Individual Details
William Joseph Balliol
(1450 - 1480)
The Genesis of the Barkham Line: The Life of William Ball
An Ancestral Setting in Berkshire (c. 1450)
William Ball (recorded in some modern internet genealogies with the highly debated, embellished name "William Joseph Balliol") was born around 1450 in the rural parish of Barkham, nestled within the rolling landscape of Berkshire, England. Though later legendary internet lineages attempted to creatively tie him to the grand Scottish royal House of Balliol, historical reality finds him firmly rooted as an English yeoman farmer or husbandman. [1, 2, 3]
Growing up in the mid-fifteenth century under the shadow of the Wars of the Roses, William’s world revolved around the agricultural rhythms of the East Berkshire countryside. He eventually established his family at Barkham, where he married a woman recorded in parish lore as Elizabeth Celeter around 1474. Together, they began building an estate and welcomed their children, including a son named Robert, who would inherit his father's hard-won local standing. [1, 2, 3, 4]
An Early Departure and a Hidden Grave (1480)
Much like his ancestors, William’s life was tethered closely to the land he worked. Tragically, his time in Barkham was cut short. In 1480, at the relatively young age of thirty, William passed away. He was laid to rest in his home parish, leaving his young son Robert to succeed him as the head of the burgeoning family estate. [1, 2]
A Legacy Recorded for Posterity
Though William lived a quiet life centuries before the dawn of modern public record-keeping, his name was rescued from historical obscurity by his own descendants. In the summer of 1634, his great-great-great-grandson, William Ball—a prestigious attorney of Lincoln’s Inn and later a Member of Parliament—stood before the King's Heralds during the official Visitation of London. To prove his family's right to respectability and bear a coat of arms, the attorney provided a detailed handwritten pedigree. [1, 2, 3]
The Heralds inked William of Barkham's 1480 death at the absolute root of the family tree, establishing him as the foundational patriarch of the line. Following his death, his descendants would leave an indelible mark on Berkshire: [1, 2]
• His son, Robert Ball, maintained the Barkham estate until his own death in 1543 (recorded as 1546 in local parish registers). [1, 2]
• His grandson, William Ball, moved the family focus to the nearby town of Wokingham, inheriting the family's personal property before passing away in 1550. [1, 2]
• His younger grandson, Edward Ball, inherited the family's lands, keeping the Ball name influential in the region until his own passing around 1558. [1, 2, 3]
For centuries, genealogists passionately argued that William was the direct ancestor of Colonel William Ball of Virginia, the maternal grandfather of United States President George Washington. While modern archival research has shown this specific transatlantic link to be an over-ambitious myth, William of Barkham remains a vital, documented pillar of the fifteenth-century Berkshire community. [1]
References and Sources
• St. George, Henry. The Visitation of London, Anno Domini 1633, 1634, and 1635. College of Arms, Great Britain (Harleian Society Publications, 1880).
• Parish Registers of Barkham and Wokingham, Berkshire, England (1546–1558 burial entries).
• White, Philip. E. Balls of Berkshire: The Myth of the Washington Connection. Mary Ball Washington Research Archive.
• Ditchfield, P.H. The History of the Parish of Barkham. Reading, 1892.
• National Archives (UK), Court of Exchequer of Pleas Administration Records (Family records of William Ball of Lincoln's Inn, 1634). [1, 2]
An Ancestral Setting in Berkshire (c. 1450)
William Ball (recorded in some modern internet genealogies with the highly debated, embellished name "William Joseph Balliol") was born around 1450 in the rural parish of Barkham, nestled within the rolling landscape of Berkshire, England. Though later legendary internet lineages attempted to creatively tie him to the grand Scottish royal House of Balliol, historical reality finds him firmly rooted as an English yeoman farmer or husbandman. [1, 2, 3]
Growing up in the mid-fifteenth century under the shadow of the Wars of the Roses, William’s world revolved around the agricultural rhythms of the East Berkshire countryside. He eventually established his family at Barkham, where he married a woman recorded in parish lore as Elizabeth Celeter around 1474. Together, they began building an estate and welcomed their children, including a son named Robert, who would inherit his father's hard-won local standing. [1, 2, 3, 4]
An Early Departure and a Hidden Grave (1480)
Much like his ancestors, William’s life was tethered closely to the land he worked. Tragically, his time in Barkham was cut short. In 1480, at the relatively young age of thirty, William passed away. He was laid to rest in his home parish, leaving his young son Robert to succeed him as the head of the burgeoning family estate. [1, 2]
A Legacy Recorded for Posterity
Though William lived a quiet life centuries before the dawn of modern public record-keeping, his name was rescued from historical obscurity by his own descendants. In the summer of 1634, his great-great-great-grandson, William Ball—a prestigious attorney of Lincoln’s Inn and later a Member of Parliament—stood before the King's Heralds during the official Visitation of London. To prove his family's right to respectability and bear a coat of arms, the attorney provided a detailed handwritten pedigree. [1, 2, 3]
The Heralds inked William of Barkham's 1480 death at the absolute root of the family tree, establishing him as the foundational patriarch of the line. Following his death, his descendants would leave an indelible mark on Berkshire: [1, 2]
• His son, Robert Ball, maintained the Barkham estate until his own death in 1543 (recorded as 1546 in local parish registers). [1, 2]
• His grandson, William Ball, moved the family focus to the nearby town of Wokingham, inheriting the family's personal property before passing away in 1550. [1, 2]
• His younger grandson, Edward Ball, inherited the family's lands, keeping the Ball name influential in the region until his own passing around 1558. [1, 2, 3]
For centuries, genealogists passionately argued that William was the direct ancestor of Colonel William Ball of Virginia, the maternal grandfather of United States President George Washington. While modern archival research has shown this specific transatlantic link to be an over-ambitious myth, William of Barkham remains a vital, documented pillar of the fifteenth-century Berkshire community. [1]
References and Sources
• St. George, Henry. The Visitation of London, Anno Domini 1633, 1634, and 1635. College of Arms, Great Britain (Harleian Society Publications, 1880).
• Parish Registers of Barkham and Wokingham, Berkshire, England (1546–1558 burial entries).
• White, Philip. E. Balls of Berkshire: The Myth of the Washington Connection. Mary Ball Washington Research Archive.
• Ditchfield, P.H. The History of the Parish of Barkham. Reading, 1892.
• National Archives (UK), Court of Exchequer of Pleas Administration Records (Family records of William Ball of Lincoln's Inn, 1634). [1, 2]
Events
| Birth | 1450 | Barkham, Berkshire, England | |||
| Death | 1480 | Barkham, Berkshire, England |
Families
| Spouse | Elizabeth Celeter (1454 - 1475) |
| Child | William Balliol (1475 - 1546) |