William Nason – 1517/27-1573

William Nason (or William Nasonne) is our first known ancestor. In the 1500s Nasons began appearing in Stratford-upon-Avon, Wellesbourne and Charlecote villages, county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Before that, they may have lived in another part of England, or arrived from Holland, as one 19th century writer posited.

The information on William Nason is sketchy. He may have been born in Rowington, a village 13 miles north of Stratford-upon-Avon. His birth year is given as 1517, 1525, and 1527. Henry VIII was King of England when he was born. In 1530, Pope Clement VII denied the king’s request for an annulment. Shortly after King Henry VIII severed ties with the Catholic Church and declared himself head of the church in England. Periodic religious tensions and persecutions followed and flared-up periodically in England and areas of English influence for the next several hundred years.

On November 14, 1549 William Nason married Isabel Baker. Isabel Baker was born in 1522 or 1529 in Stratford-upon-Avon. They had five children. Ananias Nason, my direct ancestor, was born on July 10, 1551 in Charlecote. (He died on December 3, 1631). He had three brothers and one sister. John Nason (dates unknown), Edmund Nason (dates unknown), Richard Nason (date of death 1570?) and Isabell Nason (birth 1549?).

Ananias Nason was a small child during the reign of Queen Mary I (1553-1558), the oldest daughter of King Henry VIII. Also known as Mary Tudor, she attempted to reverse the Protestant Reformation but was unsuccessful. When she died her half-sister, Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn, became Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Her reign is often represented as a golden age in English history, with flourishing in the arts and in exploration. Ananius Nason grew up and lived during this dynamic period of English sovereignty. The Shakespeare family also lived in this area. Ananius’ son and grandson knew and interacted with William Shakespeare, the famous poet and playwright.

Isabel Baker Nason died in 1565 at Stratford-upon-Avon. She may have been 34 or 43 years old, so it is possible she died in childbirth. William Nason died in Charlecote on September 30, 1573. He may have been 56, 48 or 46 at the time of his death.