Edward RAWSON

Notes:

Name:
Edward Rawson, bp. Gillingham, Dorset, 2 Nov 1634, d. probably after September 1655 but before 6 May 1674, when his parents called his younger brother William their "now oldest son" in a deed--a phrase they repeated in a 23 May 1676 deed. Edward was almost certainly his sister Rachel's older sibling and transatlantic shipmate in 1637, based on his matriculation by 22 Oct. 1649 at Harvard College, where he graduated with a BA in August 1653.

Between his graduation and 1655 he apparently went to England. Strong circumstantial evidence suggests he was appointed vicar of Kingston by Canterbury, Kent, on 17 Sept. 1655, an interim position he left by 1656. His whereabouts thereafter are uncertain. It is questionable if he was the man of the same name who by 19 March 1655/6 had become rector of Horsmonden, Kent - as asserted in the Rawson genealogies and other accounts. Some circumstantial evidence makes it plausible he might have been the Edward Rawson who was vicar of Wooburn, Buckinghamshire fro 5 February 1662 as well as (simultaneously, from 13 May 1664) rector of neighboring Hedsor, buried at Wooburn 13 January 1667/8. But we have been unable to confirm this. We have not found marriage or probate records for an Edward Rawson or records for Baptisms of children of a man by that name at or near Kington, Horsmonden, Wooburn, or Hedsor during the period. However, the Wooburn-Hedor Edward Rawson had a son, Henry Rawson, age unknown, buried at Wooburn 31 Jan. 1667/8.