William Crispin III (1627-1681)

 

William Crispin was my maternal 9^th great grandfather. He was born in 1627 in Kingston-on Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire England. Very little is known of William Crispin's childhood. Throughout his adult life, William was a merchant, ship owner, international trader, ship purser, a Guard Captain in the Army under Cromwell, he served in the British Navy, and he was a commander of a ship.

Thomas Gent (illustrations may not be by Gent), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1645, William III's father died. William III was only 18 when his father died. He was only left one shilling by his father. I have not found and explanation for why only one shilling was left of William III.

William was married two times and had 10 children. In recognition, Oliver Cromwell gave William a forfeited estate in Ireland. In 1653, William was awarded a Gold Medal by the English Parliament for commanding the ship “Assistance” with 180 men and 40 guns in battle against the Dutch which he defeated.

At the time of the Restoration, 1660, William was living in the important English occupied port of Kinsdale, Ireland. Sometime before 1881, William Crispin was appointed by William Penn, the Founder, to be one of the members of the Commission to come to Pennsylvania and help to establish Penn’s colony. William Crispin was one of the first purchasers of land in Pennsylvania, he purchased 5000 acres.

In about 1681, William Crispin was appointed to a Commission by Founder William Penn to come to America to establish the Colony and carry out Penn’s plans for the great city of Philadelphia. William Penn also appointed William Crispin as Chief Justice of the new Colony and Surveyor General of the Providence of Pennsylvania. It is said that William Crispin sailed on the ship “Amity” when the ship got close to the Delaware, it was blow off course to the West Indies and put into Barbados where it is said that William Crispin died.

There are documents that show that William Crispin and William Penn were related. Silas Bradshaw Crispin, a son of William Crispin was also a first purchaser of land in Pennsylvania.

https://nephillyhistory.net/HistoricSites/2024Holme400Booklet.pdf

https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=imtFAAAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PP10&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en

 https://genpa.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/pennsylvania-genealogical-magazine/Vol.X_No.2-Pages-105-132.pdf