Edward Spanne Family History

Child
Margrett Spanne	b. about 1622 Bromborough, Cheshire Co., England	d. 1656	m.
Anne Spanne	b. about 1623 Bromborough, Cheshire Co., England	d. 1656	m.
Richard Spanne	b. 18 Aug 1624 perhaps in Bromborough, Cheshire Co., England	d. about 1688 Bromborough, Cheshire Co., England	m. Dorcas Broster 1647 Bromborough, Cheshire, England*
Katherin Spanne	b. about 1622 Bromborough, Cheshire Co., England
Mary Spanne	b. about 1622 Bromborough, Cheshire Co., England	d. 1656
Elizabeth Spanne	christ. 13 Jul 1626 Bromborough, Cheshire Co., England

1640 - Edward Spann and his family's lives overlap one of the most difficult periods in English history. Charles I was beseiged by problems involving parliament but also by his own ineffectiveness as a ruler. Parliament was exerting some pressure to control beyond the needs of the royalty. In Chester the landed gentry were enlisted to pay for Charles' army against the rebels as well as enforced loyalty. Charles I sent his emissaries and the Archbishop of Canterbury to Chester keep the other parish priests and locals from listening to the disenters.

A letter to Bishop of Chester in 1632 stated, " For wee heare of some seeds of differences sowing in your Diocess by debates about the Saboth, and that one Mr Lea vicar of Budworth prebend and lecturer at Chester hath put himself uppon that subject in opposition to some others. Wee require you therefore for prevension of further strife to command him that in his lectures hee raise no occasion of controversies which may disturb the union and peace of the church and that hee do nothing to unsettle or question the received doctrine by curious straines and speculations or by anything which may perplex or troble the minds of the people. Do you what belongeth to a good Bishop to make your clergie capable [i.e. understand] that disputes ingender strife and that true religion must be planted and preserved by unitie and good life.
[Gaunt, Peter. Conflict and Concensus: The Central Regime and Cheshire, c1630 - c1660, Public Record Office/National Archives [hereafter PRO], SP 16/211, no 87.]

1640-1650 This must have been a tough period in England. The landed gentry seemed to have been put upon by both sides and peasants having no place in the public governance.

1652- Edward Spann seems to have been arrested for insulting the Mayor of Chester. A number of documents relate to this individual.

FILE - [no title] - ref. ZM/L/3/352 - date: [1652-3]
Draft letter from William Bennett, Mayor, Randle Holme and John Johnson to [ ? ]. They enclose copies of several examinations which they have taken concerning Edward Spanne, a Citizen of Chester, who appears to be guilty of many horrid blasphemies and foul misdemeanours. Upon his examintaion, some of them committed him to prison until he found sureties to appear at Quarter Sessions. Having done this, he repaired to London to the Lord General, and complained against them for his imprisonment. The Lord General dismissed him, but he then betook himself to the Common Law, and has served several of them with writs to appear in the Exchequer at Westminster next term, on the ground of his imprisonment. He has spoken reproachfully not only against the government of the City, but also against His Excellency and him. They ask that if Spanne makes a loud outcry for being committed for these speeches, he will procure the examinations to be read in their justification. They ask him to endeavour to have him punished "or at least that his hellish mouth bee stop'd", as their hands are likely to be tied by certioraris and habeas corpuses.[Cheshire and Chester Archives and Local Studies Service.]

FILE - [no title] - ref. ZM/L/3/362 - date: 19th July, 1653
[Copy of] letter from Tho. Elliott, "Member of Jesus Christ and his Common wealth", to Captain Glynne, Captain of Colonel Tomlinson's troop; from Blackedogge, Newgate Market, London. Divers malevolent persons have illegally imprisoned his servant Edward Spanne in Chester for no other cause but "advanceinge of excellencies and armyes designes and preservacion of the peace of the Commonwealth". This is well known to Colonel Tomlinson, who was one of the Council of State when William Longe, the writer's servant in Sussex, was examined in similar circumstances. He requests him to send Spanne, bound in good bonds, to appear before his Excellency and the Council of State, the Council of War, or Parliament, or before the Mayor of Chester, or else to enlarge him if he renders the same account of his actions as Longe did, and shows the petition he invited the people to sign. [Cheshire and Chester Archives and Local Studies Service. http://www.a2a.org.uk/]

I have no other information on this family than what is listed. The records are available through the LDS Family Research Center. The dates for the births of children cannot be accurate because the date listed for the marriage is the same as the births of the children. All we can assume from this is a very approximate time. I had thought at first that some of the children were twins but not like this. The records are extracted from the parish records for Cheshire co., England. The birth order and dates are probably very different than what I have listed.