Chapter 1

THE FIRST KNOWN WARNERS

As descendants we carry genetic material from previous generations. We may carry a name and probably something more. While those genes we inherit determine our physical characteristics, living in a family can determine our outlook, our attitudes and what we believe as each generation passes its beliefs on to the next.

Some part of those who fought against the powerful and mighty for the recognition of fairness, justice and honesty in human relations is in us. While names were not recorded, what they stood for has passed through many generations. They finally placed a list of demands before King John, which said in part:

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice. Magna Carta 1215 (also Charta)) Some of our people were a part of a Biblically inspired move- ment for freedom and justice. They often heard echoes of

the opening words of the Magna Carta, Anglicana libera sit Signing Magna Carta

with its call to be the Army of The Church. These opening words have been translated: Know ye, that We, in the presence of God, and for the salvation of our own soul, and of the souls of all our ancestors, and of our heirs, to the honor of God, and the exaltation of the Holy Church and for the rectifying of our realm .

The name of Warner appeared among those people where the Angle, Saxon, and Jute tribes migrated from Europe to Britain during the years after the Roman Army left in 410 AD. People from northern Germany, Denmark and northern Holland rowed across the North Sea in wooden boats and formed settlements each with its own leader.

The Anglo-Saxons had many myths and Migration routes to England superstitions such as knocking on wood

for good luck. They believed in supernatural creatures like elves, dwarves and giants who often brought harm to men. Over time they divided the country into kingdoms, each with its own royal family. The stronger kingdoms often took control of the weaker kingdoms, and by 600 AD when Christianity came to England there were five main kingdoms known as the Anglo-Saxons.

This land of England was again invaded in 1066 by William the Conqueror of Normandy. William de Warenne, fought with him at the battle of Hastings (1066) and was given holdings in thirteen counties all over the country and the title of Lord of Surrey. In modern money his holdings would be worth 57 billion, a record in Britain during the last millennium.

The name Warn or Warner appears in several early records. Henri de Warn is mentioned during the reign of Henry VIII. Ythel Warner is named in Crockerdon Abby records of 1302. Edmond Warner s house was called Warner Hall in 1360. Edward Warner was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I and received a land grant in Gettingham, County of Kent.

A direct connection to any of these earliest Warners is yet to be found. The Number (1) will account for these known Warners as possible earlier generations. Number (2) will be left open for Unknown Warners that may be revealed in future research. Thus the first known generation in our line of Warners will be numbered (3) as we begin to record who is known.

In the late 1170s the royal treasurer could write that with the English and Normans living side-by-side and intermarrying, the peoples have become so mingled that no-one can tell - as far as free men are concerned - who is of English and who of Norman descent. It is out of this mix of nationalities that there is a place where we know for certain several generations of our Warner relatives lived, worked and raised families.

The earliest record of this place (1087) describes a town with a castle, a cathedral, and a small settlement, all surrounded by a wall and deep ditch. Except for the cathedral, dwellings were made of wood, with low thatched roofs, walls of planks, and an open hearth in a floor of wood, earth or gravel. It was at this location in 1265 the Battle of Evasham between the land barons and the Royal forces firmly established that there were laws even for the king. Even though the Royal army won this battle, a belief in the law and a growing national unity was developing in the minds of our people. By the middle of the sixteenth century the Warner name was recorded in a number of English parish baptismal records.

Worchester (see black dot)

The name of Thomas Warner (3) was recorded as the lease

holder of the French Mill and of the Corn Mill in this town of Worchester, England, in 1500. (later spelled Worcester) That same year his son Richard (4) was born. Thomas Warner died (1535) the year after King Henry VIII broke with the Pope and declared himself the head of the Church of England. The children and grandchildren of Thomas Warner experienced the effects of the changes imposed as King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, took over the cathedrals and attempted to run the church.

These Warners were part of the emerging class of educated free men who demanded protection from the king's excessive control. They were driven with a desire for personal achievement, production and generation of income. The authority of the king had been challenged and they were the beneficiaries of a dawning sense of freedom.

It was the effort of King Edward VI, the son of King Henry VIII who insisted that all of his subjects worship following his uniform protestant Book of Prayer that created more unrest, especially among a growing number of Protestants.

As was the custom at that time, the daughter of Thomas Warner, Johanna (4) had accepted a gift from John and moved into his house. They were considered as married and would have a ceremony at a more convenient time, perhaps before Lent or after the planting season. But for now they, with the help of family, were building a new fulling mill. Perhaps this mill is one of the mills still standing today and often visited by tourists.

Several generations of Warner children were raised in Worchester. They lived in thatched- roof houses with wood floors and fireplaces. They had fruit trees and gardens but did not eat the produce uncooked. In fact eating raw fruit was believed to cause sickness and was banned during an outbreak of the plague in 1569. Most homes did not have a way to heat a quantity of water, so there were many trips to those bathhouses left by the Romans.

King Edward VI died in 1553, and his designated successor, the protestant Lady Jane Grey, was beheaded after only nine days as queen. Both turmoil and tension increased as her successor, Queen Mary, was determined to return all England to the Roman Catholic Church. Nearly 300 prominent members of society were burned at the stake for heresy. The son of Richard Warner, Thomas (5), married Frances Dennys, in 1558 which was the year Elizabeth I became Queen, and fortunately for us, the persecution stopped for a while. Elizabethan England was a time of growing literacy, education, economic opportunity and religious tolerance.

The events of this period may be why our line of Warners is Protestant. Many translations of the Bible were being circulated and some people chose to focus on God as their teacher rather than on human ritual, or outward sacraments. Those who did not follow the formality of the Church of England were called Separatists, Puritians and Presbyterians. Among the Separatists were a growing number of those whose personal experience led them to believe in the possibility of direct communion with the Divine. They scoffed at the formal prayer books, creeds, and doctrines and sought an inward revelation from meditation and scripture.

An early record indicates that the Frances Dennys who married Thomas Warner (5) was a Quaker. She had been raised with those who believed that direct experience of God was available to all people and Christ himself came to teach His people. The discussions between Thomas and Frances most likely led the family in this direction for practicing the Christian faith.

The names of these ancestors were recorded in the Worchestershire Blockley Parish Registers starting about 1585, as required, but later evidence suggests they were among the Separatists. Of paramount interest in our story is the grandson of Thomas and Frances, William (7), who joined the Puritan movement that was to oppose the king. Williams parents, John (6) and Margaret were working the French Mill when James I authorized an official translation of the Bible in 1611. James I died in 1625 and his son Charles I became king just two years before William was born. Charles I had angered the people with his marriage to a devoutly Catholic French princess that further incensed the increasingly Puritan nobility as her foreign Catholic friends flooded into the royal court.

The personal rule of Charles I came to an abrupt end when a problem in Scotland unleashed the forces of civil war upon England. Some Scottish barons were angered when Charles I attempted to force their use of the Anglican Prayer Book. This led to a battle at a bridge near the Warner home in Worchester. This civil war began when William Warner (7) was fifteen years old and nine years later he was a Captain in the Puritan Army led by Oliver Cromwell. The last battle of this war was also fought at Worchester where the forces of Charles I were defeated. The Puritans found Charles I guilty of treason and he was executed in 1649.

William Warner (7) continued to serve as Captain under Oliver Cromwell, who had appointed himself as Lord Protector (he refused the title of king.) During his time Cromwell established Puritanism and set England on course to become a republic. While serving under Cromwell, Captain William married Ann Dide (or Dyde?). They had five children: Isaac, 1652; John, 1654; William, 1656: Robert, 1658; and Mary, 1660 (8).

In 1660 Charles II, son of Charles I, was restored to the English throne with the help of the Scottish Presbyterians. Captain William Warner thought it wise to get his family out of England. He left his estate at Draycott, Parish Blockley, Worchester. He may have been with a group that went to Holland for several years. (We might be speaking Dutch except they made arrangements for ships to bring them to America.)

A Note about the Mills in Worchester:

The Antiquarian Society of Blockley, England, has listed several of the old Mills which are still standing. Two of these may have been the mills operated by several generations of Warners. The Old Silk Mill was used by Fred Storey in the Rip Van Winkle film. It became known as Sleepy Hollow. Before that it had several names: The Evan s Piano Factory, Stanley s Mill, and also Snugborough Mill, one of the largest to produce silk. The records of this mill date back to 1782 although the building is much older. Another mill is now called the Snugborough Mill and is believed to be the original French Mill that was used as a fulling and corn mill in 1500-1746. Fulling is the process that cleans wool and makes it pliable for use in making wool cloth. Around the fulling mill were other workers such as the staplers (people who graded and sold the wool), carders (people who combed the wool into strands) and spinners and weavers (who turned the wool into cloth).

Ancestors in England

These are the generations that operated the French Mill and the other mill they built. They lived in Draycott, Blockley Parish, Worcester, England. Thomas is listed as the third generation leaving the possibility that other connections may be discovered.

1 unconnected known Warners

2 unknown Warners

3 Thomas Warner 1470-1535 age 65 m ?

4 Rychard Warner Abt 1500-1546 age 46 m 1537 Johane 1520-1545

5 Thomas Warner 1535-1595 age 60 m 1558 Frances Dennys 1540-1588

6 John Warner 1582-1657 age 75 m 1626 Margaret 1584-1657

7 William Warner 1627-1706 age 79 m 1648 Ann Dide 1627-1703

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