Cuthbert FORSTER (c. 1544 – 1589) was Alex’s 12th Great Grandfather; one of 8,192 in this generation of the Miller line.

Cuthbert Foster was born about 1544 in Brunton Hall, Northumberland, England. His parents were Sir Thomas FORSTER (4)  and Feorina (Frances) WHARTON.  Cuthbert descended from Sir Richard Forester of Flanders and even further back from ANARCHER Great Forester, of Flanders. He died in 1589 in England. He was married to Elizabeth BRADFORD about 1562 in England.

Elizabeth Bradford was born about 1554 in Brunton Hall, Northumberland, England.  Her parents were William BRADFORD and Alice MORTON.   Alternatively, her father was Thomas Bradford, [Mayor of Berwick].

She was baptized at the age of 17 on  16 Jul 1571 in Austerfield, Yorkshire.  After Cutbert died, she married at the age of 41 on 25 Jun 1595 to James Hall  at Austerfield on June 25, 1595 and had four children surnamed Hall, three of whom were living in 1609.

Children of Cuthbert and Elizabeth:

Elizabeth’s father William Bradford (1533-1595) a prosperous Yeoman farmer, was apparently the first Bradford to settle in Austerfield.  He was the grandfather of William Bradford III (19 Mar 1590 – May 9, 1657) who served as governor of the Plymouth Colony for over 30 years and is credited as the first civil authority to designate what popular American culture now views as Thanksgiving in the United States.

In 1577 he had purchased from Anthony Morton; land and houses in Austerfield and Bawtry (in Yorkshire); and land in Mission (in Nottinghamshire). He already owned lands in Tickhill and Bentley from his parents and grandparents. Even before this purchase, in 1575, he and John Hanson were the only taxed inhabitants of Austerfield. Bradford was assessed 20s on his land, whereas John Hanson was assessed 60s on “goods”.

The accepted genealogy has him as the son of Peter Bradfourth (1475-1542).

William Bradford’s first wife was very probably Alice Morton, a sister of the Anthony Morton from whom he bought land and houses. According to the Browne Reference, William Bradford (1533-1595) won these properties in a “fine” where Bradford was a “plaintiff” and Anthony Morton and his wife, Mary are “deforciants”.

The same article asserts that William Bradford’s 1st. wife was Alice Morton, sister of Anthony Morton, and that Anthony Morton was the grandfather of  George MORTON, the Plymouth Colonist. George was also our ancestor also in the Miller tree, these lines  joined again in 1770 when Ruth Morton married Enoch Dow in Maugerville,  New Brunswick, Canada.

One of Anthony Morton’s two sons was George Morton (the elder) who married Catherine Boun and had a son, the George Morton of Leyden and Plymouth, a member of the Seperatists, many of whom sailed to Plymouth on the Mayflower.

William Bradford (1533-1595) married his second wife, Margaret Fox, in Nottingham on Oct. 19, 1567. Margaret was the daughter of William Fox of Harworth , Nottingham County, by whom William Bradford (1533-1595) had one child (a daughter), Elizabeth Bradford (bap. July 16, 1571). Elizabeth married James Hall at Austerfield on June 25, 1595 and had four children surnamed Hall, three of whom were living in 1609.

George Morton was therefore, a second cousin to Gov. William Bradford. George sailed originally on the Speedwell which developed leaks and had to return to England, so he came later on the Anne in 1623. He married Juliane Carpenter, a sister of Alice Carpenter, the 2nd wife of Governor Bradford. Thus he was also a brother-in-law to Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth.

Sources:

New England families, genealogical and memorial: a record of the …, Volume 4 edited by William Richard Cutter 1908 Pearce, Frederick Clifton (1899). Foster Genealogy Being the Record of the Posterity of Reginald Foster. Chicago: W. B. Conkey. pp. 11–12. OCLC 3354831

http://www.sallysfamilyplace.com/Wheeler/bamburgh_castle.htm

http://www.geni.com/people/Cuthbert-Forster/4131515218690040149

http://www.concentric.net/~pvb/GEN/wbrad3.html