No Justice for Joshua Henshaw

Joshua Henshaw was born to Sir Thomas Henshaw and Katherine Houghton ca. 1642. (FYI, through Katherine, the family descends from King Edward III.) Thomas was a member of Parliament in opposition to the tyranny of King Charles I. He died fighting in the English Civil War along with his father-in-law Sir Evans Houghton, in the storming of Liverpool in 1644. Katherine died in 1651 and their sons Daniel (Born ca. 1644, he died with no heirs.) and Joshua were left in the care of Steward, Peter Ambrose. According to the will of Sir Thomas Henshaw, his property was to go to his sons, then to Peter Ambrose in the event of their passing. The property included Wavertree Hall and Toxteth Park. Peter Ambrose claimed he sent Daniel and Joshua Henshaw to school in London where they died of the plague, however; he actually sent them to the American Colonies under the care of Reverend Richard Mather, in Dorchester Massachusetts, in a ploy to steal their inheritance. Mather no doubt knew Peter Ambrose, the Henshaw and Houghton families and was complicit in the plot to defraud the young boys. Mather received money for the boys care and education and perhaps for his involvement as well. He seems to have treated the Henshaw boys well as they remained in contact with him and his family as adults.

Evidently feeling guilty in his last days, Peter Ambrose left money to Joshua Henshaw in his will, essentially admitting guilt. Obviously he knew they didn’t die in the plague if he left them money. Ambrose probably hoped that the money would dissuade the Henshaws from returning to England seeking the restoration of their inheritance. But, in 1688 Joshua Henshaw made his will and travelled to England where he learned that Joshua Ambrose, Peter’s illegitimate son, maintained ownership of his property and that he lacked the necessary documentation to prove his Henshaw/Houghton ancestry. Joshua returned to Massachusetts, hired a respected genealogist, gathered the evidence and sued Joshua Ambrose for the return of the property. After spending thirty-years on the court docket,  the verdict was about to be rendered in the favor of Joshua Henshaw, when under the guise of making amends, Joshua Ambrose invited Joshua Henshaw for dinner and he died within hours. It is generally believed that Joshua Ambrose poisoned and murdered my ancestor, Joshua Henshaw in an effort to maintain possession over the land his father had defrauded him of.

The suit was dropped for lack of a plaintiff and the Henshaw property was lost to the unscrupulous Ambrose family. I’d love to know what happened to this family and to the property.  

The Henshaws in Massachusetts proved themselves quite successful in their new, less affluent world. Many male Henshaws attended Harvard College, married well, and became successful merchants and landowners. They involved themselves in community affairs, serving as selectmen, and judges. Prior to the Revolution, a number of Henshaw’s associated with Josiah Quincy, John and Samuel Adams and others, contributing to the cause of rebellion intellectually and financially. During the war, many donned uniforms and served as lieutenants and/or colonels.

Further Reading

Sarah Edwards Henshaw. Our Family: A little account of it for my descendants, 1894.

Margaretta M Lovell. Art in a Season of Revolution: Painters, Artisans, and Patrons of Early America, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007.

New England Historic Genealogical Society Staff. The New England Historical and Genealogical Registry, 1868, Heritage Books, 1994.