William Crispe & Anne Godbold are the earliest proven ancestral line of Anthony and Joshua Fisher, who eventually settled in Massachusetts, a century later, in the 1600s.
William Crispe was born c1491, probably in Laxfield, Suffolk, England, where he lived. His parents are unproven, but there is a suspicion that he was the son of Robert Crispe, a tanner, who left a will in Suffolk County, England in 1529. The stumbling block is that there were two contemporaneous William Crispes. However, clues are indicating that this William was the son of that Robert. Perhaps future research will confirm that theory.
William Crispe married Anne Godbold, c1518, possibly in Laxfield, Suffolk, England. His will was dated 20 November 1552 and he died soon after.
The Crispes were a reasonably well-to-do family as both William and his wife, Anne, left wills.
They were the parents of five children:
- (Possibly) Daughter, born c1519; died before 1552; married Unknown Mayhew. This daughter is placed in the family because William and Anne both left bequests to Alice and John Mayhew in their wills.
- Anne, born c1521; married John Noyse, before 1552. John suffered a grisly fate, being burned at the stake for religious dissension.
- Margery, born c1523; married William Wade, c1548
- Margaret, born c1525; married a Fiske before 1552, possibly John Fiske, brother of Nicholas Fiske, below. This John Fiske lived in Tivetshall, Norfolk, England.
- Johan, born c1527; married Nicholas Fiske, c1548. Nicholas Fiske die before 28 September 1569 and Johan survived him.
Quite a lot of genealogical research has been done through the years on both the Fiske family and the Crispes, early in Suffolk, England. The most recent article was published in NEHGS’s The Register 151:291-299, William Crispe of Laxfield, Suffolk, Great Grandfather of Anthony and Joshua Fisher of Dedham, Massachusetts by Clifford L. Stott.