John Davenport (April 9, 1597 – May 30, 1670) was an English puritan clergyman and co-founder of the American colony of New Haven.
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Early life
Born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England to a wealthy family, Davenport was educated at Oxford University. He matriculated at Merton College in 1613 but migrated to Magdalen College two years later, eventually leaving Oxford before completing his degree.[1]
His father was Henry Davenport (d. May 29, 1627), draper, alderman, and Mayor of Coventry, son of Edward Davenport, Mayor of Coventry (1551), and Margery Harford. His mother, Winifred Barnaby (1569 - April 12, 1597), is most probably a descendant of William I of Scotland and of Henry I of England and a direct descendant of an illegitimate son of Henry II and Rosamond de Clifford.[2]
Career
After serving as the chaplain of Hilton Castle he became the minister of St. Stephen Coleman Street in London. In 1625 he returned to Oxford for further studies. Following a disagreement over the inclusion of the destitute in church congregations, in 1633 he resigned from the established church and moved to Holland.
While in Holland, it is believed that he was the model for several portraits by Rembrandt, which are now thought to be self portraits of Rembrandt.
In 1637 he acquired the patent for a colony in Massachusetts and sailed with much of his congregation for Boston. In March of 1638 he co-founded the Colony of New Haven along with his classmate, Theophilus Eaton, a wealthy merchant from London who became the colony's first governor. He was a large proponent of education in his colony and is often credited with the co-founding of Hopkins School.[3]
As a burgess, he was an important figure in the colony up until his departure to Boston in 1669. He died in Boston of apoplexy in 1670 and was buried in the same tomb as John Cotton in King's Chapel Burying Ground.
Legacy
Yale University's Davenport College is named in his honor. Both President's Bush were in Davenport College, and they were descended from Thomas Davenport, who has been proved by DNA evidence to be related to John Davenport.
Recently, DNA evidence has proven that his grandfather, Edward Davenport of Coventry, was descended from the Davenports of Henbury. In addition, the DNA evidence has established his descent from Ormus de Davenport, of Cheshire, and also his relationship to the present day Lord Bromley Davenport [4].
Notable descendants include brothers John and James Davenport, who were Congressmen, Abraham Davenport, the "Dark Day" poem, Archibald Cox, the Watergate Special Prosecutor, and Maxwell Perkins, the editor.
See also
References
- ^ Lecture by Francis J. Bremer, Ph.D., at the Stamford Historical Society, April 17, 2005
- ^ Gary Boyd Roberts. The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States, 1st edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2004, pp. 422-3, 479-80; and Frederick Lews Weis, et al. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2004, line 230A, p. 205. See Roberts, pp. 422-3, for discussion of Barnaby's ancestry.
- ^ Chronicles of Hopkins Grammar School: 1660-1935. Thomas B Davis. Quinnipiack Press, New Haven, CT. 1938
- ^ http://www.davenportdna.com/ Davenport Surname DNA project
External links
- Genepool: Saint Stephen's page
- M'Clure, Alexander Wilson, The lives of John Wilson, John Norton, and John Davenport (1846)
- Hilton Castle, Durham An actual engraved image of Durham Castle can be found here, with links back to the London Genealogy page.
- Ancestry.com gives several references as to the death date of Davenport.
- Davenport DNA study
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