nims was paying taxes on a property on Maypole Lane at that time.

I set up a working theory that the Elinor Davis granted the license was our Elinor Davis Nims.

The license specifies that she is a “widow”. There could be several reasons for this:

If she were the widow of a man named “Davis” perhaps he was a tradesperson such as a butcher who had a preexisting business venture that she inherited. She might have needed to keep a previous married name as the legal owner of the business as in, “doing business as…” She might not have wished to change the ownership associated with an established concern.

As a side note, our researcher Natalie mused several years ago, “maybe Elinor Davis had the money”

It is entirely possible that Elinor had married before Henry Nims and that she had a child/children with her first husband.

Interestingly, here is a Joanne Nims from Haughton Street (at Maypole Lane) that died in 1657. This would have probably been too early to have been the child of Elinor II and Henry Nims and we have not been able to locate her birth record. This engendered the question, could Joanne Nims be Henry’s step-daughter and the product of Elinor II and her first husband? It is not uncommon for step children to be listed under the new father’s name on official records.

Godfrey and Les Filles du Roy

I never forget the little nugget of information that the “lad” Godfrey organized the break-in of his neighbor, Robert Bartlett’s house in order to get money to “run away to the ffrench”. An additional story is that the lads were enticed by an indigenous boy, Quequelatt, with tales of “women, dancing and partying” in Quebec.

This coincides in history with the arrival in Canada of the Les Filles du Roy [Daughters of the King]. The royal government of France under Louis XIV, between 1663-1673, shipped young women to New France to marry French settlers. These women were volunteers as well as incarcerated “criminals”.

This might have been quite the impetus for a young man such as Godfrey, living in a colony with a dearth of women, to escape to the land of single French women.

Future Research

We are continuing the research on a number of fronts:

• We are researching a Flanders “Nimes” in Belgium via our Belgian researcher

• Our Dutch researcher continues work in the Netherlands and a newly engaged German researcher is focusing on the Palatine area of Germany

I continue to consult with researchers in the UK, including our stalwart friend and aide, Natalie LeJeune, to whom we all owe an incredible debt of gratitude.

I would like to mention the continuing sponsorship of the NFA to further the Finding Godfrey research. Many thanks to David A. Nims and the Board for coming through with this much-needed assistance!