(pictured above: St. Mary’s Church, Aldham, Suffolk, England)

The late William E. (Bill) Lovering, in his unpublished genealogy of both the Boston and New Hampshire Loverings, devoted some effort to connecting our John Lovering (of Dover) and his William Lovering (of Boston) back to their parents in England.  Though some information exists, it is far from concrete by genealogical standards.

One starting point is this passage from “The History of Raymond, N.H.” (1875), pg. 247:

There is an account of a family of this name in England in 1620. William Lovering lived at Aldham, and between the date given and 1637, had his children baptized, probably in the Episcopal church.  Their names were William, John, George, Thomas, Jonathan, Susanna, David, Elizabeth and Edward.  Thomas came to America, as is related, but where, it is not said.  Farmer says, the first who came over was John, in Massachusetts, made a freeman about 1636, and was in Dover in 1665.  The name was in Hampton and Exeter, sometime ago, and John Prescott Lovering, the progenitor of those in Raymond, came from Exeter.  It was not in the village of Exeter, but near the “Great Hill,” on, or not far from, the road leading to Kingston.  There, at least some of his children were born.  Leaving Exeter, he lived at the Rocks in Fremont, moved from there to this town, locating near where his great-grandson, Moses L. Lovering, now lives.  The house stood near the road, and one built early was standing but a few years since.  Its fireplace was interesting as a speciment of many in olden time.  It was some eight feet wide, with an oven on the backside at one end.  It was about five feet high, and would take in half a cord of wood.

Bill Lovering also references an unpublished manuscript by noted New England genealogist (and Lovering!) Winifred Lovering Holman, which I have not seen directly. I don’t think was able to locate the original records in England or verify any additional details.  However it’s certainly possible that the John baptized in Aldham might be our John, and that his brother William was the the father of William (ca. 1640-1688, m. Margaret Gutch), the emigrant to Boston and father of that line.

We only have bits and pieces on Loverings in England at that time, and while Ancestry.com has a few trees that claim to trace back prior to 1620, they are missing documentation or even notes describing how these connections were made.  At least one tree shows a marriage between a Lovering (Abel, 1505-1580) with a descendant of English noble Sir Nicholas de Loveyne (d. 1375).  But not finding any research to back this up, I must assume it is the kind of wishful thinking that’s found all too often in genealogy.  I did find it easy, though, to find information on another Abel Lovering – a graduate of Cambridge around 1606 and minister associated with Pembroke College around 1628.  He is mentioned in the state papers of King Charles I:

Jan. 23, 1628
“The King to the Vice Chancellor and Heads of the University of Cambridge, to suffer Abel Lovering, Minister, to take the degree of B.D. notwithstanding he has not received the inferior and precedent degrees, he have his grace already granted to to this purpose by the Master and Fellows of Pembroke Hall.”

The Cambridge alumni list shows four Loverings graduating (as early as 1575), but of course we don’t know they might be connected to our emigrants.  It is clear though that some of that family name were in high positions during the Elizabethan era, in the church and in education if not at court.

Lovering graduates from Cambridge, 1575-1636

I hope (as Bill Lovering did) to find a genealogy connection in the UK who’s done enough work in this area to shed more light on our English origins.  Until then, we’ll just keep Googling.  And maybe I’ll spring for that “World Deluxe” membership on Ancestry.com after all…

Other Early Listings (last update 23 Aug 2015)

• John Loveryng, 12 Nov 1318
  Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: 1317-1321