John VASSALL

- 1625

• Name	John VASSALL  [1]
  Birth	Caen, Normandy, France
  Gender	Male
  Death	13 Sep 1625	Stephany, Essex, England   [1]
  Notes	Excerpt from "Certain Comeoverers": Through the Vassalls you are remotely tinctured with somewhat aristocratic blood. There was a De Vassall of the fifteenth century who was the lord of Rinart near Cany in Normandy, who sent his son to England "on account of disturbances at home." This John had a son John, who achieved wealth and distinction. He had estates in Ratcliffe, and at Stepney, and in his later years was of Eastwood in Essex. He was prominent in the business world in London. For some years he served as an alderman. At the time of the attack of the Spanish Armada he fitted out, at his own expense, two ships to join the English fleet. One was Samuel of one hundred and forty tons, carrying seventy men, and the other the Tobey, Jr., of a like tonnage. It is stated that he commanded one of these ships in person in the memorable engagement with the Spanish fleet. He died September 13, 1625. His descendants were numerous. Among them were Lady Holland (Macaulay's Lady Holland), whose husband, Lord Holland, abandoned his own sufficiently distinguished name of Fox and by royal license took his wife's name of Vassall. John Vassall, by his second wife, Anne Russell, had two sons, Samuel and William, who became interested in the new lands across the sea. They were both among the original patentees in 1628 of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Samuel never came over to New England, but his financial interests in the new country were large. He was an alderman of London, a member of Parliament, and a royal commissioner in the matter of establishing peace with Scotland. There is a monument erected in his honor, by a grandson, in King's Chapel in Boston, which extols him principally as a man who refused to pay his taxes. He certainly had the strength of his convictions since he was imprisoned sixteen years for his failure to pay the same. His descendants in the West Indies and in Boston were people of wealth and distinction.
  Person ID	I58346	Main Tree
  Last Modified	10 May 2021

  
  

  Family	Anne RUSSELL,   b. Ratcliffe, Middlesex, England d. Stephany, England
  Marriage	England
  Children	+ 1. William VASSALL,   b. 27 Aug 1592, Ratcliffe, Devon, England d. Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA  [Birth]   2. Samuel VASSALL,   b. 1586  [Birth]
  Family ID	F05340	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	10 May 2021

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - - Caen, Normandy, France Marriage - - England  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S01952] Certain Comeoverers by Henry Howland Crapo.