Balthasar Willick

     Balthasar Willick married Anne. He was buried on 13 February 1698/99 in Alford, Lincolnshire, England.¹
     
     In the Bishop's Transcripts of the Parish Registers of Alford, the name is written Willick, Willickes and Willech. The interesting theory on the origin of Balthasar Willick that follows is from a NEHGR article, "Lincolnshire Origin of Exeter Settlers," by Victor Cranning Sanborn, Esq.

     Balthasar Willick of Alford seems to have been a man of substance, and was perhaps a protége of Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby d'Eresby. The oldest son of this Balthasar was evidently named Peregrine in honor of Lord Willoughby, and here one may indulge in theory to help out the gaps in genealogy. Nowhere else in Lincolnshire or in England have I found the name of Willick. It has a Flemish sound. Peregrine Bertie was a typical Elizabethan nobleman, a friend of Sidney, and in command when the latter fell at Zorphen. Bertie was born at Cleves, and from 1582 to 1590 was almost constantly abroad on diplomatic or military service, mainly in Holland and the Low Countries. In 1597 he was made governor of Berwick Castle. He died in 1601, and is buried at Spilsby in Lincolnshire. It may well be that Lord Willoughby attached to himself the Flemish youth, Balthasar Willech, and brought him to England on one of his numerous visits. This would explain the fact that the name appears nowhere else in England, and might account for the leaseholds which Balthasar Willech of Alford acquired from his lord.²

     In his will dated 7 February 1598/99 in Alford, Lincolnshire, Balthasar Willick names his wife Anne executrix and leaves her everything for the "good and vertuous education of my children" and the "good bringing up of my sayd children." William Bellingham was a witness.³