Twelfth Generation

2232. Christopher WORRILAW^380,381 was born in 1574 in Haughton, Staffordshire, England. He died on 4 Apr 1605 in Haughton, Staffordshire, England. He was buried on 4 Apr 1605 in Brasenhill, Chester, England.
Brasenhill - The ancestral home of the Worrilow family located in Haughton, Staffordshire, England. Haughton - About 60 miles northeast of Leominster, where the old market hall and its inscription can still be seen today, lies the village of Haughton near the border between Staffordshire and Shropshire. Here lived one of those country gentlemen, Christopher Worrilow (often spelled Warrylow at that time). His wife Margery became a widow and a mother in the same year, as Christopher died in 1604, the year his son John was born. We cannot be sure whether Christopher could properly be termed a country gentleman, but he could certainly be called a yeoman or husbandman, and the hardest-working and most respectable of these, once they acquired land of their own, became gentlemen, a step below titled aristocracy. The Worrilows lived on the family farm, Brasenhill, (sometimes spelled Brazenhill) about a mile north of the village church at Haughton. There is little known about Christopher, but he was probably one of those justices of the peace who had their fingers in many pies. At least, an ancestor of his, Robertus Warilow de Newhouse, was a justice (Newhouse was just east of Haughton), although the ancient court records show that in the year 1586 he did not attend court because he was sick. He was probably the father or grandfather of Christopher.

Although spellings of Warrilow vary considerably, the Wa's and Wo's being found in the same family in some cases, this probably reflects the spelling interpretations of the particular scribe at times when the majority of people were illiterate. In later cases however spellings do become more consistent. All are considered to have the same origin as these variations are all found in the earliest records. A closer look at Staffordshire confines the area even more. There are approximately 900 Warrilows listed in the county as a whole, but of these only about 100 are found in the southern half, south of Stafford. Many of these southerners, consistently spelling their names with 'Wo' and having first appeared in Bloxwich (Walsall) in 17th Century, are later concentrated in Walsall. It is possible that this spelling variation reflects the distinctly different vowel pronunciations between the north and south of the county (e.g., southern 'mon' for 'man', 'con' for 'can', 'loff' for 'laff' or laugh). The earliest reference to a name which might possibly be related to 'Warrilow' is 'Henry de Warelwich' found in a document of 1176, this is not considered to be particularly strong evidence, but it is never seen again so that it could have changed. In 1253 however, in Inquisition to ascertain the value of land in the Totmonslow Hundred, the name 'de Warilawe' first appears. From this date until 1390 the names of at least twelve different individuals are recorded, and although spelling varies slightly, the fundamental structure and sound of the name are quite clear. At this time all are preceded with 'de' indicating a connection with a specific location. From 1390 until the last record seen of 1666, many more individuals are named but without the 'de'. Again spellings vary but all begin with 'War' or 'Wor', all have three syllables, the central one containing the vowel sound provided by 'a, e, i , o, or y', and ending in 'loe, low, law', with or without a final 'e', and in one case 'la'.

Christopher WORRILAW and Margery were married about 1599.

2233. Margery was born in 1578 in Haughton, Staffordshire, England. She died in 1614 in Haughton, Staffordshire, England. She was buried in 1614 in Brasenhill, Chester, England. Children were:

	i.	Jane WORRILAW.
	ii.	Marie WORRILAW.
1084	iii.	John WORRILAW.