| January 2022 – update in progress
The information on this page is assembled from several sources, including 313 pages of USA Genealogical Information of Ogburns and Ogborns and the Will Of Sarah Ogborne Of Marshfield, Gloucestershire 1739 The new information is contained in the Will Of Sarah Ogborne Of Marshfield, Gloucestershire 1739 in which she mentions “All the rest of my goods and chattels Personal and Real to me in law or equity belonging and appertaining I give to the six children of my two late brothers John Ogborne and William Ogborne” – she also refers to the children of the two brothers which correspond with the known names of these Ogborne’s offspring, thus confirming clearly the relationship between these two men, who were deceased by 1739. In addition we know from earlier information that William was transported to Maryland in 1663 along with 19 other servants by Thomas Thurston. This gives invaluable information on the origins of John & William in the UK – i.e the town of Thornbury in Gloucestershire. See www.thornburyroots.co.uk for more information on this town. The Ogbornes and Thurston families were well established in Thornbury in the 17th Century, indeed on 2 Nov 1635 Elizabeth Ogborne married Edward Thurnstone in Thorbury. Thomas Thurnston is reported to have brought a number of parties of people to the New Jersey area, and was in fact a very controversial figure in North America where his behavior as a Quaker caused severe embarrassment to Quakers. For more information on this man try a Google search on “Thomas Thurston, Renegade Maryland Quaker” June 2018 |
John and William Ogborne – New Jersey – 1684 established themselves in New Jersey and raised families. These two men who may have been related represent the beginning of lines of Ogbourne/Ogburns in the USA from whom many are descended. Extensive details of Samuel and John and their descendants are set out in a document prepared at the turn of the present century entitled “The Ogbornes of Monmouth County” a large part of which is reproduced in this web site (See links below). No reference to Samuel or John has been so far found in ship’s passenger lists to America.
November 2008: Newly found information :On 20th April 1684 Samuel Ogbourne weaver was tried in London for being involved in unlawful religious worship, to which he pleaded guilty along with various others. He was fined £6.13.4 (a tidy sum in those days) and was committed to the New Prison at Clerkenwell to remain there until the fine was paid. Could this be the same Samuel Ogbourne who settled in New Jersey (and from whom many present day Ogbournes and Ogburns in the USA are descended) in the same year ? For more information on this case
| March 2014: The Field, Wagoner, Hoover & Curtis Genealogy also mentions important new information on the marriage of Samuel & Jane: “He married Jane Curtis, daughter of Thomas Curtis and Jane (?), on 7 February 1686/87 at Burlington, New Jersey; “Jane Ogborne, the daughter of Thomas Curtice, hath gone contrary to truth and hath brought dishonor to God and grieved his people” (date of meeting)OC Editor’s comment: 1. That Samuel was not a Quaker seems right to us, as we have never been able to find a Samuel in Quaker records in the UK for that period. 2. The information stated in www.fieldgenealogy.com about Samuel Ogbourne’s birth is a misunderstanding, the date and place of his birth are the actual date and place of birth of his wife Jane Curtis. |
There is the possibility that John is the same John Ogborne of Cecil Co. who on 24 Setember 1677 sold his right to 50 acres of land due to him for time of service spent (part of a grant to promote settlement of Maryland) [Maryland Patents liber 17, Folio 321]
Or is the William Ogborne of Baltimore Co. related ? He was transported to Maryland in 1663 along with 19 other servants by Tho. Thurston. and was assigned 100 acres on the Bush River on the west side of Chesapeake Bay on 29 June 1672? It seems strange that a name which was and is so uncommon in England crops up as often in the new world. Others could have been encouraged to follow the example of other family members.Quakers ?
Samuel married Jane Curtis, [note made Nov 08 no marriage record has been found (but written before the marriage details above has been seen), but Samuel & Jane were living in NJ as man and wife] an English Quaker emigrant, in 1684 and Jane’s Quaker origins are well documented. 
Image of Quaker birth register (extract)
This original Quaker record of Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire shows her birth on 11 February 1661, and the two sisters who accompanied her to New Jersey. The Northamptonshire area was the cradle of Quakerism in England from its origins in the 1640s.
“The Ogbornes of Monmouth County” sets out a view that ‘the Ogborns were formerly very wealthy potters, in Wales, and drifted from there into England, from whence they were driven, being Quakers, by the persecution of those good people and that they settled in New Jersey in 1684.” However there is no supporting evidence for this account, (Quaker records are well preserved in the UK, but show no trace of Samuel or John* and their families.)
* 5 May 2014: but see will of Sarah Ogborne 1740
Origins near London ?
May 2014 New information has been received of the genealogy of this family in ancestry.co.uk under the “Fotheringham family tree” which includes the Ogbornes set out below plus many more members of this family.
However research shows the following possible connections with families living in what is now the western outer suburbs of London, England.
Marriage
June 15 1625 Samuel Ogborne married Dorothie Pope at Hillingdon, Middlesex.Children of the above christened:
Thomas March 7 1630
Samuel March 12 1633Marriage
February 13 1625 John Ogborne married Ellin Smythe at Uxbridge, MiddlesexChildren of the above christened:
John 4 July 1627
Elizabeth 30 April 1629(The above entries are in the Church of England registers)
Ogbornes had been living in the Uxbridge area for some time, the marriage of Barnard Ogborn and Cyceley Legeard
being recorded in Uxbridge in 1546, and a number of others into the early 18th century. Barnard’s will records that
he lived at a house called the ‘Oystredge Feather’ in Uxbridge.No records of Samuel or John’s marriages are to be found in that area, but more research needs to be undertaken to confirm that there are no deaths in infancy recorded there to eliminate that possibility.
In New Jersey Samuel died in 1694, and John in 1719/20. Samuel’s age is credible to the above mentioned
Christening in 1633 making him 61 when he died, though John at 95 years of age is less credible. [but maybe the John in NJ isn’t the John born in 1627, but perhaps the son of Samuel ?, since it seems likely that they may have come to NJ together]
No other occurrences of the name Samuel Ogbourne or similar have been found in records in the UK, and whilst short of a proven connection the above appears to be the strongest clue to the origins of the Samuel and maybe John Ogbourne who settled in New Jersey in the 1680s. (See seperate information about Samuel’s involvement in court case in London in 1684)
The Ogbournes of Monmouth County
A detailed narative of John Ogbourne and Samuel Ogborne and their descendants was published at the turn of the century, and is reproduced here John Ogborne and descendants and Samuel Ogborne & descendants
Staten Island connection?
On the other hand conflicting reports of Samuel’s arrival In New Jersey exist – another account says “Samuel Ogborne of Burlington is the ancestor of this particular branch of the family. The names of his sons, Samuel and William Ogborne, appear in the records of Gravesend, Staten Island at the time of their moving there where William bought the lands of Captain Richard Stillwell in 1681, and sold his land to Daniel Lake in 1683, and moved to Achter Kol at Elizabeth Town in East Jersey.”