Abraham Gawkroger

   Another name for Abraham was Abraham Platts.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ¹³¹⁰
Accord to John G. Hunt, author of "Notes on Families of the Parish of Halifax, Yorkshire Farrer, Deane, Platts, Fairbank, Prescott," American Geneologist, Vol. 40, p. 28:

"Genet Fairbank married James (generation 5) son of Richard (geneartion 4), son of John (3), son of Richard (2) son of John Platts alias Gawkroger of Sowerby. Genet and James had, with others, Abraham Platts alias Gawkroger and James. This Abraham Platts was father of Mary who married in 1629 John Prescott of Sowerby with whom she shortly removed to New England..."

• Background Information. ¹³¹⁷
Taken from Genealogy of the Gordon-Macy, Hiddleston-Curtis and Allied Families, p. 218:

"John Gawkroger b. Sowerby, Yorkshire, England, d. 1505 Sowerby, Halifax Parish. He gave land called 'Platts' to his grandson John in 1487 and then the family was called Gawkroger of Platts; this eventually came to be called just Platts."

"Richard Gawkroger b. and d. Halifax Parish, Sowerby, Yorks, England."

"John Gawkroger of Platts, an adult in 1487, Halifax Parish, Sowerby, Yorks, England."

"An unknown generation but with the same land in the family inherited from father to son."

"James Gawkroger of Platts b. c. 1558 Halifax Parish, Sowerby, Yorks, England. m. 2 Dec. 1751 Sowerby Jannet Fairbank b. c. 1558 Sowerby, Yorks, England, dau. of George Fairbank, clothier, whose will was dated and proved in 1650, d. Sowerby, England."

"Abraham Gawkroger of Platts bp. 7 Sept. 1578 Halifax Parish, Sowerby, Yorks, England d. will proved 1627 Sowerby, m. 5 Sept. 1601 Sowerby, Yorks, England, Martha Riley b. c. 1580 Sowerby, Yorks, England, d. after 1627 as named in will of her husband."

"Mary Platts alias Gawkroger bp. 15 March 1611 Halifax Parish, Sowerby, West Riding, Yorks, England d. 1674 Lancaster, Mass., buried in 'Old Cemetery' there, m. 11 March 1629 Sowerby, Yorks, England John Prescott b. 1604 Standish Parish, Lancashire, England, d. 1681, will proved 20 Dec. Lancaster, Mass., bur. 'Old Cemetery' there, called on his gravestone 'the founder of Lancaster.'"

• Background Information. ¹³¹⁶
"Some writers claim that Mary was a daughter of John Gawkroger; others that she was the daughter of James and Martha (Ainsworth) Gawkrogers, but both are erroneous as proven by other records. She was probably the daughter of Abraham and Martha (Riley) Gawkroger."

Gawkroger is said to mean "left handed Roger" of "gawky Roger." If so, it is evident that before surnames were used, these people had a left handed man for an ancestor who thus distinguished froom some other Roger n the same village."

~Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife Frances Helen Miller, p. 61

Abraham married Martha Riley on 5 Sep 1601 in Sowerby, Halifax, Yorkshire, England.¹³¹⁸ (Martha Riley was born on 27 Mar 1580 in Yorkshire, England, died on 12 Apr 1627 in England and was buried on 12 Apr 1627 in Warley, Halifax, Yorkshire, England.)