Eleventh Generation

1556. Robert RAINSFORD was born on 7 February 1567 in Epping, Essex, England. He died on 15 April 1659 at the age of 92 in Staverton, Northamptonshire, England.
The Puritan population in England had been growing for many years leading up to this time. They disagreed with the practices of the Church of England, whose rituals they viewed as superstitions. An associated political movement attempted over many years to modify religious practice in England to conform to their views. King James wished to suppress this growing rebellious movement. Nevertheless, the Puritans eventually gained a majority in Parliament. James' son King Charles came into the greatest possible conflict with the Parliament, and viewed them as a threat to his authority, temporarily dissolving parliament in 1626, and again the next year, and finally dissolving parliament permanently in March 1629.[1] The King's actions gave large numbers of Puritans a sense of hopelessness regarding their future in that country, and many prepared to leave it permanently for life in New England.
Motivated by these political events, a wealthy group of leaders obtained a Royal Charter in March 1629 for a colony at Massachusetts Bay.[2]
A fleet of five ships departed within the month for New England that included approximately 300 colonists, led by Francis Higginson.[3] However, the colony leaders and the bulk of the colonists remained in England for the time being, to plan more thoroughly for the success of the new colony. Later that year, the group who remained in England elected John Winthrop to be Governor of the Fleet and the Colony. Over the ensuing winter, the leaders recruited a large group of Puritan families, representing all manner of skilled labor, to ensure a robust colony.
The group departed Yarmouth, Isle of Wight on April 8.[4] Seven hundred men, women, and children were distributed among the ships of the fleet.[5] The voyage itself was rather uneventful, the direction and speed of the wind being the main topic in Winthrop's Journal, as it affected how much progress was made each day. There were a few days of severe weather, and every day was cold. The children were cold and bored, and there is a description of a game played with a rope that helped with both problems. Many were sick during the voyage, but nearly all survived it. The group landed at Salem, Massachusetts on June 12 after nine weeks at sea. The passengers took up residence in Salem, Boston, and the nearby area.
During his voyage aboard the Arabella, Winthrop wrote his famous sermon, "A Model of Christian Charity," containing the often quoted phrase, "City upon a Hill." This phrase is used to this day to symbolize certain essential characteristics of the American spirit.
The Winthrop Fleet was a well planned and financed expedition that formed the nucleus of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. However they were not the first settlers of the area. There was an existing settlement at Salem, started in about 1626, populated by a few hundred Puritans, most of whom had arrived in 1629, and who were governed by John Endicott. Winthrop superseded Endicott as Governor of the Colony upon his arrival in 1630.[6]
The flow of Puritans to New England continued for another ten years, during a period known as the Great Migration. Mary KIRTON and Robert RAINSFORD were married on 14 December 1602 in Croyden, Surrey, England.

1557. Mary KIRTON was born in 1567 in Thorp, Manderville, England. She died in 1634 at the age of 67. Plantagenet Ancestry of Edward Rainsford (1609-1680) of Boston, Massachusetts The Plantagenet Ancestry of Edward Rainsford (1609-1680) of Boston, Massachusetts (ancestor of Sarah Heath Palin)
1. Henry III, King of England († 1272) ∞ Eleanor of Provence († 1291)
2. Edmund, Earl of Lancaster († 1296) ∞ Blanche of Artois († 1302), niece of Saint Louis
3. Henry, Earl of Lancaster († 1345) ∞ Maud de Chaworth († 1322)
4. Eleanor of Lancaster († 1372) ∞ John de Beaumont, 2d Baron Beaumont, Earl of Buchan († 1342)
5. Henry de Beaumont, 3d Baron Beaumont († 1369) ∞ Margaret de Vere († 1398)
6. John de Beaumont, 4th Baron Beaumont († 1396) ∞ Katherine Everingham († 1426)
7. Elizabeth Beaumont († 1488) ∞ William Botreaux, 3d Baron Botreaux († 1462)
8. Margaret Botreaux († 1467) ∞ Robert Hungerford, 2d Baron Hungerford († 1459)
9. Eleanor Hungerford ∞ John White, gent., of Farnham, Surrey (†1469)
10. Robert White (1456-1512) ∞ Margaret Gainsford
11. Margaret White ∞ John Kirton, Esq. († 1529), of Edmonton, Middlesex
12. Stephen Kirton († 1553) ∞ Margaret Offley (†1573)
13. Thomas Kirton (†1601) ∞ Mary Sadler
14. Mary Kirton ∞ Robert Raynsford, Esq. (1567-1629), of Staverton, Northants. 15. Edward Raynsford of Boston (1609-80) ∞ Elizabeth ( - )
Sources:First published in 1934 by Frank Allaben, this line was impugned as unsubstantiated by James A. Rasmussen,"Edward Raynsford of Boston: English Ancestry and American Descendants," NEHGR 139 (1985), 225-38, 296-315 (at 228); but it has subsequently been fleshed out and defended by Douglas Richardson, "Plantagenet Ancestry of Edward Rainsford (1609-1680) of Boston, Massachusetts," NEHGR 154 (2000), 219-26, and appears in Faris, Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists, 2d ed. (Boston, 1999). Alternate but problematic royal ancestry through earlier connections of the Raynsford family appears in the first edition of Roberts, Royal Descents (1993).

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