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John BISHOP was the
seventh and youngest son of William Bisshop of Cattistock in the county of
Dorset, England. John was born in the year 1610 and educated at Baliol
College Oxford. He received a BA degree in 1630 and an MA degree in 1635.
According to the traditions of the English
aristocracy, only the eldest son inherits the family’s title and estates.
Younger sons have to seek their own fortune elsewhere. William Bisshop died
in 1639, and the ownership of Holway Manor passed to his eldest son, Richard
Bishop. Thus, in the year 1640, John Bishop sailed to the New World to join
the colonists in New England.
Initially, he
became a schoolmaster at Taunton, Massachusetts. In 1644, having completed
his studies for the ministry, he moved to Stamford, Connecticut to serve as
minister to the First Congregational Church there. John Bishop married
Rebecca Goodyear in Stamford, and had eight sons and two daughters. After
Rebecca’s death he married Joanna Boyce. He served the First Congregational
church for fifty years through many difficult and trying times in the
Colonies. He died in 1694 at the age of 84, a much respected and beloved
clergyman.
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