According to Threlfall’s GMC50,903 Thomas Wheeler “was born about 1560-65, probably at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, where he lived and died. He was probably the son of John Wheeler of Cranfield who made his will 9 February 1566/7 and died shortly thereafter. In his will, he named his wife Alice and two minor children, Thomas and John. An abstract of his will follows. The fact that he left only these two children, both minors, suggests that they were quite young and only the first of what might have been a much larger family, had he lived. Conceivably, of course, these two sons might have been nearing maturity and the sole survivors of a larger number. However, the first possibility seems more probable. The naming pattern of Thomas’s children suggests that his father was John. Strangely, however, he named no daughter Alice, nor did he name one Rebecca after his wife, so the naming pattern for the sons is not much evidence. [An abstract of the will of John Wheeler, probable father of Thomas, appears here.]

“Thomas Wheeler made his will on 7 December 1627, added a codicil to it on 18 June 1633, and died about 10 February 1634/5, for he was buried on the 11th. The burial record calls him ‘Thomas Wheler of the blakehouse’. Since his will clearly indicates two living sons named Thomas, and his children were born over a period of about thirty years, it is clear that he had at least two wives. His last wife, named in his [p. 505] will, was Rebecca. She was last recorded as living in her daughter Abiah’s will of 10 April 1637. Within a year or two, Rebecca and the children all left for New England. This can be deduced, as many of the children were underage at the time, and surely would not have gone to New England without their mother. However, no record of her in New England has been found, so she apparently did not live long after. Thomas’s will follows, certain parts crossed out just as in the original document.”

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