Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameThomas LAKIN 
34
34Birth Datesay 1570
Birth PlaceEngland
Death Dateaft 7 Feb 1632/3
Death PlaceEngland
Reside1 Date1632/3
Reside1 PlaceRuddington, Nottinghamshire, England
Misc. Notes
The work of Douglas Richardson on the English origins of the Lakin family of Massachusetts34 supersedes all previous work on the subject and clears up a number of confusions, especially concerning the Lakins’ place of origin, which is now known to be Ruddington in Nottinghamshire. According to Richardson, “THOMASB LAKIN/LAKEN, the earliest known ancestor of this family, was born say 1570, in England. Little is known of this man as he left no will, nor is he mentioned in the scanty Bishops’ Transcripts which have survived for the parish of Ruddington, county Nottingham. He was living as late as 7 [[p. 144]] February 1632/3, when he was mentioned by name in the will of his son, William Lakin, of Ruddington. No further record of ThomasB Lakin has been found. No individual with the surname Lakin is recorded in the hearth tax for the years 1664 and 1674 anywhere in Nottinghamshire, including the parish of Ruddington. This suggests that Thomas Lakin likely died prior to 1664 or else left the area (W. F. Webster, ed., Nottingham Hearth Tax 1664: 1674, Thoroton Soc., Rec. Ser., 37 [Nottingham, 1988]).
“Earlier researchers erroneously believed that the father of William Lakin [No. 2 below] was the William Lakin who died at Groton, Massachusetts, on 10 December 1672, aged about 91 years (VR, 2: 238). Although it is not known who William Lakin of Groton was, he was probably related in some manner to the Lakin family of Ruddington, Nottinghamshire. Judging from William Lakin’s age at death, he might have been a brother of Thomas Lakin of Ruddington. Even assuming a clerical error, this death record could not have been that of Thomas Lakin himself, who would surely have reached the century mark by 1672.”694
An example of the earlier work referred to by Richardson is Shattuck’s Memorials36 which identifies William Lakin as “ancestor of the Lakin Families, d. in Groton, Dec. 10, 1672, ae. 91. He emigrated in his old age from Redington, England, with two of his grandsons -- Wm. and John, (whose father, Wm., Jr., had d. in England,) and their mother, his daughter-in-law, who had m. Wm. Martin for her second husband. They first settled in Reading, but removed to Groton and lived near Martin’s Pond.” Butler’s History of Groton38 gives the same account, noting that William’s two grandsons, William and John, were both original proprietors of Groton, each having a twenty acre right. According to Richardson’s interpretation, the two “grandsons” William and John, were more likely grandnephews of the William who died in Groton in 1672, although their exact relationship to this earlier William is not firmly established.
“Earlier researchers erroneously believed that the father of William Lakin [No. 2 below] was the William Lakin who died at Groton, Massachusetts, on 10 December 1672, aged about 91 years (VR, 2: 238). Although it is not known who William Lakin of Groton was, he was probably related in some manner to the Lakin family of Ruddington, Nottinghamshire. Judging from William Lakin’s age at death, he might have been a brother of Thomas Lakin of Ruddington. Even assuming a clerical error, this death record could not have been that of Thomas Lakin himself, who would surely have reached the century mark by 1672.”694
An example of the earlier work referred to by Richardson is Shattuck’s Memorials36 which identifies William Lakin as “ancestor of the Lakin Families, d. in Groton, Dec. 10, 1672, ae. 91. He emigrated in his old age from Redington, England, with two of his grandsons -- Wm. and John, (whose father, Wm., Jr., had d. in England,) and their mother, his daughter-in-law, who had m. Wm. Martin for her second husband. They first settled in Reading, but removed to Groton and lived near Martin’s Pond.” Butler’s History of Groton38 gives the same account, noting that William’s two grandsons, William and John, were both original proprietors of Groton, each having a twenty acre right. According to Richardson’s interpretation, the two “grandsons” William and John, were more likely grandnephews of the William who died in Groton in 1672, although their exact relationship to this earlier William is not firmly established.
