| Birth: About
1606, possibly near Spaulding, Lincolnshire. |
 Mayflower
Families:
Edward Winslow and John Billington for Five Generations, contains the best,
most thorough and completely researched genealogy on John and Eleanor
Billington and their two children John and Francis.
It covers every known descendant for the first five generations,
to the birth of the sixth generation. This book is packed
full of pure genealogical research. Published by the General Society of
Mayflower Descendants.
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| Children:
Elizabeth, Joseph, Martha, Mary, Isaac, an unnamed child who died young,
Rebecca, Dorcas, and Mercy. |
Biographical Summary
The Billington family may have
originated from around Cowbit and Spaulding, in Lincolnshire, England.
Francis Longland named young children Francis Billington son of John,
and Francis Newton son of Robert, as heirs. In 1650, a survey of
lands indicated that Francis was "about 40" and living in New England.
Francis' himself stated in a 1674 deposition that he was 68 years old,
so he was about 14 years old when he made the voyage on the Mayflower
to Plymouth in 1620 with his parents John and Eleanor, and older brother
John. Francis was clearly an active and
troublesome youth. He nearly caused a disaster onboard the
Mayflower shortly after arrival, when he shot off his father's
musket inside the Mayflower's cabin and sent sparks raining down
near an open barrel of gunpowder. After he got to shore, he
climbed up a tree and spotted a "great sea," which turned out to be a
lake that even today is still known as "Billington's Sea". He and
one of the Mayflower's crewmembers went to explore the sea, but became
alarmed when they saw some abandoned Indian houses (they were alone with
only a single gun). Francis' father was
hanged for murder in September 1630, and his brother John had died not
to long before. In July 1634, Francis married Christian Eaton, the
widow of Mayflower passenger Francis Eaton who had died the
previous year autumn. Christian brought three of her own children,
and one step-child from her deceased husband's previous marriage, all
under the age of 14. With Francis Billington, she had nine more
children. They raised their family at Plymouth, and moved in their
later years to Middleboro, where they both died in 1684. |
