This page provides links to information about New England Isham descendants. For information about other Isham descendants, click on the following links:
John Isham of Barnstable (pictured in front of their home, Barnstable, with his wife Jane Parker in a speculative portrait by Steve Isham of Tasmania) is a somewhat mysterious figure. The first record of him in Massachusetts was in 1670.
While his origins are uncertain, there is strong suspicion that he first immigrated from England to Virginia, and from there to Massachusetts. Accordingly, it is assumed that he, like Capt. Henry Isham, is a descendant of the Ishams of Pytchley.
In 2021, Y-DNA tests taken by a male member of the baronetical family and one of John of Barnstable’s male-line descendants confirmed that they share a common male-line ancestor.
L0 The “John Isham Legend” by Vincent Begley, Genealogist
In addition to exploring the “legend” of John Isham of Barnstable, this document traces the line of Ralph Heyward Isham and his descendants through sons Henry Hayward Isham and Jonathan Trumbull Isham (Sr). It offers many interesting details about the history of this family.
L1 Generation 1: John Isham of Barnstable, 1654-1713
L2 Generation 1, continued
L3 Generation 2: Joseph Isham, 1704-1798
L4 Generation 3: Joseph Isham, Jr., 1735-1810
L5 Generation 4: Ralph Isham, 1776-1845
L6 Generation 5: Ralph Henry Isham, 1809-1889 – Generation 6: Henry Heyward Isham, 1847-1922
L7 Generation 6, continued
L8 Generation 7: Ralph Heyward Isham, 1890-1955
L9 Generation 8: Heyward Isham, 1926-2009 – Jonathan Trumbull Isham, b. 1929
N00 Descendants of John Isham of Barnstable
The following series of charts details selected descendants of John Isham of Barnstable. It focuses on descendants residing mostly in the northeastern United States and a branch of the New England family that migrated to the U.S. Midwest before immigrating to Australia’s island state, Tasmania.
N01 The Ishams of New England: Descendants of Ralph Heyward Isham and His Wife Margaret Dorothy Hurt
N02 The Guldens: A Distaff Branch of the Ishams of New England: Descendants of Samantha Isham Gulden, Daughter of Ralph Heyward Isham and His Wife Marion Gaynor
N03 The Ishams of Isham Park and the “Lincoln” Ishams
N04 The Ishams of Tasmania: Descendants of Stephen Isham and His Wife Marion Westerman
N05 The Other Norman M. Isham, Architect
N06 Mark Isham, Film & TV Composer
N07 Dr. George Snow Isham, Builder of the Isham Mansion, Chicago
In September 2018, Steve Isham of Tasmania recorded an informal series of YouTube videos to convey his knowledge of Isham family history to his posterity first-hand.