The Trimingham family of Fishlake, back in the 1500s and 1600s, spelled their name various ways, including Trymingham. Fishlake is a small village in West Riding, Yorkshire, in the northeast of England located about eight miles from Doncaster. There is a small village in Norfolk called Trimingham. It sits next to high cliffs overlooking the coast. Although it is possible that Triminghams lived here even earlier than in Fishlake, no records have been found that would prove this. It is thought that the name Trimingham derives from the Danish personal name Trymma and ham for hamlet or homestead. The Danes did invade the eastern areas of England along the coast during the 800s and 900s.

In 1527 William Trimingham of Fishlake died and his will was probated.¹ He asked in his will to be buried at the Church of St. Cuthbert in Fishlake. He mentions his wife Jenet in his will and also bequests to two other Triminghams, whose relationship is unknown, but most of his estate was left to his son John.

William's son John, who died in 1558, also left a will.² His wife was not mentioned so she may have died before him. Most of his estate was left to his two older sons, John and William, with some of the property to go to Francis, a third son and a minor at the time.

William, son of John and grandson of William and Jenet, died in the fall of 1587. He wrote his will on 6 November and probate was 14 December 1587.³ His wife, Anne, one son and four daughters were named in the will. He requested to be buried in the chancel of the church at Fishlake. Three of his daughters received £100 each, a goodly sum, and somewhat less went to his married daughter Elizabeth Gelstrope. The bulk of the estate went to his wife and son John. The son, John, married Brigitta, or Bridget. In William's will he mentions Bridget and her unborn child - her first, a son William.⁴

John and Brigitta had at least eight children, all sons: William, John, Robert, Francis, Edward, Rookesby, Richard and George and their baptisms are all recorded in the parish registers.⁵ William, the oldest, was christened in January 1588. The second son, John, was christened two years later, in January 1590. The youngest son, George, was born 13 October 1604 and christened about two weeks later on 21 October. His record appears to be the only one which includes a date of birth as well as baptism. One might assume that other children were baptized not long after their births.

John, the second son, baptized in 1590, was the John Trimingham who went to Bermuda, the ancestor of all the Bermuda Trimingham descendants. John gave testimony before the High Court of the Admiralty in 1630, stating his age as forty.⁶ This would put his birth date about 1590. This helps establish John Trimingham of Bermuda as the John Trimingham who was baptized in 1590 in Fishlake.


Brigitta died in 1605 in Fishlake.⁷ John, her husband, remarried in 1608 to Anne Poole of Greasley, near Nottingham.⁸ John died in 1622.⁹


Related Links
The Trimingham family of Bermuda
Baptism of John Trimingham, Fishlake, Yorkshire, 1590
Burial of Bridget/Brigitta Trimingham, Fishlake, 1605
Descendant report for William and Jenet Trimingham of Fishlake, Yorkshire, eleven generations
Bermuda connection to the Brent family of Virginia

1. Trimingham, William E., Trimingham Family Research, Unpublished material, 2003. Will of William Tremyngham, 1527, vol. 9, f.383. The will was written 13 November 1527 and probated 15 January 1528.

2. Trimingham, William E., Trimingham Family Research, Unpublished material, 2003. Will of John Trynyngham, Fishlake, 1554, vol. 14, F.81. The will was written 3 December 1554. No date of probate.

3. Trimingham, William E., Trimingham Family Research, Unpublished material, 2003.

4. I bequeath to Briggett Trymyngham my sonnes wyfe and the child nowe in her wombe fourtene pounde betwene them.

5. Parish Register Transcripts, Fishlake, Yorkshire, England, 1561-1904, Microfilm copy of typed transcript records at the York Archives Dept. in Doncaster, FHL MF 1564235.
   
   Parish Registers, Fishlake, Yorkshire, England, 1561-1941, Microfilm copy of original records at the York Archives Department at Doncaster for Church of St. Cuthbert, FHL MF 1545695 Items 12-15. This microfilm has copies of the original records, old, worn, and difficult to decipher.

6. Coldham, Peter Wilson, English Adventurers and Emigrants 1609-1660, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD, 1984, p.21.

7. Parish Register Transcripts, Fishlake, Yorkshire, England, 1561-1904. Microfilm copy of typed transcript records at the York Archives Dept. in Doncaster. FHL MF 1564236, burials 1561-1902, p.201: burial, 1605 Januarii 1, Bridget w. John Trymingham, gentleman.

8. Paver's Marriage Licenses for the year 1608, Accessed at the Genuki website: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/Transcriptions/YKS/Pavers1608.html. William E. Trimingham's research says that the transcription, which includes the footnote about John's burial, notes that he was formerly the wife of Bridget.