Thomas# Outlaw

  Notes:

Pedigree in possession of Northants FHS; Outlaw, of Pitsford and Irthlingborough (inc PELL of Moulton) E/BX/060 28g LL

Birth date and death location from the Pell/Outlaw pedigree in the Northants FHS Library, Wellingborough.

Info from Ann-Marie Ell. Is 'Gent' on burial record. Later I found in CRO, no additional info.

There was a Mary Ann UNDERWOOD Outlaw chr in All Saints, Fulborn, Cambs on 26 Feb 1838 father Henry, mother Frances who must presumably be a descendent of this union ?!?! A Henry Outlaw was chr, same place, 12 Oct 1808, father Thomas, mother Sarah ??

She also found the following 'unallocated' burial;
Thomas 24 July 1755, Irthlingborough, could this be another son for Thomas and Sarah, or could it be Thomas' father?

The following are also unallocated; Irthlingborough MI: C28. (Ledger stone). Here lyeth the remains of MARY WINHAM relict of ROBERT WINHAM Esq. ********* ob 28 Oct 1766 aged ** Also on the right lie interred the remains of her sister Mrs ELIZ OUTLAW spinster died June 1751. FOLLOWING DO HAVE: Also UNDERWOOD and THOMAS two sons of THOMAS OUTLAW Gent. and SARAH his wife. They both died in their infancy. Also near this spot are interred the remains of .....<illegible>

A Thomas Outlaw married a Elizabeth Salmon in Bluntisham Cum Earith, Huntingdon in 1731. This is the same parish as his alleged father was married. Hhhhmmm.

Appears as a freeholder in Irthlingborough in "Copies of the polls taken at the several elections for members to represent the county of Northampton in parliament in the years 1702, 1705, 1730, 1745 [really 1748] & 1806."

His will presumably;
Name Thomas OUTLAW Year 1783 Status or Occupation gent Place Irthlingborough County NTH Ref N Type A+W Series – Book or Box bundle No 29 Jul Fo or pg – Microform – Notes – ID PRO#1/041636.
Left everything to his wife Sarah. Also declaration that she was too infirm to act as executor, so St John Outlaw, son, was executor.

From "A visitation of the seats and arms of the noblemen and gentleman of Great Britain by Bernard Burke" (section about the Heddings) it says ; "The Outlaws derive their descent from a family who were banished to Ireland by King Edwy, for political offences A.D.900. Ireland was at that time overrun by wolves, and they redeemed the liberty of returning the next year, when King Edgar reigned, by sending in so many wolves' heads to the government. They were also able to prove their innocence of the crime imputed to them ; and, ever since, their arms have been, argent, a saltier gules, between four wolves' heads, couped, proper; but so indignant were they at their unjust condemnation that they determined to retain the name of Outlawe, in order, as they said, to cast obloquy on the unjust monarch who banished them. In 1620 we find the eldest branch of the family seated at Little Witchingham, in Norfolk, but in 1670 that branch became extinct, and a cousin, Henry Outlaw, Attorney-at-law, of Haddenham, in Cambridgeshire, then became the representative. He married a lady of good fortune, Miss Hare of Beckenham, in Kent, whose fortune was invested in the South Sea speculation ; after her husbands death, when she was quite advanced in years, she was taking a nap after dinner, according to her usual custom, when a neighbour, half frantic, rushed in, and throwing up his arms in an excited manner, exclaimed "Oh! Mrs Outlaw, we are all ruined! the South Sea speculation is all a bubble! we have lost everything!" she was so alarmed that she had a paralytic stroke, and died. Her only son Thomas, married Sarah Underwood, co-heiress of Thomas Underwood Esq., and their eldest son, Robert Outlaw, was Rector of Longford, in the county of Salop". So this gives us the name of Thomas' parents.

Shareholders of Northamptonshire Union Bank include;
Outlaw, Ann, Little Houghton, spinster. LH is just E/SE of Northampton.

Legend Of The Outlaw Family by Keith Shore. In Footprints (Northants FHS Publication) Sept 1980;
"...... Thomas' father, St John Outlaw had been brought up by his parents (Thomas Outlaw and Sarah Underwood) at the Manor of Irthlingborough. I have recently been informed that a piece of Thomas' tombstone is close to the pulpit in Irthlingborough church and the remainder of the stone is close by. On the stone the county of Thomas' origin is shown as Cambridgeshire. ....... at this point my search changed to Ely and I learned that Sarah's sister, Ann Underwood, married Rev. R.Smith and that Thomas Outlaw had an uncle who, after being chaplain at Fotheringay, emigrated as a missionary to the Leeward Isles. This same Thomas' grandfather was another Thomas, who took for his second wife Elizabeth Brunsell, dau of Samuel Brunsell, Rector of Bingham, Notts. Her uncle, Henry, married Anna Wren, sister to Sir Christopher Wren ....... however my own direct family seem to have lived in the area of Stretham, Wilburton and Hadenham (vicinity of Ely) as Lords of the Manor ...... they seem to have lived in the area for at least 6 generations and I have been able to trace my line back with some certainty to 1478."

Brunsell family here; http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1908/autumn/brunsellhall.ht

From http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/h/e/Mark-Phelps-NC/FILE/0090page.html
RICHARD UTLAWE, of County Bedford, ENGLAND. A reference to him in Hundred Rolls, year 1273, is the earliest record found of the family name. The name was probably assumed by some one who had been outlawed, deprived of the right of pleading in a Court of Justice, or excommunicated by an Ecclesiastical Court. Any dispute with the Crown led to a batch of outlaws, any of whom might adopt the name. In the London Daily Telegraph of September 2, 1896, it is stated that the name was assumed by descendants of King Edgar Atheling, son of Edward the Outlaw, which is only a news paragraph and may not be substantiated by records. It has often been asserted that the Outlaw name came from MacGregor, of the famous Scottish Clan, during the period of their Proscription, which is without foundation, as the Acts of Parliament proscribing the MacGregor name were many years after the time of several Outlaw family names shown in this record. (ATO) The paragraph in London Daily Telegraph of Wednesday, September 2. 1896, page 5, column 2, as sent by E. Anderson of Newspaper Department, British Museum, London, is as follows:
"An Ancient Line. It is pleasant to learn that our correspondent was misinformed when he stated that Mr. George Outlaw, who recently died in South Australia, was the last male descendant of King Edgar Atheling, whose political vicissitudes led to the assumption by his posterity of this significant cognomen. Letters from Limpsfield, Berkhamstead, Kingston-on-Thames, and elsewhere, testify to the fact that there are still living many Outlaws, some of them doubtless unaware of the blue blood coursing through their veins, and that there is little likelihood of the Royal line becoming extinct for many generations to come."
In a Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 6, p. 371-3, appears the following:
"Edgar Atheling, son of Edward the Exile (or Outlaw) was probably born in Hungary before 1057 when his father came to England on the invitation of Edward the Confessor but died without seeing the King. He was surviving son of Edmund Ironside, son of Ethelred the Unready." In letters written by Bower Marsh experienced Record Searcher and Genealogist, of London, he says:
"The earliest record I find is a reference to Richard Utlawe, County Bedford, 1273 (taken from the Hundred Rolls). AS regards the origin of the name it is without doubt applied to the descendants of some one who was 'outlawed' - i. e. deprived of the right of pleading in a Court of Justice (this may apply also to a sentence of excommunication by an Ecclesiastical Court). Any dispute with the Crown led to a batch of outlaws, any of whom might adopt the name. I do not think we can possibly regard Edward the Outlaw as the ancestor, as family names did not come in use till more than 100 years after his death, and I do not think there is any reason at all to suppose the Outlaw family took their name from him."

BUT;
In letters written by George Sherwood, experienced Record Searcher, and genealogist, and author of a number of publications, of London, he says:"The paragraph in London Daily Telegraph of September 2, 1896 is only a news item, and descent from King Edgar Atheling probably only a legend. I have several references to law proceedings back to about 1456-80."

Thomas# married Sarah# Underwood, daughter of William# Underwood and Sarah# Bush. (Sarah# Underwood was born in 1716, christened on 10 Feb 1716, died in 1783 and was buried on 20 Aug 1783.)