Myles Standish – of Duxbury?

The centuries old controversy surrounding Captain Myles Standish (of the Mayflower fame) and his connections with Lancashire, has dramatically been re-opened in a new series of articles by Helen Moorwood, published in the Lancashire History Quarterly.  The contentious issue of his ancestry was thought to have been well and truly settled this century by various researchers, including the ‘venerable’ Rev. T.C. Porteus, who firmly linked Myles with the Standishes of Ormskirk.  However Helen’s latest research returns Myles’ origins back to Duxbury near Chorley.

History

The small town Duxbury in Massachusetts boasts a huge monument, over 100-foot high, with a 14-foot statue of Myles standing proudly on top.  It had always been assumed that he named the town after his ancestral home of the same name in Lancashire.  Myles’ descendants, in the 1800’s, even tried to claim the Duxbury estate in Lancashire itself.  The only facts come from Myles himself.  In his will he mentions lands in Lancashire, which he claims were fraudulently taken from him.  He also maintains that his great-grandfather was ‘from the house Standish of Standish’.

Research

In 1914, this connection was seemingly proven erroneous by Porteus who discovered documents owned by Margaret Standish (nee Croft) of Ormskirk, naming the exact same property in Lancashire claimed by Myles.  Proteus concluded that he must have been descended from the Standishes of Ormskirk.  This explanation has been widely accepted by many historians and even descendants, who abandoned their claims on Duxbury.  However Porteus was unable to establish a direct link with the Standishes of Standish.  Recent researchers, such as G.V.C. Young (Pilgrim Myles Standish, First Manx-American -1984) and Lawrence Hill (Gentlemen of Courage ~ Forward - 1987), have seemingly corroborated the Ormskirk theory.  Hill established the elusive link to Standish Hall with Young pushing Myles even further away to Ellanbane in the Isle of Man.  In this version, his great-grandfather, Huan, moved there in the 16th century, leasing land from the Earl of Derby.

However this story has many problems, like why had Myles not claimed rightful ownership of the home in the Isle of Man on the death of his father.  The land was bequeathed to his so-called younger brother, instead of Myles.  The reason given by Young is that his family thought he had died in the wars in Netherlands (where he had earlier served). However Myles could have easily rectified this situation on a return from America, but for whatever reason, he hadn’t. Further inconsistencies in this theory were exposed in a paper written in 1987 by the Rev. R. Kissack, who found no evidence of Myles’ presence in the Isle of Man at all.

New Evidence

Now Helen Moorwood’s latest research has completely refuted the Ormskirk connection claiming that Myles was from the Duxbury Standishes after all, and that his lost lands were in fact the result of confiscations during the English Civil War.  She bases her claims on new evidence which ‘conclusively identifies’ the great-grandfather in the will, as Alexander first son of Sir Christopher Standish of Duxbury, and the ‘almost certain’ location of some of the claimed lands.  She even suggests that the Manx connection was in fact a reference to an Isle of Man in Croston(?)  The details are to be published in the next three editions of the History Quarterly but I’m sure the controversy is bound to continue.

Summer Trip

Sunday August 8th is the date for this year’s trip. We will be going to Chester to visit the newly opened Devva Roman Experience – ‘stroll along reconstructed streets experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of Roman Chester’.  On the way back we will visit the Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port.  The cost is £10 for the coach plus site entrance fees (approx £4 each – half price for children).  Please bring a £5 deposit to the meeting or send it by post to Mary or myself.

Next Meeting

(Wednesday 7th July at the our new venue the BP Centre in Greenough Street at 7.30 pm as usual.)  This month’s speaker is Tony Ashcroft from Leigh Library who will be talking about ‘Local Funerary Rites’

Hope to see you there - B.A.