"Here Were Buried Theophilus Whale "The Singular Good Old Man"

The grave may be found about six miles southwest from East Greenwich Court House

I decided to go back in time for a bit and cover some of the earlier Ancestors.  There is almost no one, in my opinion who is more interesting or more mysterious than Theophilus Whaley (Whale, Whally, Whalley etc.)  Theophilus was my 8th Great Grandfather; he lived to be 103 years old, was the 1st cousin of Oliver Cromwell, "The Lord Protector", and he was either one of the Judges who signed the Death Warrant of King Charles I of Great Britain or he was his brother.  Theophilus is connected to us through Henry Pattison's mother Emma Gardner.  The (long) line is me (1); my Dad, Robert Wayne Wright (2); my Grandfather Robert Burns Wright (3);  his mother, my Great Grandmother, Kate Pattison Wright (4); her father, my GG Grandfather, Henry Pattison (5);  his mother, my 3 Great Grandmother Emma Gardner Pattison(6); her father, my 4 Great Grandfather, George Gardner (7); his mother my 5 Great grandmother, Lydia Reynolds Gardner (8); her Mother, my 6 Great Grandmother,  Joanna Spencer (9); her mother, my 7 Great Grandmother, Theodosia Whaley Spencer (10) and her Father, my 8 Great Grandfather Theophilus Robert Whaley (11).  Whew!!

The man known as Theophilus Whaley was born in 1616 in Screveton, Nottinghamshire, England and was given the name Robert Whaley.    King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland,  son of Mary, Queen of Scots, was  King.   As this was well before the American Revolution, in fact, 4 years before the Pilgrims had even arrived at Plymouth, the English King was also the "American King".  James was the Father of Charles Stuart, Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland, and also over the American Colonies.

 Robert's parents were Richard Whaley, who had been the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Frances Cromwell.  Frances was the Aunt of Oliver Cromwell,, he being the son of her brother, Richard Cromwell.
The Whaleys were an ancient family; as a scion of this family, Robert had a comfortable early life ; he apparently had a University education.   Most likely he went to Cambridge as did many of his family including Cousin Oliver Cromwell.    Robert came to the American colony of Virginia and served with the English Army here.  He returned to England in the 1640s and he fought on the side of Parliament in the English Civil Wars between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists (also known as the Roundheads and Cavaliers)  You can find out more about the English Civil Wars which form the backdrop for the life of Theophilus Robert Whaley at this site http://www.history.com/topics/british-history/english-civil-wars

King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland

The main outcome of the War was the trial and Execution of King Charles I in 1649; his son the future Charles II was exiled and England came under the control of the Lord Protector, the 1st cousin of Robert, Oliver Cromwell.   This makes Cromwell my 1st cousin also, although removed by a few generations!

The Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, my 1st Cousin, 10 Generations removed.  

One of the Judges who signed the Death Warrant of the King was a man named Edward Whaley.  Edward was the brother of Robert; Edward Whaley was also one of the King's Keepers or Jailer when he was in the custody of the Roundheads (Parliamentarians).  

Edward Whaley, the Regicide

The Death Warrant of King Charles I, Edward Whaley 's signature and seal is the 4th name in the 1st row, just below that of his Cousin Oliver Cromwell.  

Transcription of the Death Warrant

King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland

The son of the Executed King was restored to the Throne as Charles II in 1660.  He began a manhunt to hunt down and punish the men responsible for his Father's death.   Those who had already died, including Cromwell were exhumed and submitted to indignities.  Oliver Cromwell's head was placed upon a stake overlooking the site of the King's Execution.

Many of those Judges still living fled England and sought refuge in various European countries.  Three of them, Edward Whaley and William Goffe, his  Son-in-law, and  John Dixwell fled to the American Colonies.  They went to the Puritan Colonies of New England hoping their fellow Religious brethren would help shield them from the Agents of King Charles II. They lived initially in Boston and Cambridge.   Dixwell managed to assume another identity and was assumed by the King's men to have died; however Whaley and Goffe continued to be pursued.   Feeling unsafe in Massachusetts, they moved on to Connecticut.  At one point, they spent several month hiding out in a Cave, now known as Judge's cave in New Haven Connecticut.

Judge's Cave at West Rock Ridge State Park, New Haven, Hamden and Woodbridge, CT

 https://environment.yale.edu/blog/2013/11/welcome-to-judges-cave/  They later moved on to Hadley, Massachusetts where they lived for 15 or more years.  It is believed that Edward died in 1674.

It was at about this time, a few year later, that a man known as Theophilus Whaley, appeared in New England.  He reportedly left England after the Restoration in 1660 and returned to Virginia.  There he married a young woman Elizabeth Mills and had several children with her, born in Virginia. (including a daughter Theodosia Whaley, our 7th Great Grandmother)  In 1680, the family removed to Narragansett,  Rhode Island. It is possible that they left Virginia,  where the Church of England was the official religion, because of his adherence to the Baptist faith.   Or, perhaps, because he was afraid of being captured by the Agents of the King.  The first home in Rhode Island was quite crude, a sod hut dug into a hillside.  Theophilus supported his growing family by Teaching-he was University educated and had knowledge of Hebrew, Latin and Ancient Greek.  He hunted and fished for food and also did Weaving.  He used his education to write letters, deeds  and other documents for people of the area.  He was quite reclusive, appearing very little in the records of the time.

There is one interesting anecdote that appears in every account of Theophilus' life (and there are many!!  See my Bibliography at the end or...just Google his name!!)  It seems that while he was living in Rhode Island, a British ship commanded by a Captain Whaley pulled into Narragansett Bay.  He called at the Whaley home and had a pleasant chat with his distant relative.  He then invited Theophilus aboard ship for a meal in the near future.  Theophilus accepted; however as the date approached he feared that this may have been a ruse to capture him and return him to England.  This episode plus his reticence and reclusiveness, and the fact that he showed up in New England about the same time that his brother supposedly died-lead many to believe that Edward and Theophilus were the same man.  They point out that Theophilus is an assumed name-the man was born Robert.  Theophilus means "God Lover".  Many felt that he (Edward?) felt guilt for his part in the Execution of the King-this was the age of, in fact it was the ending of the age of,  the Divine Right of Kings-where it was believed the King derives his authority from God, not from his subjects.  Perhaps he was serving penance, self-inflicted, for killing the Divinely appointed Monarch.  

There is also the story of the inkpen of the Regicide, Edward Whaley.  Apparently the supposed pen was in the possession of descendants of Theophilus Whaley-it was supposedly the pen Edward Whaley used to sign the Death Warrant of the King.  If Theophilus and Edward were not the same man-how did the pen come to be in Theophilus' family?  A Whalley descendant has written a novel about the Whalleys and the pen he reportedly inherited from his father.  "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002K2QY1U/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1


The most plausible story I have found is that Theophilus was not Edward, the Regicide but was his younger brother  Robert.  Robert had served as a Lieutenant in the Regiment commanded by Colonel Francis Hacker. Note in the above Transcription of the Death Warrent that it is addressed in the lower Left, above the signatures to "Col. Francis Hacker..."  Hacker was one of the Regicides; he was present at the Scaffold and supervised the Execution.  He was later captured by King Charles II, son of the executed King; he was sentenced to Death and was hanged in 1660.  Fearful because of his close association with both his brother and Hacker, Robert fearing for his life, fled to Virginia Colony and assumed the name Theophilus.  To me this makes the most sense although it does not explain how the inkpen of the regicide ended up in Theophilus' family but what verifies that the Pen actually belonged to Edward Whaley except word of mouth?


Charles Spencer, the brother of Diana Princess of Wales has written a book that I have ordered
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PH5RIL2/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o00_?ie=UTF8&psc=1  It is entitled:  

Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

Elizabeth Mills died in about 1715 at approximately 50 years of age.  Theophilus died in 1719 at age 103.

The daughter of Theophilus and Elizabeth, Theodosia Whaley married one Robert Spencer...and became our 7th Great Grandmother.  Their daughter Joanna married into the Reynolds family and she to the Gardners, then the Pattison, to us, the Wrights.  Another daughter of Theodosia Whaley and Robert Spencer, Susanna Spencer became a grandmother of Lucille Ball, the Actress and Comedienne.  This makes Lucy my 7th Cousin 1 generation removed.  Our earliest  common ancestor is Theophilus Whaley; he was my 8th Great Grandfather and Lucy's 7th Great Grandfather.

Cousin Lucy

BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/14739166
http://www.jamestowne-wash-nova.org/TheophilusWhaley.htm
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=71386900
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4246390?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
http://www.whitelawlovefamilyhistory.com/theophilus-whaley/
https://environment.yale.edu/blog/2013/11/welcome-to-judges-cave/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4246390?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://books.google.com/books?id=IG_w70jniooC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=theophilus+whaley&source=bl&ots=F3p2AvjYCy&sig=DU5oRLiOMwP_hLQrIDwHbyqjEOo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiY_afM9NjTAhUr64MKHVEyByQ4ChDoAQgxMAQ#v=onepage&q=theophilus%20whaley&f=false