George Birch, who died and left a Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) will in 1587, was a member of the important ‘yeoman’ Birch family, that had accumulated considerable lands and wealth by 1600, centred on Smethwick, Wednesbury, Walsall, Handsworth and Aston.
The different branches of the the family are difficult to disentangle. Another George Birch of Smethwick also left a PCC will in 1594 and whilst it might be easy to think that this is the son of the first George Birch, closer examination would say that this is not the case. There are several other wills of Thomas, John and George Birches in close proximity that show a complex picture.
The later George Birch’s Will is almost certainly that of ‘George Birch of the Holte’ as mentioned in the first George Birch’s will. They must be cousins of some kind but any relationship is not directly referred to. Holt Hill is an area to the north-west of Smethwick and the Birches here are a traceable group going forward in the St Peter Harborne register.
However, the first George Birch is demonstrably the one who is recorded as marrying Alice Parkes in St John’s, Halesowen on 15 Oct 1577. We can know this from a number of clues. Firstly the will makes it clear that Alice is pregnant at the time of writing and the children mentioned all correspond with baptisms found in the St Peter Harborne register between 1579 and 1585. Enigmatically George tells us that his youngest son is called Ambrose (bap 3 Apr 1585), he has two daughters Mary (bap 26 Dec 1580) and Frances (bap 10 Apr 1583), but does not seem to give us the name of his oldest son. There are some illegible parts of the will but we can be pretty sure that his oldest son is George Birch, baptised 24 Apr 1579.
The next key piece of evidence is the will of George Parkes from Coventry in 1614. Here he talks about his Aunt Birch. George Parkes’s own son Thomas Parkes in his will of 1627 goes further and talks about his cousins George and Ambrose Birch. This fits perfectly and makes Alice Parkes part of the wealthy Parkes family of Wednesbury. Her brother would therefore be Thomas Parkes who left a will in 1602 and was the father of Richard Parkes of Willingsworth (1563-1618). This family can be found in the 1662 Visitation of Staffordshire. Moreover, it is very likely that George Parkes, a son of Alice’s brother William, is the great grandfather of Dorothy Parkes whose will of 1728 bestowed charitable funds used to build what was later to be called the Old Church in Smethwick in 1732.
From this base it does seem possible to construct a path from George’s son Ambrose Birch down to Ambrose Birch of Rowley Regis who dies in 1729. This is a little tentative, relying heavily on the rarity of the name Ambrose. The only will in the between generations is that of Ambrose Birch, PCC 1636. This Ambrose is a young man with no children and two brothers, John and Richard. This places him as the son (Ambrose, bap 14 Dec 1610) of George Birch (bap 1579). In the Harborne register, when he is buried on 15 Jul 1636 (aged 25) he is described as ‘Ambrose Birch the younger’ implying his Uncle was still alive. However, there is an earlier burial on 6 Jan 1634/35 also marked as ‘Ambrose Birch the younger’, this logically being Ambrose son of Ambrose (bap 11 Jan 1612/13). This leaves the only other burial of Ambrose Birch to be 4 Oct 1658 and must, one presume, mark the death of Ambrose, bap 1585 mentioned in the 1587 will of George Birch (snr).
The National archives hold two pertinent documents C 3/396/67 and C 8/76/134. These would indicate that when George Birch the oldest son died in 1636 there was a dispute between his widow, Mary plus oldest surviving son John against his mother Alice Birch, Widow, and his brother Ambrose. The Copyhold lands in dispute could well be those specifically left to the younger son Ambrose in the 1587 will.
Alice Birch, widow of George Birch would appear to be buried not until 11 Apr 1639.
The only other birth of an Ambrose Birch in the Harborne register is a son to George Birch baptized on 14 Jul 1639. George Birch here, would again logically be the son of Ambrose (snr) who had been baptized on 14 Sep 1614. So, we have an Ambrose Birch baptised in 1639 a likely grandson of Ambrose (b 1585) and very likely the grandfather of Ambrose Birch of Rowley Regis.
George Birch was buried at St Peter’s Harborne on 25 Aug 1587.
Sources and Notes
- Will of George Birch, Probate 24 Nov 1587, PCC.
- Will of George Parkes Probate 1 Feb 1614 PCC (Wife’s nephew).
- Will of Thomas Parkes Probate 21 Aug 1627, PCC (Wife’s Great Nephew).
- Will of Thomas Parkes, Probate 28 Jan 1602, PCC (Wife’s brother).
- Will of Ambrose Birch Probate 27 Feb 1636, PCC (Grandson).
- National Archives (Unseen)
- Ref C 8/76/134 Short title: Birch v Birch. Plaintiffs: John Birch and Mary Birch, widow. Defendants: Alice Birch, widow and Ambrose Birch and John Sergeant. Subject: property in Southwick [Smethwick] and Harborne, Staffordshire. Date 1636
- Ref C 3/396/67 Short title: Birch v Birch. Plaintiffs: John Birch and Mary Birch widow. Defendants: Alice Birch widow, [Serjeant] and others. Subject: copyhold held of the manor of Harborne and Smethwick, Staffordshire. Date 1637.
- All Parish Register for St Peter’s Harborne taken from FreeReg.
- British History OnLine: Smethwick The Growth of the Town.