Noteworthy Persons

Links on this page lead to more detailed information about certain individuals in the GEDCOM database and the John Skynner Egerton BISHOP Family Tree.  Some of the information has been gleaned from recent internet searches.  Where appropriate, the relationship to their descendant - Stanley Victor Bishop (1916-2006) – is given.

In the GEDCOM database:

·         The earliest ancestor is Sir William de EYNESFORD who was alive in the year 1280. (23X great-grandfather)

·         The earliest ancestor who bore the family name is John BYSSHOP.  He was alive in the year 1400.  (17X great-grandfather).

·         Sir John HERON lived from 1470 to 1522.  (12X great-grandfather).  He was a courtier to King Henry VIII (reigned from 1509 - 1547). 

·         Sir John Heron’s son, Giles HERON (12X great-uncle) was found guilty of treason and executed in 1540.

·         Giles Heron’s father-in-law was Sir Thomas MORE, who was born in 1478.  He served King Henry VIII as Lord Chancellor of England from 1529 to 1532.  More was beheaded in 1535 for opposing King Henry’s desire to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.  He was subsequently canonized by the Catholic church and is venerated as Saint Thomas More. 

·         In the year 1640, John BISHOP (9X great-uncle), the seventh and youngest son of William Bisshop of Cattistock in the county of Dorset, sailed to the New World to join the colonists.  This was only 20 years after the Pilgrim Fathers arrived at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts.  In New England, John Bishop settled in Stamford, Connecticut, where he became a respected clergyman to the founding colonists.  Reverend John Bishop lived from 1610 to 1694.  This GEDCOM file includes four generations of his descendants. More extensive family trees of his descendants can be found on the internet, down to the present day.

·         In the year 1692, a wave of hysteria regarding witchcraft spread across the New England colonies.  It started in Salem, Massachusetts where the first person convicted and executed for witchcraft was Bridget Bishop (not related to this Bishop family).  In Stamford, Connecticut there was a well-documented trial of Elizabeth Clawson, who was accused of witchcraft.  One of the witnesses at her trial was Ebenezer BISHOP (first cousin, 9X removed), who was one of the sons of the aforementioned Reverend John Bishop.  Despite an initial finding of guilt, the townspeople of Stamford rallied to defend Elizabeth and she was eventually acquitted. 

·         Richard BISSHOP (8X great-grandfather), who lived from 1592 to 1658, was the eldest son and heir of the aforementioned William Bisshop of Cattistock, and elder brother of John Bishop who migrated to the American colonies.  He increased the family estates by acquiring the Manor of South Warnborough in Hampshire in 1635.  In his will, Richard turned away from tradition and divided his estates between his two sons.  One son inherited the Manor at Holway and the other son inherited the Manor at South Warnborough.

In the John Skynner Egerton BISHOP Family Tree:

·         John Skynner Egerton BISHOP (1816-1889) (great-grandfather)

·         Dr. Sydney Olive BISHOP (1848-1917) (great-uncle)

·         Captain Ernest Prior BISHOP (1849-1916) (great-uncle)

·         Herbert Orlebar BISHOP (1851-1920) (great-uncle)

·         Professor Peter Orlebar BISHOP (1917-2012) (second cousin)

·         Dr. Douglas Kevin BAIRD (1940-1995)

·         Lieut. Colonel Alan W.D. NICHOLLS (1913-1996) (brother-in-law)

·         Stanley Victor BISHOP (1916-2006)