foskett@foskett-genealogy.co.uk
John Foskett of Massachusetts (1636-1689)


John Fosket(t) was born in England circa 1636 and is found in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1658.  The vast majority of Foskett/Foskitt/Fosgate families in the USA can trace their ancestry back to this man.


It has been almost a life work of Marilyn Labbe of Connecticut to trace all the descendants of John, not just the Foskett lines but also the female lines, resulting in many, many thousands of descendants.  Marilyn has now agreed to her extensive research being published in full on this web-site and we will be collaborating over the next few months (years?) to get this done.  The first batch of over 27,200 descendants, spouses and parents-in-law has already been typed up ready for publication, as the collaboration actually started several years ago.  This work is currently being checked for typos and so the first batch shouldn't be too long in forthcoming on this web site.  However, a partial index to this first batch, together with birth and death years, is now available.


Meanwhile, the search for John's origins in England continue to be pursued.  Unfortunately there are few passenger lists in existance for the period when John would have sailed for the New World. However, through the DNA testing, a related family has been found in England.
Simon Foskett of Northampton County, Virginia
The above John Foskett was not the first Foskett settler in the USA.  Simon Foskett (Foscot, Foskutt, Foscett) was granted land in Virginia in 1642 according to NUGENT, NELL MARION. Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1666. Vol. 1.   He is probably the same Simon who is found with his wife Elizabeth as a passenger to Virginia in 1654 by GREER, GEORGE CABELL. Early Virginia Immigrants, 1623-1666.  It is possible that Simon had returned to England to collect his wife.  No evidence has been found that they had any children either in England or Virginia.


Elizabeth died in Hungars, Northampton County, Virginia, about Dec 1660 and Simon Foscoat remarried  03 Jan 1661 to Ann COOK in the same place.  Northampton was one of the original shires established in 1634.  Originally called Accomak, it was renamed Northampton in 1643 after the birthplace in England of two of its prominent citizens.  It may be that this Simon was also from Northamptonshire as the name Simon Foscot is not unknown in the early records of that English county.  It is not known whether Simon had any children by either wife.