COPE CONTROVERSY-Wiltshire

[Richard Boswell]

For several decades, this has been the published lineage of Oliver Cope,
immigrant to PA and founder of the Quaker Cope family:
John Cope of Denshanger & Hausted 1355-1415, Northampton, Eng. m.
Joan/Elizabeth Newenham
William Cope of Denshanger m. dau. of William Gossage of Spratton,
Northants.
Alexander Cope of Denshanger m. ?
Sir William Cope of Banbury & Hanwell, b.1450, Grimsbury, Northampton, d.
in Banbury, 1513 m. Agens Harcourt
Stephen Cope, b.1473, Bedhampton, Hampshire, d.1533/34 there m. Anne
Saunders, b.c1491 in Banbury
Sir Anthony Cope of Bedhampton , b.1509, Hant. Eng. d.1586, Bedhampton m.
Lady Anne Stafford
Edward Cope of Brixton-Deverill, Wiltshire, d.bef 1634, Wilts. m. Maud
Truslowe, d.1635, Wilts.
John Cope of Marsden, d.Jun.12,1656, Wilts m. Margaret, d.1669/70
John Cope, d.1648, Avebury, Wilts. m., Elizabeth Deane
OLIVER COPE, of Avebury b.1647, Stofford, Wilts.

As of late, Col.Charles M. Hansen (ret.) (Jul.1995) has written a paper
concerning this ancestry entitled "The Claimed Gentry Descent of Oliver
Cope, Immigrant to Pennsylvania, A 19th Century Genealogical Fraud"
He states:
"In 1861, Gilbert Cope, the noted Quaker genealogist, published a history
of his family. The genealogy starts with the immigrant, who was first
named on 8 Sept. 1681 when, as "Oliver Cope, of Awbry [Avebury], in the
county of Wilts, tailor", he purchased from William Penn for 5s, 250
acres of land in the provence of Pennsylvania. One family tradition
states he emigrated the following year. In his willl dated may 21, 1697,
he called himself oliver Cope, of county New Castle of the "three Lower
Counties on the Delaware", then part of Pennsylvania, now Delaware. He
signed by mark, and his wife Rebecca Cope signed by mark on2 June 1697
that she was satisfied with her husband's will. On 10 June 1697, it was
recorded in Philadelphia that Rebecca Cope, widow of Oliver Cope had
presented the Will to province secretary. Whether Oliver was a Quaker is
not known, but his youngest son John was a prominent member of that
Society and left many descendants in America (Gilbert Cope, A Record of
the Cope Family [Philadelphia, 1861, hereafter Cope Fam., 11-17]
In 1908, a pedigree was published giving the ancestry of James Canby
Biddle-Cope, of Reno, Nevada, and county Cornwall, England "created
Marquis of the Holy see, 1883, and a Baron in the kingdom of Italy, 1886",
the male lineage of the immigrant Oliver Cope is there carried back to a
fourteenth century knight of the shire for county Northampton, England
(Arthur M. Burke, ed. The Prominent Families of the United States of
America [London, 1908], hereafter Prominent Families of America 40-53)"
It gives at this point the above pedigree from Anthony Cope to Oliver
Cope. I might also note here that no evidence has been shown Oliver was
Quaker, and it is my opinion he was not when coming to Pennsylvania.

Continuing: "this gentry descent for Oliver Cope was later published
in Burke's Landed Gentry [London, 1939, 2631-32]; Count d'Angerville, ed.,
Living Descendants of Blood Royal (5 vols.[London, 195Sb73], 1:514-16);
and most recent 3:Gary Boyd Roberts, The Royal Descendants of 500
Immigrants (Baltimore, 1993, p.325), where an acnestral line is traced to
King John. the parentage of Oliver Cope is established by J.C.Biddle-Cope,
Memoirs of the Cope of Wiltshire printed for private circulation,
preface dated Cotswold House (Gloucester), 1881 (author's surname is
hyphenated but not elsewhere), hereafter Copes of Wiltshire); On 2
January 1681 (sic), Elizabeth Cope of Avebury, Wiltshire, widow of John
Cope, late of Chisledon, Wiltshire, renounced her executorship of her
husband's last will and testament, attached, and transferred the
administration to his son and heir; Oliver Cope, and appointed a notary
public to act on her behalf (Copes of Wiltshire 92-95, where the Will and
and extract of the deed of renunciation are both printed, citing the
originals at the Probate Office of the Consistory Court of the Archdeacon
of Sarum, at Salisbury, Wiltshire) This citation is not quite correct, as
the will was proved, not in the Archdeaconry of Sarum (Salisbury), but in
the Archdeaconry of Wiltshire. It is filed for that Archdeaconry under
original wills, Box 14C, 1674-1687, Wiltshire Record Office, Trowbridge.
The identification of John Cope as a yeoman in the original record is
omitted from the extract of the renunciation in copes of Wiltshire (p.
94)
"John cope in his Will, dated 19 September 1649, appointed his wife
executrix and granted her his leased land called "Staffords March", and
three acres, during her widowhood and then to his son Oliver he made
other bequests........to his unborn child (note: this is John Cope, of
whom some have said died young in infancy, but no evidence)....to father
a suit of clothes and mother 40 s.......names brothers and sisters Thomas,
Richard, Margaret,Lucie and Joane Cope...."
"One other record of Oliver Cope in England is known. Oliver Cope,
citizen and carpenter, of London (parish of St.Helens), in his Will dated
13 june 1657, left 5s to Oliver and John Cope, sons of John Cope
desceased. Other bequests: L5 to his mother, L15 a piece to brothers
William and Richard, L5 to brother Thomas and L3 to sister Joana Cope. He
appointed his wife Luce Cope executrix; she proved the Will at alOndon on
6 july 1657, etc.....The overlap of brothers and sisters proves that this
Oliver Cope of London was brother of John Cope of Chisledon. their father
and mother unnamed were both alive when John made his Will 19 Sept.1649,
while only the mother, not named was evidently alive in 1657 when Oliver
made his Will."
"Two inscriptions, stated to be copied from headstones placed side
by side in the churchyard of of Marden Parishm, Wiltshire, are printed at
Note C of the appendix of Copes of Wiltshire (p.92):

Sacred to the memory of John, son of John and
Margaret Cope. He died at Chisledon Parish and was buried here the 4th
October 1649
Sacred to the memory of John son of Edward and
Maude Cope who died June12th 1565
Also to Margaret his wife who died on the 10th
March 1670

"The first headstone inscription above is cited to establish the parents
of the John cope of chisledon who dated his Will 19 Sept.1649. The second
headstone inscription is cited to establish the death dates of the
parents of John Cope of chisledon and to show that his father's parents
were Edward and Maude Cope.
"This Maude Cope is idnetified as the "Mawde Cope" of Codford St.Peter
Parish, Wiltshire, who in her short Will (only 2 sentences long), proved
at Salisbury 10 May 1635, bequeathed to her two sons John and Edward Cope
L12 each and left the rest of her goods to her daughter Elizabweth snowe,
who was appointed executrix (note: other ref. show her as Maude Truslow,
daughter of Richard Truslow of Avebury). Maude Cope is assumed to be the
widow of Edward Cope who was of Brixton-Deverill Parish, Wiltshire when
he was assessed in a subsidy during the reign of James I (Copes of Wilts
38-39) This Edward Cope is identifies as the Edward Cope, who, by the
nuncupative will of his brother John Cope of Marden Parish, Wiltshire,
gentleman, dated Aug.11,1613, was to receive 20 nobles yearly after the
death of his mother and during the life of John's widow. The testator
John Cope, who asked to be buried in the church of Marden, left other
bequests of over L1,000. John Cope and his brother Edward were identified
as as sons of Anthony Cope of Bedhampton, Hampshire, by his wife, Anne,
daughter of Sir Humphrey Stafford. In his Will dated 10 April 1585 and
proved 6 April 1585, Anthoy Cope of Bedhampton, esquire nemaed among
others, his wife anne, and his sons John, Edward, and George.
"No Will was found for Edward Cope. J.C.Biddle Cope noted that it was
curious that Maude Cope left such a small sum in her will to her sons.
Although note commented upon by Biddle Cope, another troubling aspect is
the jumping from parish to parish in each generation. For example, Edward
Cope of Brixton Deverill is identified as brother of John Cope of Marden,
about 18 miles distant. Edward Cope's widow is named Maude cope of
Codford St.Peter, about 3 parishes away from Brixton-Deverill. Edward and
Maude's presumed son John Cope was of Chisledon, over 30 miles from
Brixton-Deverill and over 25 miles from Codford St.Peter. John's son was
said to be another John Cope who died in Chisledon but was buried at
Marden, which is about 18 miles from Chisledon, with 8 parishe separating
them.
"Robert Charles anderson inspected the copu of Copes of Wiltshire in the
library of New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston. He
discovered that it was Gilbert Cope's personal copy and had been recieved
by from the publisher on 12 June 1882. Insterted in the book was a hand
written "Note G", signed Biddle Cope, Brussels, October 20th, 1884" and
added to the appendix. It had evidently been sent by the author to
Gilbert Cope. It includes:

The reader's attention may be directed, with advantage, to a point in our
genealogical catena (chain) that offers a promising field for future
research. The careful student will not have failed to note that the dates
of the death of Oliver Cope's father and of his paternal grandfather and
grandmother depend entirely upon the evidence presented by the tombstones
in Marden churchyard. The accuracy of the inscriptions must be judged,
again, by the skill and integrity of Mr.Walter Ellis, Heraldic Engraver,
of Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London. Mr Ellis went down to Marden,
examined the headstones, and certified to having found and read the
inscriptions as printed in Note C of this appendix. I went to Marden
myself but the old headstones were so worh from long exposure to rain and
frost that I was unable to decipher the inscriptions.

"Biddle Cope adds that no parish records of Marden survived for the
period in question and that the lineage as given "will be found to rest
solely on the accuracy oif Mr.Ellis' word" He concludes by stating that
perhaps some antiquary, of greater skill and experience than myself, will
be able to "confirm his reading of the Marden tomsbstones...'

"The Monumental Inscriptions of Marden, Co.Wilts" were communicated by
Arthur Schomberg, Esq. and published in Miscellanea Genealogica et
Heraldica, 3d ser. 1 (1896):143-44. The earliest memorials within the
church date to the 1700s and none is for any Cope. No inscriptions are
mentiond for any of the headstones in the churchyard. The surviving
Marden Parish Registers start in 1685 and thus, Biddle Cope noted, none
exists for the dated given on the two tombstones. The burial records in
the Chisledon parish Register start in 1659 and the Bishops' Transcripts
for Mrden Parish have survived. Although these start in 1623, there are
many gaps and transcripts for the years 1649 and 1656 are missing. but
from 1661 on, the transcripts are continuous. A detailed check of burilas
for 1670 and 1671 and a number of years before and after those dated
revealed no Margaret Cope (or any other Copes) was buried during that
time periodat Marden, as reported by Mr.Ellis. That inscriptions on two
side-by-side tombstones in the Marden churchyeard have survived from the
1600s and provided three generations of a yeaoman family would have benn
an unusual occurence. That a churchyard tomsbtone inscription in effect
explained that although john Cope died in Chisledon he was buried in
Marden, is also hard to accept, Arthur Schomberg, in describing
monumental inscriptions at Marden, did not note such unusual tombstone
inscriptions and Biddle Cope, despite his bestefforts, was not able to
find any stone which could be matched with those inscriptions.

"The foregoing,, in conjunction with the fact that no Margaret Cope was
buried there in 1670, can only lead to the conclusion that Mr. Ellis
found no such inscriptions. For his report, he would have provided dates
and names that were consistent with the information known from the Wills
of Mawde Cope of Codford St.Peter, John Cope of Chisledon, and Oliver
Cope of London.

"As has been seen, the evidence proves that Oliver Cope, the immigrant
was son of john Cope of Chisledon, Wiltshire, yeaomsn, who made his Will
in 1649 and of Elizabeth Cope, a widow living in Avebury, Wiltshire in
1681. However. it is now clear that the generations to connect this
yeoman with the gentry Copes were based on the falsified report of Walter
ellis, Heraldic Engraver of London. Therefore, the claim that the
immigrant was descended from Anthony Cope, esquire, or any other of the
gentry Cope cannot be accepted. The idnetity of his paternal grandfather
remains unkwon. Despite his misgivings, J.C.Biddle Cope did not abandon
his belief in his gentry lineage and in 1908 had the line published, with
additional information on his children and grandchildren, in Prominent
Families of America. Gilbert Cope also seems to have accepted the lineage,
at least to the extent that he included it in a handwritten chart he
made of his children's ancestry."

Hansen states he is retired army officer who specializes in medieval
genealogy and in the ancestry of Quaker colonists, although this is the
first work I have seen of his.

I have several questions, although I am not disputing the reputed
pedigree (I myself am a Cope descendant). My most pressing question is
concerning the fact Oliver's family was obviuolsy present in Wiltshire at
the same time the 'gentry' Copes were present. Is it not probable there
is a connection to this family, despite distances from parish to parish?
Also, there is referene to an English publication "Records of the Family
of Cope" by Emma Elizabeth Cope that we are trying to locate that gives
reference to this line in question. Anyone know anything of this? It
existed as of 1912.

I feel it is a damning perspective to call this line "fraudulent", as
though we in the present were responsible. I believe this is not a
perfect science and we must be open to criticism and scrutiny. Gary Boyd
Roberts has already accpeted the disproval based on this paper, so
obviuosly he took this line gor granted as well without checking
resources. As a correspondent of mine has stated. Hansen seems to be
"begging the question, defined as stating an argument so that it
'assumes' that the point you intend to prove is in fact true".

Any comments or guidance on this issue, or any referances is highly
welcomed. Please repond here, email me, or write to:

Richard S. Boswell
lake Hunter Terrace
1005 West Dorothy Stree
Lakeland, Florida
33815

[William A. Reitwiesner]

MKA...@prodigy.com (Richard Boswell) posted:

> For several decades, this has been the published lineage of Oliver Cope,
>immigrant to PA and founder of the Quaker Cope family:
>John Cope of Denshanger & Hausted 1355-1415, Northampton, Eng. m.
>Joan/Elizabeth Newenham
>William Cope of Denshanger m. dau. of William Gossage of Spratton,
>Northants.
>Alexander Cope of Denshanger m. ?
>Sir William Cope of Banbury & Hanwell, b.1450, Grimsbury, Northampton, d.
>in Banbury, 1513 m. Agens Harcourt
>Stephen Cope, b.1473, Bedhampton, Hampshire, d.1533/34 there m. Anne
>Saunders, b.c1491 in Banbury
>Sir Anthony Cope of Bedhampton , b.1509, Hant. Eng. d.1586, Bedhampton m.
>Lady Anne Stafford
>Edward Cope of Brixton-Deverill, Wiltshire, d.bef 1634, Wilts. m. Maud
>Truslowe, d.1635, Wilts.
>John Cope of Marsden, d.Jun.12,1656, Wilts m. Margaret, d.1669/70
>John Cope, d.1648, Avebury, Wilts. m., Elizabeth Deane
>OLIVER COPE, of Avebury b.1647, Stofford, Wilts.
>
>As of late, Col.Charles M. Hansen (ret.) (Jul.1995) has written a paper
>concerning this ancestry entitled "The Claimed Gentry Descent of Oliver
>Cope, Immigrant to Pennsylvania, A 19th Century Genealogical Fraud"

For those who'd like to see what Col. Hansen actually said, without the
transcription errors introduced by Mr. Boswell, the paper was published in
the July 1995 issue of *The American Genealogist*, Vol. 70, No. 2, starting
on page 156. The interested reader can also find the copyright statement
which Mr. Boswell seems unable to respect.

<massive copyright violation snipped>

>Hansen states he is retired army officer who specializes in medieval
>genealogy and in the ancestry of Quaker colonists, although this is the
>first work I have seen of his.

Col. Hansen has published a *lot* of articles over the past twenty years.
Perhaps if you were more familiar with the American genealogical periodical
literature you'd be aware of his previous contributions.

>I have several questions, although I am not disputing the reputed
>pedigree (I myself am a Cope descendant). My most pressing question is
>concerning the fact Oliver's family was obviuolsy present in Wiltshire at
>the same time the 'gentry' Copes were present. Is it not probable there
>is a connection to this family, despite distances from parish to parish?

There probably is such a connection. But what are the precise details of
the connection? Col. Hansen has shown that the connection claimed up to
now is based on fraud. Your assignment is to find the correct connection.
Let us know when you do.

>I feel it is a damning perspective to call this line "fraudulent", as
>though we in the present were responsible. I believe this is not a
>perfect science and we must be open to criticism and scrutiny. Gary Boyd
>Roberts has already accpeted the disproval based on this paper, so
>obviuosly he took this line gor granted as well without checking
>resources. As a correspondent of mine has stated. Hansen seems to be
>"begging the question, defined as stating an argument so that it
>'assumes' that the point you intend to prove is in fact true".

The fraudulent activity documented by Col. Hansen occurred a hundred years
ago. There is no suggestion by Col. Hansen, or anybody else, that people
who today are using the line presented above are engaging in fraud. Just
that they're lazy and credulous. Gary Boyd Roberts (who at least has the
excuse that he was trying to evaluate the lines of over *500* immigrants of
alleged Royal ancestry and couldn't focus closely on any particular
immigrant) has taken the appropriate action and rejected this line. I hope
you'll do the same.

Or are you just mad that you've lost the Royal descent you thought you had?

William Addams Reitwiesner
wr...@loc.gov