16, Foxley Hill Road,
Purley,
Surrey, CR2 2HB,
England.
21 July 1972
Dear Mr. Dempsey,
The Norwood research was started on the foundation of a story that Francis Norwood, born 1636, who settled in Gloucester, Mass., was the son of Captain Thomas Norwood and the grandson of Richard Norwood and Elizabeth Stuart/Steward. It has been suggested by Mrs. Callam that Captain Thomas was taken prisoner during the Civil War at Brackley in 1642 and died in an engagement at Taunton in 1645. This does not square with Vol. 42 or the N.E. Register which relates the story told by Abigail Norwood, a granddaughter of Francis Norwood, that Francis and his father fled from England at the Restoration because of the part the latter had played in the Civil War. Mrs. Callam's Thomas Norwood was a Royalist (see later) and would have had no reason to flee unless he had changed sides. We also know that Francis Norwood was already in Ipswich, Mass. in 1657, some years before the Restoration. And obviously, if Thomas Norwood died at Taunton in 1645, he cannot be the person who figures in Abigail's story. There is a record in the PCC, however, of the administration of a Thomas Norwood of Virginia 1646, but no further details. A further reason for doubting the relationship suggested in Mrs. Callam's pedigree is that the Thomas Norwood shown to be the son of Richard and Elizabeth (Steward) Norwood was born in 1618; he seems unlikely, therefore, to have produced a son by 1636.
I investigated the story of the capture of Captain Thomas Norwood at Brackley and, after much research, discovered a letter written by him in 1643 in which he describes himself as a tenant of Lord Dunsmore , whose estate was at Newnham Regis in Warwickshire. There are local records of a Thomas Norwood in this area but his name does not appear in the parish registers of the period--further searches over a wider area might be more successful. There is no trace in the PCC, Taunton or Gloucester Courts of any will or administration for Captain Thomas Norwood around 1645.
Banks'Topographical Dictionary shows Francis Norwood as originating in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire. The local records have been searched and show a Francis Norwood married to Emma Wells in 1608. This Francis left a will proved 1633 which named his son Francis who was baptised in 1617. The latter is unliely to have married as late as 1663 although it is possible that another branch of this family may have had a son Francis who would qualify--but there is no trace of one such in the Aston Clinton registers.
I hope all this will be of some help to you, negative although much of it is.
P. Wilson Coldham [signature]
This letter was provided by James G. Dempsey and transcribed for inclusion on the Norwood Family Page by Richard C. Norwood, Jr. 17 March 1998