Updated: 24 May 2024 with new information.

A keen reader noticed a little confusion about the birthdate of Phillip Babb of the Isles of Shoals. There are a few entries that appear contradictory to each other in Babb’s Rock (Volume 1 of the first edition Babb Unabridged series).

Let me start by saying good people disagree on how to show this date and at times I’m on both sides of the argument. My opinion has evolved over time, and I made a decision right before publication that left this sounding a little confused. The evolution has continued in the 9 years since the first edition was published. I’ll try to sort it out below.

The 1634 birth date

Our first record of Phillip Babb that we can unequivocally say is “our Phillip” happens in 1652, when he was made Sheriff of the Isles of Shoals. It is assumed that he was at least 18 years of age at the time to hold such an important position. So, his birthdate would be before 1634. In certain places (such as charts) this gets abbreviated to b 1634. By the time that he died Mary and him had fathered at least 5 sons.

Now cross reference this with a birth record of a Phillip Babb in Stepney, London, England in 1634. Many researchers have seized upon this record and made it the chiefly reported date. Recent evidence has come to light that recognizes that the Phillip born in 1634, died when he was 6 years old. He was the son of Thomas Babb of the Ship “Hopewell”. This is just sloppy genealogy, so pay no attention to that date.

In 2009 I was speaking to Ruth Harrington during a Reunion, and she was ready to fight, when I suggested my theory that there might be two Phillips instead of just the one that we know of. There is circumstantial evidence that could point to this possibility, but nothing that could prove it.

5 years passed, and in the interim Ruth had also passed. Just before publication of the first edition of Babb Unabridged, I thought better of my previous theory, which I called “Two Phillips”.

Hearing Ruth’s voice from the grave saying “You can’t prove that!” I removed it before publication. Up until this point, I had shown Phillip of the Isles of Shoals as “1” and the Phillip we see in England as Phillip “0”.

Yet, vestiges of this date still haunt trees on the Internet. Don’t fall in the trap. It isn’t the right answer.

The 1629 marriage date

We have a marriage record of Phillip Babb in St. Saviour Church in Dartmouth, Devon, England. For many years, we believed this to be out Phillip, but lacked corroborating evidence. We felt there was a 80% confidence that this was the right connection. But Phillip left no roots in Dartmouth, which made the document even more mysterious.

The real problem was that the bulk of our evidence came from the US portion of his life and there wasn’t anything to go on from those. That has been remedied and we now understand that Phillip had to travel to Dartmouth as Marie Plumlie was from a powerful family in that town and the brides family pays for the wedding.

The bef. 1614/1617 birth date

This date arose from counting backwards from the 1629 Marriage Date. It was an earliest possible date he could have been conceived and married, though the church likely would have never allowed it from someone so young.

Two Marys

Recognize that Phillip had two wives named Mary and Marie. They are not the same person, which seems to stump many researchers as well. However, Marie Plumblie could not be the mother of the shoals children because she would have been too old to give birth to the boys. We have her birth record in 1608.

The Final Answer

So, the final answer, if there is such a thing, is that we believe Phillip was born prior to 1603. Given all the available information this is the best answer we can proffer at this time (24 May 2024).

DNA

It is my hope that one day we will be able to have a better grasp of the Babb lineages in England. I am just now starting work on that topic in preparation for my next volume on this very topic. We have identified 5 distinct lineages of Babb’s in England and I soon hope to be able to identify their homeland counties. Stay tuned for more!