The Reverend Dr. John Cree Rector of Chorley.

Link to-:

2. Chorley Parish Church by John Wilson 1914

3. John Wilson - The Parish Register of St. Laurence. 1914

The Heraldry of the Standish Family of Duxbury in the Church of St. Laurence.

The ancient Standish of Duxbury windows above the tomb of the Standish family.

Standish family members have been buried in the Church Vault from 1500 to 1812.

THE ARMS of Frank Carr Standish of Duxbury in the window of St.Alban.

Arms of Frank Carr Standish of Duxbury.

THE ARMS of Richard Standish of Duxbury in the window of St.Laurence

Arms of Richard Standish - Lord of the Manor of Duxbury - 1647

The Stars and Stripes of the Washington family Arms along side the Arms of the Standish family of Duxbury.

Indicating a marriage and family ties.

Benjamin Standish (Order of St. Benedict) in the Standish Pew built by Alexander Standish (in 1600) Lord of the Manor of Duxbury and the first member of the Standish family to be of the Puritan Faith. Father Benjamin Standish is believed to descend from the Standish family of Duxbury. In 2004 the Mayflower Society of America took a sample of Dna from Father Benjamin Standish to test against two direct descendants of Myles Standish in the USA. The test in 2004 was over 25 markers and Father Benjamin tested positive on 24 out of 25 marker with his American cousins.

Arms of Alexander Standish - Lord of the Manor of Duxbury. 1599 - 1622.

This Marriage record dated 30^th May 1592 between Alexander Standish of Duxbury and Alyce Asheton youngest daughter of Sir Ralph Asheton Bt of Great Lever-Bolton-Whalley.

Alyce Asheton came from a very protestant – puritan family and Alexander Standish was the first Standish to change from his Catholic roots to Puritanism .

The interior of the Church of St Laurence Chorley Lancashire.

The Standish Family private pew is at this date located on the right along the rear wall.

The 17th Rector of Chorley - Reverend Dr. John Cree.

CHORLEY PARISH CHURCH OF ST LAURENCE

As the Rector of Chorley Parish Church of St Laurence, I am delighted to commend this site to any person who is genuinely interested in exploring the mystery of the birthplace of Myles Standish the famous military commander for the PilgrimFathers.

This web site has been developed by Mr Anthony Christopher who is a member of the St Laurence Historical Society and of the Lancashire Family History Society.

The StLaurence Historical Society, which is made up of amateur and professional historians has as one of its aims research into the origins of Myles Standish.

StLaurence Church has, for centuries, been associated with the Standish’s who resided at Duxbury Hall. In the crypts below the Church are the bodies of the Standish Family of Duxbury recorded in documents with certainty to the 1600’s but probably containing bodies from a previous date.

Although a claim was made in the last century that Myles may have been born in the Manx Isle of Man, recent research has made it more likely that he was born in Lancashire.

Modern DNAresearch has opened up the possibility of clarifying once and for all where Myles was born. Other research techniques not available in previous centuries are now also available.

Mr Christopher has brought together in this site some of the material which is at present available for publication.

The research of the St Laurence Historical Society has not yet provided any absolute proof as to the birthplace of Myles Standish. However, as of 2007, it does seem able to state that the balance of probability is now that Myles Standish was probably born in Lancashire and had some significant association with Manor of Duxbury, Chorley, that branch of the Standish family being worshipers at St Laurence Church.

IN the mid 1800’s, when the USA decedents of Myles Standish made a legal claim for the then vacant inheritance of Duxbury the title and estates, the then Rector of Chorley gained the unpleasant reputation in America of having helped to cheat the American Standish’s out of their rightful inheritance. I hope that by encouraging this present research I, as the present Rector of Chorley, may have played my part in redeeming the title Rector from that stain upon the title.

I hope that serious research will to continue to seek for the absolute proof for the origins of this famous English and American soldier, and I commend this web site of Mr Christopher as a significant help in that research.

Revd Dr John Cree

Rector of Chorley 2007

2006. The Church of St Laurence is presented with a prestigious national award for the quality of research into the origin of Myles Standish.