Robert Beach

• General Notes
  • Notes on the origin and history of the Beach family:
       For centuries (since William of Normandy took control of England in 1066) the Norman and French influence was to dominate England and its Government and Fuedal economy.
       The Beach (de la Beche) family originally moved from France to St Albans, England in the 13th Century.  Members of the family came to New Haven, Ct. in 1638 (John Beach was born in St Albans, Herfordshire).  The de la Beche family changed their name to Beach in the 14th century.  St. Albans was the site of a cathedral, a market, and was a municpal borough in which kings, nobles (English and foriegn) visited constantly. It was here that the Magna Charta was read to an assembly of clergy and nobles in 1213 (read by Stephen Langton).  Later the town was occupied by troops of the French dauphin.  This and on other occasions men from France could have arrived bringing people like the Beach family to this area of England (19 miles northwest of London).  Parts of France were owned and governed by the English kings from 1066 until near the end of the middle ages.  At one time even  King John of France was held prisoner in the Abbey at St. Albans.   In 1381 the Great Gate of the St Albans monastery was stormed by the townspeople and Abbot Thomas de la Mare was forced to grant them a charter.
       In 1234 Peter des Roches (King Henry IIIs peasant tutor) had died and Henry III began a period where he personally ruled England.  Peter de Rivaux held control of the wardrobe (cabinet) bringing large numbers of foreign relatives of the new queen, Eleanor of Provence, to England; gradually replacing English with foreign clerks in the wardrobe.  This brought reform and efficiency, threatened baronial privilege and the ancient feudal system.  In 1247 a second Poitevin invasion began with the appearance of the Kings half brothers and their dependents.  Kings Justice needed many devoted and capable servants-sheriffs, escheators, coroners, bailiffs in shires and hundreds.  Many English (like the Beach family) came from France when these territories, that had been controlled by English kings, were taken over by the French.  Some were carrying on the wine trade of Bordeaux and Bayonne (est 1294).  Other areas of influence and migration to England were from Gascony, Brittany, Avgian, etc.  After 1294 Edward I was at war with Philip IV (The Fair) of France and many English were sent back to France to fight.  English troops were sent to English territories and into France several more times over the years.
      Within England, two great battles in the civil war known as the War of The Roses (1455 to 1487) were fought at St. Albans (White Rose symbol of the York family and Red Rose symbolic of the Lancaster family represented the two factions fighting for control of England.  Other symbols representing the families were: the Falcon and fetterlock of Richard Duke of York, White Heart of Richard II and other symbols.  Eventually it was Henry the earl of Richmond, who later became Henry VII, that finally defeated Richard III at Bosworth Field on Aug. 12, 1485.  Henry VII later put down an attempt to overthrow his power at Stoke field in 1487 ending the War of the Roses.
      Much later Charles I attempted to rule England without a parliment, but needed more revenue because of his problems in Ireland, Scotland and France.  It was during this reign of Charles ! (1625 to 1649) that John Beach came to America (1638).  Discontent with Charles I was so widespread that money could hardly be raised to meet emergencies.  To silence his critics, Charles I used the high commission to back Epicopal authority and the Star Chamber.  The persecution and high handed treatment of the Puritans by the group led to many Puritans leaving England.  The Puritans wanted to Purify the church of its catholic ritual and decor, and wanted simplistic church services with preaching in English and simple prayer.  Charles favored the Arminians who opposed and persecuted the Puritans and eventually a civil war resulted with the Puritans under Cromwell taking control of the government.
       It should be noted that many ancestors of the Roe family were religious followers of Puritans who left England during this time (See Terry, Youngs, Moore, Cleveland, and others.)
    
    Source for family members and birthdates: The Beach family Bible (now in the possession of Wilfred Roe Jr., Whitewater, Wisconsin.)

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