The Legend of Nicholas Wilder

• Surname List
• Introduction
• First Generation
• Second Generation
• Third Generation
• Fourth Generation
• Fifth Generation
• Sixth Generation
• Index

Introduction

This page is a subsidiary of the author's Wilder Genealogy Page . Please visit that page for my reasearch on the Wilder family in England.

The author is of the opinion that the legendary English ancestry presented in the various published genealogies written by Rev. Moses Wilder and revised and updated by his descendents is incorrect. That legendary descent is unsupported by available documentation, and appears to have been constructed based on a lot of wishful thinking and a little correspondence with the most prominent line of Wilders in England at the time of Rev. Moses Wilder. One can only conclude that subsequent researchers have chosen to overlook Rev. Wilder's statement in his book the he had never viewed any English document, and left such study to future research.

The author has done research in many English sources, and has come to different conclusions than other authors have presented. In fact, the present author is of the opinion that probably no such person as the legendary patriarch of the family, Nicholas Wilder, the warrior of Bosworth, ever even existed!

This page is presented purely as reference for comparison to the other point of view. Please see the present author's research at Ralph Clark's Wilder Genealogy Page .

Note that some persons on this page have a (T) after their names. This indicates a legendary version of a person for whom a corresponding individual, with additional or alternative information, may be found in the author's index to other pages.

Here follows the Legend (not the genealogy) of Nicholas Wilder.

1. Nicholas^E Wilder (T) was born in Bohemia?. Nicholas died before 1525 in Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England.

Burke's Landed Gentry of 1846 said simply that Nicholas Wilder, Esq., was "living 15 April, 12 HEN VII, 1497," and was the father of John.

Rev. Moses Wilder (1878) said Nicholas Wilder was "a military chieftain, in the army of the Earl of Richmond, at the battle of Bosworth, in 1485." Richmond, triumphant over the ill-starred Richard III, founded the Tudor dynasty as Henry VII. On 15 April, 1497, "he gave to his friend, as a token of his favor, a landed estate with a coat of arms." Although Rev. Wilder did not explicitly so state, it may be concluded that this estate would have been the manor of Nunhide, as Rev. Wilder wrote that Sulham House came by marriage to Nicholas' grandson, John.

The present author has chosen to speculate that Nicholas Wilder, the testator of 1542, was likely to have been the son of this original Nicholas. It's possible that the 1542 will may have been written by this old soldier, but its tone seems to this author to be too vigorous for a man who would have been aged over eighty years.

Nicholas Wilder (T) had the following child:

• + 2 i. John^D Wilder (T).

2. John^D Wilder (T) (Nicholas^E) was born in Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England. John died before 1583 in probably, Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England.⁽¹⁾

He married Agnes (Wilder) (T). Agnes was born in probably, Berkshire, England. Agnes died after 1576/7 in maybe, Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England.⁽²⁾

Rev. Moses Wilder wrote that in 1525, John "was in possession of the estate by entail."

None of the editions of Burke's Landed Gentry mentions a son named Henry.

John Wilder (T) and Agnes (Wilder) (T) had the following children:

• + 3 i. Henry^C Wilder (T).

• + 4 ii. John Wilder (T) was born before 1542.

3. Henry^C Wilder (T) (John^D, Nicholas^E)⁽³⁾ was born in Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England.

He married Edethe Saunders September 23, 1583 in Burghfield, Berkshire, England.⁽⁴⁾ Edethe was born in probably, Berkshire, England.

Henry Wilder (T) and Edethe Saunders had the following children:

• 5 i. Thomas^B Wilder⁽⁵⁾ was born in Combe, Hampshire, England after 1582/3.

• + 6 ii. John Wilder was born after 1582/3.

4. John^C Wilder (T) (John^D, Nicholas^E)⁽⁶⁾ was born in Sulham, Berkshire, England before 1542. John died 1588 at 46 years of age.

He married Alice (Wilder) (T). Alice died 1602.

John Wilder (T) and Alice (Wilder) (T) had the following children:

• 7 i. Thomas^B Wilder (T). He married Margaret (Wilder) (T).⁽⁷⁾ Margaret was born in probably, Berkshire, England. Margaret died in probably, Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England.

• + 8 ii. John Wilder (T).

6. John^B Wilder (Henry^C, John^D, Nicholas^E) was born in Combe, Hampshire, England after 1582/3. John died 1640 in probably, Combe, Hampshire, England, at 56 years of age.⁽⁸⁾

He married Alice Stryer 1611 in St. Laurence, Reading, Berkshire, England.⁽⁹⁾ Alice was born in probably, Berkshire, England.

John Wilder and Alice Stryer had the following children:

• + 9 i. John^A Wilder was born 1612.

• + 10 ii. Edward Wilder was born 1614.

• 11 iii. Nicholas Wilder was born in Combe, Hampshire, England 1617.⁽¹⁰⁾ Nicholas died 1639 at 22 years of age.⁽¹¹⁾

• 12 iv. Ann Wilder was born in Combe, Hampshire, England 1620.⁽¹²⁾

• 13 v. Francis Wilder was born in Combe, Hampshire, England 1625.⁽¹³⁾ Francis died in probably, Maryland.

• 14 vi. William Wilder was born in Combe, Hampshire, England 1628.⁽¹⁴⁾

8. John^B Wilder (T) (John^C, John^D, Nicholas^E) was born in Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England. John died in probably, Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England.

He married Margaret (Wilder) (T) in probably, Berkshire, England.⁽¹⁵⁾ Margaret was born in probably, Berkshire, England. Margaret died in probably, Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England.

Rev. Moses Wilder seems to have overlooked this John, asserting that the husband of the widow immigrant to Massachussetts was the fourth son of the John who died in 1588. This next generation is enumerated in the chart obtained by Col. William Wilder in 1944. That chart says that this John Wilder of Nunhide bought Sulham from his brother Thomas in 1598, and later married his brother's widow. The principal estate of Nunhide passed to his eldest son, John. Apparently he left Sulham House to his other son, Thomas, in whose line it seems to have descended until 1712, when, according to Burke's, it was purchased by another John Wilder, then the proprietor of Nunhide.

John Wilder (T) and Margaret (Wilder) (T) had the following children:

• 15 i. John^A Wilder (T) was born in probably, Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England.

  Burke's traces the descent of the Wilder family of Nunhide from Henry Wilder, who is said to have been the only son of John Wilder of Nunhide. While the American Wilder authors have asserted the descent to have been through the John who was son of Thomas and eldest brother of the immigrant children, no source has been offered to suggest that Thomas and his descendants were associated with the estate of Nunhide. The present author concludes that this is the more likely ancestor of the present English line. The span of years between the birth of this John and the death of Henry may require inference of another John of an intervening generation.

• + 16 ii. Thomas Wilder (T) was born circa 1605.

• 17 iii. Margaret Wilder (T) was born in probably, Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England.

9. John^A Wilder (John^B, Henry^C, John^D, Nicholas^E) was born in Combe, Hampshire, England 1612.⁽¹⁶⁾ John died 1633 at 21 years of age.⁽¹⁷⁾

He married Anne Larsholme 1629.⁽¹⁸⁾

John Wilder and Anne Larsholme had the following child:

• 18 i. Samuel¹ Wilder was born 1634.⁽¹⁹⁾

10. Edward^A Wilder (John^B, Henry^C, John^D, Nicholas^E) was born in Combe, Hampshire, England 1614.⁽²⁰⁾ Edward died in probably, Virginia.

He married Marie Dickens 1640.⁽²¹⁾

Edward Wilder and Marie Dickens had the following children:

• 19 i. Edward¹ Wilder was born 1640.⁽²²⁾

• 20 ii. Deborah Wilder was born 1645.⁽²³⁾

16. Thomas^A Wilder (T) (John^B, John^C, John^D, Nicholas^E) was born in probably, Nunhide, Sulham, Berkshire, England circa 1605. Thomas died 1635 in probably, Sulham, Berkshire, England, at 30 years of age.

It's not clear to the present author whether any evidence supports the existence of this man. Early researchers of the ancestry of American Wilders thought he was the husband of the immigrant widow, Martha Wilder, and recounted the inheritance of an elder son, John, and the emigration of Martha and four other children. The inheritance of the major estates in Sulham by John Wilder is documented, but the discovered documents seem not to conflict with a continuous descent of John from John, with no Thomas in the line.

Thomas Wilder (T) had the following children:

• 21 i. John¹ Wilder (T) was born in Sulham, Berkshire, England. John died in England.

• + 22 ii. Thomas Wilder was born circa 1618.

22. Thomas¹ Wilder (Thomas^A, John^B, John^C, John^D, Nicholas^E) was born in Sulham, Berkshire, England circa 1618. Thomas died October 23, 1667 in Lancaster, Worcester Co, MA, at 49 years of age.⁽²⁴⁾

He married Anna (Wilder).⁽²⁵⁾ Anna was born about 1618 (if same age as spouse). Anna died June 10, 1692 in Lancaster, MA, at 73 years of age.⁽²⁶⁾

Dr. Edwin Wilder declared her to be Anna Eames, sister of Elizabeth who married Thomas's supposed brother Edward Wilder. No record of her appears in any documents of the Eames family. Anthony Eames had arrived at Charlestown early, and was made freeman there in the first part of 1637, but in that same year was said to have removed to Hingham.

Dr. Edwin Wilder wrote that in 1640, he was made a freeman at Charlestown, Massachusetts, and was received into the church there, and was married.

Thomas Wilder and Anna (Wilder) had the following children:

• 23 i. Mary² Wilder was born in Charlestown, MA June 30, 1642.⁽²⁷⁾

• 24 ii. Thomas Wilder was born in Charlestown, MA September 14, 1644.

• 25 iii. John Wilder was born in Charlestown, MA circa 1646.

• 26 iv. Elizabeth Wilder was born in Charlestown, MA circa 1648.

• 27 v. Nathaniel Wilder was born in Charlestown, MA circa 1650.

Notes and References

Index

(Wilder)

Dickens

Larsholme

Saunders

Stryer

Wilder

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