Individual Details

Lawrence Wilkinson was a Loyalist and at the surrender of Newcastle on 22 Oct 1744 was taken prisoner by the Parliament & Scotch troops. He held a Captain's commission at that time. His estate was confiscated so he obtained permission from Lord Fairfax, Chief Commander of the Parliamentary Army to leave England. Said to have arrived in Providence RI in 1645.
Another source listed in the Wilkinson book, stated that he did not obtain permission to leave England until 1652.
In 1658 he became a freeman. In 1659, he was elected a member of the Legislature which met in Portsmouth. Fought in the Indian wars.
Aug 31, 1692. Sam. & John Wilkinson granted Administration of their father's Estate.

The PBS TV program, Faces of America, did a segment on Merle Streep - she is descended from Lawrence Wilkinson.
Published in The Telegraph, 14 Feb 2012, UK
Family tree - from Lawrence Wilkinson to Meryl Streep
Lawrence Wilkinson (1620- 1692) married Susannah Smith, had a son, Samuel
Samuel Wilkinson (1650 – 1727), married Plain Wickendon (b1650), had a son John, b1678.
John Wilkinson (1678 – 1751) married Mary (surname not known) . They had a son John, b1711
John Wilkinson (1711 – 1782) married Mary Lacey (b 1720). They had a son John b1743
John Wilkinson (1743 – 1778) married Jane Chapman. They had a son, Abraham b1772
Abraham Wilkinson (1772 – 1816) married Mary Twining (b1774). They had a son Samuel b1810
Samuel Wilkinson (1810 – 1867) married Julianna Simpson (1821-1948). They had a son Eleazor
Eleazer Twining Wilkinson (1857 – 1915) married Margaretta Betts (1860-1921) They had a son Harry (b1882)
Harry Wilkinson (1882 - ?)married Mary Agnes Wolf (1884 – 1978) They had a daughter Mary Wolf Wilkinson b1915
Mary Wolf Wilkinson (1915 – 2001) married Harry Streep (1910-2003). They had a daughter Mary (Meryl) b1949

Her [Meryl Streep's] eighth great-grandfather, Lawrence Wilkinson, born around 1615 in County Durham to a house with close connections to the Royal Family. It is believed that he or his relatives had ties to the Lincolnshire area.
He became a Lieutenant in King Charles’ army, but was captured by Parliamentarians during the English Civil War and allowed, with his wife, Susannah, and their son Samuel, to leave the country.
He was the first of the family, and amongst the first Englishmen, to settle in America, and was one of the early Rhode Island settlers, his name appearing on the civil constitution of the first settlers there, in 1645.
Once there, along with other colonists on the back of a wave of immigration from England, he began buying up huge swathes of land, a policy which eventually led to one of the bloodiest conflicts in early American history, known as King Philip’s War, or Metacom’s War, as the native Americans “fought to protect their way of life... against the English”.
Last year, the American genealogy series Faces Of America, which featured Streep's early ancestors, revealed how in March 1676 Lawrence Wilkinson defended his town in the face of fierce violence from the Native Americans.
Whilst many of the townsfolk fled and say their houses destroyed, he stood firm and his property was one of the few left standing.
When told that the English settlers later killed Metacom, the leader of the native Americans, and wiped out his warriors, Miss Streep said: “I’m so sorry to hear this, but this is what it is.
“It makes it feels like it’s sort of my fault on some level, but it also connect be to those events, those first encounters between the two cultures must have been raw, terrifying, brutal and final.”

Birth	Abt 1615	Lancaster, Durham, England
Immigration	1646	New England
Death	9 May 1692	Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island
Marriage		England - Susannah Smith

Spouse	Susannah Smith ( - 1692)
Child	Samuel Wilkinson ( - 1727)
Child	Susannah Wilkinson (1652 - )
Child	John Wilkinson (1654 - 1708)
Child	Joanna Wilkinson (1657 - )
Child	Josiah Wilkinson (1660 - 1692)
Child	Susannah Wilkinson (1662 - 1724)

Father	William Wilkinson ( - )
Mother	Mary Conyers ( - )