Notes for: Thomas (Francis?) Wycliffe
His burial record listed him as a gentleman; so he must have had some wealth.
His father might well be a Thomas Wycliffe, but that is a guess. I say that because there is a Thomas Wycliffe listed in the registers of Whorlton, England who was the father of a Margarett Wycliffe. She was baptized in Whorlton on Feb. 6, 1650. The registers are missing the baptisms from 1656 to 1674. That is when he might have been born.
One online record at Google Books says Fortune Johnson married a Thomas Wycliffe. My guess is that he is a Thomas Wycliffe and not a Francis Wycliffe.
Fortune Johnson was the sister of Elizabeth Johnson (b. 1683) who married John Chapman. And John Chapman is the one who said:
"Spreswell or Speswell stood half a mile west from Wycliffe, and on the same side and close to the River Tees. The Plough has passed over its site, and all is quite level. There was a Chapel there, in which were married William Yarker and Penetent Johnson, and there [sic] son John Yarker has many times related the occurance to his Grandson, the Writer of this. The above coupel were the last married there, for the Chapel soon after fell down. Francis Wycliffe of Barnard Castle, the last of the Wycliffes in the Neighbourhood, said John the Reformer was born at the above Village. John Chapman, Headlam, June 21st, 1839."
Based on the above, this Thomas Wycliffe must be related to the Francis Wycliffe he mentions and thus this family comes from near Barnard Castle. I would guess that Francis is this Thomas's father.
From: The Denham tracts : a collection of folklore : reprinted from the original tracts and pamphlets printed by Mr. Denham between 1846 and 1859 / by Michael Aislabie Denham; edited by James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), p. 75 gives Fortune's husband's name as Francis, but this is not a genealogical work.
It says twins Fortune and Favour were named thus because Fortune Johnson's brother left these Wycliffes an estate as an inheritance around 1710. It also says a brother of these twins came to extreme poverty and died at the residence of his brother-in-law, the Rev. Peter Fisher, vicar of Staindrop.