Coming to America

It can be said with reasonable certainty that the progenitor of the Male family in America was born William Mayle in May 1714 in Bottisham, Cambridgeshire, England. There are other William Males who married a spouse with the name of Mary in the Eastern England area during this time period, but timelines hold best with this individual. In addition, this individual is consistent with various family histories that have been published over the years.

He was christened on May 26^th. It appears that he was the son of Thomas Mayle and Anna Graves, who were married in nearby Cottenham in 1705. At some point, the family appears to have moved from landlocked Cambridgeshire to the town of Dover, a port in Kent county on the east coast of England. In 1748, William married Mary Cocket at St. James the Apostle Church in Dover. Family history often gives Mary a date of birth of February 11, 1716; however, I don't believe this to be the correct Mary Cocket. First, this Mary was born in Surrey, a neighboring county nearly 70 miles away. Second, and more importantly, the age is quite problematic. We know that the last child born in England was born in 1760, and that at least three more births occurred in America. That would put the last birth sometime around 1763 at the earliest. While childbirth at later ages certainly occurred successfully during this time period, this would mean that Mary successfully gave birth around the ages of 45, 46 and 47, which does not seem likely. Furthermore, if the additional two possible births (John and Sarah) are factored in, this would result in children born at ages 48 and 49. Rather, the Mary Cocket in question is much more likely to be a Mary Cocket that was born in August 1725. Records show her christening to have occurred on August 29, 1725 in Canterbury, which is much closer to their eventual place of marriage. This would place the birth of the latest child at age 38 for Mary (40 if the additional two births are considered), which is much more realistic.

Life did not appear to be easy for this family early on. Parish records indicate that the family may have moved across the town of Dover between 1748 and 1750; the first two birth records occurred in a different parish than that of their marriage. Family history holds that William was a bricklayer or a stonemason, and he may have had to move to find work during this time period. The family certainly knew hardship, as two of their children born during their time in England died quite young (Susanna, at just six months old in 1752 and William, at three years old in 1756). Outside of parish records relating to births and deaths, little is known about the family's time in England.

Sometime around 1761, the family came to America. The exact time is unknown; we know that the last birth in England occurred in 1760, so it was after that date. The first known record in the United States comes in the form of a 1768 petition in Baltimore to move the county seat to Joppa. As such, we can place the time of arrival between 1761 and 1768. This is the first time we see the name Wilmore Male used; in fact, after this, he is never again referred to as William. The reason for the change is unknown. Due to Mary's age and the fact that she had at least three children in America, it is much more likely that this arrival came closer to 1761 than it did to 1768.

Unfortunately, no smoking gun exists in the form of a ship manifest or immigration record to prove that this England family was the one to arrive in Baltimore, but context clues can be used to prove it. Specifically, the names of the children can be used as evidence. Census records and property tax lists show the family's migration from Maryland into Virginia (an area which now, of course, makes up West Virginia). As early as 1786, Hampshire County tax lists show a Wilmore Mail, Jr. 1793 records show brothers Richard, William and Wilmore living next to each other in Hampshire County. This proves that a family consisting of a Wilmore Sr., Wilmore Jr. and William lived in Hampshire County in the 1780's and 1790's. While no factual evidence exists to prove that the English family described is the same family living in Virginia, the odds of another family having these three same names is unlikely.