What DOR has learned so far about Roger1's origins

Conrad Terrill and Nancy Tyrrel Theodore, 22 Feb 2021

We know that our Roger1 was not the Roger Terrill associated with "Stepney/Wapping" in London. That was a Roger Terrill christened in 1592 in Petersfield, Hampshire (present-day North Hampshire). And doesn't 1592 seem too early a birth year for our Roger1? That Roger Terrill was married in 1618, and by 1627 had two children and two step-children, having lost three childen and two step-children to the plague in 1624/1625.

There was a Roger Terrill christened at St. Giles Cripplegate, London, in 1605, who is still a good candidate, although we feel that a birth year of around 1612 for our Roger1 is more likely.

Our Roger1 was not a brother of Richmond Terrell, of Virginia Colony, as some believe. It is very easy to prove that Richmond Terrell had no brother named Roger.

There were many Roger "Terrills" (spelling is truly unimportant) in England in the early 1600's, and there could have been many more that we know nothing about. Our experience in other cases, however, has been that the correct person is indeed someone you know about. In Roger1's case, due to the paucity of records from 400 years ago, it is difficult to prove anything.

Theories abound which are based on nothing. Sources of information are seldom mentioned. You are led to presume that facts have been passed down in some family. If that were actually so wouldn't the author have said so?

We have read that Roger1 came to America on the Lyon with the Uffords in 1632; and that he came on the Hector with the Davenport-Eaton Company in 1637. There is no evidence for either theory.

Roger1 (as Roger Terrel) showed up on a Milford Colony list dated 1639, although his name may have been added later than that. He was certainly in Milford by 1644 since he was admitted to the Church there that year. Abigail and their first two children appear in the church records later that year.

It's tempting to presume that there was a connection between Roger Terrill and John Davenport back in England, or in Holland, and we have tried to explore that possibility, without luck.

There is a story which claims that Roger was a companion of Lord Leigh, son of the Earl of Marlborough, who came to Boston on the Hector in 1637, and that Roger had a private charter from the government to locate lands in the colonies, and that it was this charter which was used by the Peter Prudden Company to settle in Milford. This story is attributed to a "Major St. S. Turrell." Do any of you know who this person was, or even what his name was, all spelled out? If so, please tell us. We know of no corroboration of any part of this story from any other source.

There is also a curious record of an inscription on some sort of monument in Rahway Public Cemetery, Rahway, NJ, reading "Roger Terrill or Tyrrel of Surrey, England, settled in New England about 1638." This inscription was recorded around 1952, but the monument could not be found in 2009.

You can read more about all of this in DOR's Research section. Our complete collection of actual Roger1 Terrill records can be found on the home page of our Roger's Tree section.

If you search, or have searched, on your own for Roger Terrill's origins, and come up with anything interesting, in particular an actual record, please let us know.