John Sackett

(c 1585-1634)
FatherThomas Sackett the younger (c 1557-1615)
MotherMartha Strowde (c 1560-1631/32)
John Sackett, fisherman of St Peter in Thanet, Kent, son of Thomas Sackett the younger and Martha Strowde, was baptized at St Peter in ThanetG on 9 January 1585/86.1 He died aged about 48 and was buried there on 2 December 1634.2 He married there on 4 November 1611, Elizabeth Kitchen.3,4 After John's death, Elizabeth married second at St Peter in ThanetG on 4 April 1635 Thomas Wilkins.5
     John would have been the godson John Sackett who was left £1 in the will of his grandfather Thomas Sackett the elder made at St Peter in Thanet on 30 March 1594.6 John would also have been one of the unnamed sons each left £10 in their father's will made at Birchington on 23 June 1615.
     John made his will at St Peter in Thanet on 1 April 1628. It was proved in January 1634/35 by his widow Elizabeth, to whom he left all his estate after bequests of six pence to each of his siblings.7
     The will identifies a brother Simon. The only Simon Sackett known in this period was Simon the colonist. According to the family legend, it would have been this John Sackett who accompanied Simon to the New World, and this John Sackett's son, also a John Sackett, who was later identified living in New Haven, Connecticut.
     The will reads:
Aprill the first day 1628:
Memorand that Jhon Sackett have made my last will and testament In I will and bequeath my soule unto my God Allmighty and my body to bee buryed in the pish Church of St. Peters in the Isle of Thanett in the County of Kent fisherman. In It Is my will that Elesebeth my wife shall be my whole exsteres [executrix] which I doe give unto hir all my goods and chattells shee paying my debtes and lageste [legacies] and my funerall dischardged In It is my will that my wife shall not nomain [underlined, in margin: demand hee ment] that my brother Simon Sackitt owe unto mee In my will is that I give unto all my broders and sisters vid a peece, Whereunto I Jhon Sackett have sett my usuall marke: JII. Witness George Marly to this will Wittnes to this William Kort by his marke.
Probate 8 January 1634 on the oath of Elizabeth Sackett, the widow and relict of the deceased and executrix named in the will.

     The will, while not directly disproving the legend, provides no evidence to support it.
     It would appear from his will that John Sackett the fisherman did not have children. He would not, therefore, have been the father of John Sackett of New Haven.
     John the fisherman died in his native St Peter in Thanet, not in America. As he died in late 1634 and Simon's migration was probably in late 1630/early 1631 and certainly before 1632, it would be possible for John to have accompanied him to America and then to have returned to England. There are, however, no records of this John Sackett in New England (but see commentary on the inventory of 1684 of the estate of John Sackett of New Haven).
     At the date of the will, April 1628, Simon owed his brother John a sum of money, and it was John's request that repayment not be sought. Although assigning a reason for the loan is pure conjecture, it is tempting to hypothesise that John may have set aside funds for the costs of the voyage—is it possible that they were planning to emigrate at this early date? And was this the reason for John's making his will?
     The 6d to be paid to each of his brothers and sisters was a very small sum, more token than bequest. With no other apparent heir, his wife Elizabeth would have assumed ownership of his goods and chattels regardless of a will. The possibility suggests itself therefore that the main purpose of the will may have been to clarify the status of the loan to his brother Simon.
     John was appointed executor of his sister Sara Mockett's will made in BirchingtonG on 22 March 1633. He was to distribute her estate equally to her children and was charged with bringing up and educating her three youngest children. A witness to the will, Elizabeth Sackett, would have been John's wife.

 Notes & Citations

  1. Baptisms Register, St Peter in Thanet, Kent (Society of Genealogists), "9 January 1585/86 John s. Thomas Sacket the younger."
  2. Burials Register, St Peter in Thanet, Kent (Tyler transcripts, Society of Genealogists), "2 December 1634 John Sackett householder."
  3. Marriages Register, St Peter in Thanet, Kent (Tyler transcripts, Society of Genealogists), "4 November 1611 John Sacket & Elizabeth Kitchen."
  4. The conclusion that it was John Sackett, the fisherman of the 1628 will, who married Elizabeth Kitchen in 1611 is based on the naming in the will of his wife Elizabeth. He would have been about 25 on marriage to Elizabeth, thus giving a good age match.
  5. Marriages Register, St Peter in Thanet, Kent, "4 April 1635 Thomas Wilkins & Elizabeth Sackett wid."
  6. Will of Thomas Sackett of St Peter in Thanet, Kent, 30 March 1594, proved at Canterbury Archdeaconry Court, 2 June 1596 (Kent Archives Office, PRC 17-51-184).
  7. Will of John Sackett of St Peter in Thanet, Kent, 1 April 1628, proved at Canterbury Archdeaconry Court, 8 January 1635 (Kent Archives Office, PRC 17-69-312).
Appears inNotable Sacketts
Sackett lineGrandson of Thomas Sackett the elder of St Peter in Thanet
ChartsLine 3 (English)
Generation.TreeI.3
Last Edited17 Feb 2023
 

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