John Longley (1) was born somewhere in England in 1585. His parentage is unknown, but one can assume the church held a prominent place in his past and in the lives of earlier Longleys, and perhaps prompted him to follow in their footsteps.

Left - The Shield Right - The Crest
From Vol. 98 of the Chetham Society's publications at the Boston Athenaeum we learn that, "the shield was first used by Roger de Penulbury of the manor of Penulbury, Lancashire, about the early part of the thirteenth century. The manor of Penulbury passed by marriage to the Pestwich family, and in the same manner to the early Longleys, seated at Langley, parish of Middleton, and at Agecroft in Lancashire. These manors were a part of the inheritance of the four daughters, co-heirs of Sir Robert Longley, the last of the oldest and main line of Longleys, dying about 1567."
"This device of the cockatrice, with golden beak on a white shield was undoubtedly used by the main family, and also by some of its branches, certainly by those settled about Manchester, of whom three, named William Longley, were rectors of the church of Pestwich, and a son of John, son of the last, dated 1616, is printed in Vol. 96, p. 27, Chetham Society's publications, and was sealed with a cockatrice, quartered with two other coats."
"The fact that this same device has been seen with some of the old families of New England, - descendants of William and Joanna (Goffe) Longley, - is presumptive evidence that he descended from the English Longleys mentioned above."
"To one branch of this family Thomas Longley belonged, who was born in 1370, died in 1437, and was Bishop of Durhan, Cardinal, Lord Chancellor of England, etc. His device is thus described: LONGLEY CREST - An arm couped at the shoulder, resting on the elbow, holding a sword in pale, enfiled with a savage's head couped. PALE of six, silver and green, by division attenuated."

John Longley attended Magdelene College in Cambridge and received his B. A. Degree in 1609, and that same year was ordained deacon at Lincoln Cathedral. Two years later, in 1611, he was ordained a priest of the Church of England, and was appointed curate of the church at Irby, where he served until he became rector at the church at Firsby in 1615.
Firsby and Irby, or Irby in the Marsh, are two very small parishes loacted near the eastern coast of Lincolnshire. The commencement of parish registers began in Irby in 1566, and in Firsby in 1717.
Rev. Longley's marriage to Ann Pearson took place in the church at Irby on August 16, 1611. He died at Frisby in 1639, leaving a will in which he left lands and inheritance to his son William, who was then living in Lynn, Massachusetts. To us, as heirs, he left a strand of gold, with God's blessing entwined, to thread the woof and weave across the warp of our Ancestral Tapestry.

Chandler, Seth, History of the Town of Shirley, Massachusetts, 1883.
Longley, Henry Nathaniel II., Longley Genealogy, 1971. From research done in England by E. R. Burton, Genealogical Researcher.

Rev. John Longley	William Longley	William Longley	John Longley
William Longley	William Longley	Ezekiel Longley	Joseph Longley
Warren Longley	Jay Longley	Carl Longley	Epilogue

Featured Music: Pachabel's "Canon in D"