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In an earlier Prentice Newsletter about Henry Prentice of Stewkley, England we considered an article in "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register" Volume CXLIII, January 1989, Number 569, Genealogical Notes, pg. 24, which contains a brief article titled, "Possible English Origin of Henry Prentice of Cambridge, Massachusetts."

The NEHGR article subbested Henry and his wife, Elizabeth, might be:

• Henry Prentice and Elizabeth White, married at Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, on 26 Nov. 1638.

• Henry Prentice and Elizabeth Fosdick (Posdick?) who m. at Bures Saint Mary, Suffolk, on 2 Aug. 1628.

We had learned from Ian Prentice that Henry Prentice of Stewkley had two daughters, Ann and Elizabeth, baptised in England in 1639 and 1640, and perhaps a brother, Richard. However, if Henry and Elizabeth were already in Cambridge by 1640 that would seem to rule this couple out unless Henry came in 1640 and the "before 1640" is an incorrect statement.

We asked Ian Prentice to try to deterime if there was a Will made by Henry's father or by Richard which might help answer the question. No Wills could be found.

Ian determined that Henry's father had died before Henry's marriage, so it would not have provide any clues about Henry's subsequent marriage and possible immigration to America. Neither was any marriage record, death record or Will found for Henry's siblings in Essex - indeed they all seem to have vanished without a trace after being mentioned in their father's will of 1623/4 and the mother didn't leave a Will when she died in 1641.

Ian Prentice did mention an interesting aspect of the lives of the two Henrys. His comments are as follows:

Though it's hard to be certain, the Henry of Colne would have been reasonably well off while his namesake in Stewkeley was almost certainly not. Now, if Henry's descendants in Cambridge were as successful as they seem to have been and claimed to have family crests (which I guess would still have to be registered with the College of Arms in London) this suggests very strongly to me that they came from the Colnes. The family crest issue leaves one potential avenue open: asking for the College of Arms to do some research into the documents which it holds. Unfortunately they charge ridiculous rates for this work (three years ago they were charging over £100). If anyone does want to pursue this, I have the address which I can send you.

Do any of you descendants of Henry The Planter want to contribute to a collective pool of funds to finance the College of Arms research? If so, please contact this Prentice Newsletter and we will coordinate contributions to a fund we will call "College of Arms Search for Henry" (CASH).

If you can provide us with more information about any of the folks mentioned above, please contact us at dewald@prenticenet.com