The will of Robert Carpenter of Ginge (East Locking) in co. Berkshire is in
my possession. The tentative date for it is 1551. This is a last of a series
of extant connected Berkshire Carpenter wills that begins with Thomas
Carpenter mayor of Reading in 1520. Robert's will is partly damaged on its
right side section. Unlike PCC wills it is roughly written and difficult to
read. Robert died while his children were extremely small. They are not
referred to by name, but only as the "children". There were clearly two of
them and are referred to as "both". Robert's entire estate was given to his
wife. His brother Andrew was given a small behest. There seems to have been
a business arrangement between Andrew and Robert.
Although the two children are not named in the will it seems safe now to
conclude that his two children were Robert and Henry. They are the only two
Carpenters that appear in Berkshire records at this early date. We know
Andrew Carpenter was supporting a poor Robert Carpenter at Oxford University
in the 1570s. A Robert Carpenter is recorded in the parish register for
Robert Carpenter of Ginge in 1551. This leaves Henry Carpenter of Great
Coxwell as the only other candidate for the other "child" of Ginge Robert
Carpenter. Henry as the older brother might have received most of the family
assets, although they seem meager.
The Oxford University Robert Carpenter seems to later appear in Bradfield,
co. Berkshire. I suspect he was the cleric at the local church. He left no
male descendants. Could the books that the Carpenters brought to
Massachusetts been his?
This family seems to be a story of progressive impoverishment in the 1500s.
Bruce Carpenter
Nara