John Ryder (β 1582-06-24) is my most distant male-line ancestor according to available documentation, although DNA has disproven this descent, showing I in fact descend from a Rich family. However, this line is still of interest, for example as the origin of my Ryder family name. John was baptized and married in Newport Pagnell, England. His son Samuel immigrated to America in 1637 or 1638 and is the progenitor of a large North American Ryder family. John’s parents are unknown but there are reasonable guesses.
John was identified as Samuel’s father in a 1967 article by Richard G. Rider.⟮1⟯Richard G. Rider of Delmar, New York, “Rider Notes: The European Generations”, The American Genealogist, 43(1967):118
The surname is variously spelled Rider, Ryder, and other variants such as Rydar. It was common in the past for spellings to be more free, and different spellings were often used for the same person on different documents. I conventionally use Ryder here.
It is likely the name originally referred to horse riding, possibly a knight or other career.
John married Helen Smith (“Smyth”) in Newport Pagnell on 1600-11-01. The following baptisms in Newport Pagnell are listed as children of “John”, presumed to be this John:
There is an Elizabeth daughter of John Ryder buried 1620-11-20. This may be a child not recorded in the baptisms. There is also an Elizabeth born “1599-03-23”, presumably 1599/1600, with no named father, which would place her birth nearly five months after John and Helen’s marriage, who could plausibly be their daughter, and/or this Elizabeth. However, an Elizabeth Ryder married John Fisher on 1618-10-12, and is a good match for this latter girl and could not be the 1620 buried Elizabeth (who was unmarried).
John is thus alive as late as 1611. No further record exists to my knowledge.
John’s 1582 baptism does not name a parent, leaving us to only guess which, if any, Newport Pagnell family he belongs to. I see three good hypotheses:
Newport Pagnell's parish registers begin in late 1558, and earlier information is quite sparse. Ryders are recorded in the town as early as 1433, where a John Ryder Sr. is recorded as a witness to a deed. This family thus had a history there for several generations prior to this one. Whether this history will ever be unveiled is another matter.
Through Samuel’s descendants, the haplogroup of this family is identified as R1b-BY20420, part of the larger R1b-U106. Some descendants have tested for the more specific R1b-FTB10997, but it appears that not all descendants have this marker, which is estimated to have originated in 1700⟮2⟯, that is, within genealogical time. Conversely, to my knowledge, all BY20420+ testees come from this Ryder family.
John’s eldest son Samuel Rider married 1628-10-16 at All Saints, Northampton, England to a woman named Anne. Anne’s maiden surname is variably transcribed from the records as Gambett, Gamlett, Gantlett, and others. I have personally settled on Gauntlett as the most plausible surname, but this is not certain.
Samuel had five children in England by Anne:⟮3⟯Martin E. Hollick, “The John Riders of Yarmouth, Massachusetts”, The American Genealogist, 80(2005):128.
Samuel immigrated afterwards to Yarmouth, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman on 1639-01-07. His immigration was thus in 1637 or 1638. Five more children of Samuel and Anne are known, but with only a birth record for the youngest. It is possible (but unlikely) that one was born before or during his migration:
Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary are named in Samuel’s 1679 will as still alive, but only for Elizabeth is there any information about a marriage or children.
Samuel’s descendants intersect with many prominent colonial figures, including those from the Mayflower, and thus have generally good documentation, although there are also several erroneous claims in wide circulation. See Martin Hollick’s 2005 article, which clears up many errors.⟮3⟯Martin E. Hollick, “The John Riders of Yarmouth, Massachusetts”, The American Genealogist, 80(2005):128.