accessible every clew which can serve to connect American families, distinguished or obscure, with the parent stock in England. The large number of Virginia wills contained in the present volume shows that this search is conducted in no narrow spirit, and that every American of English origin, in every part of our country, ought to feel an interest in this work.

In addition to these genealogical researches, Mr. Waters has made historical discoveries of the highest value. We owe to him the finding of the Winthrop map and the Maverick MS., two of the most important contributions made in our day to our early colonial history. For an account of the former the reader is referred to the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society for June, 1884 (XXI. 211), and the REGISTER for July, 1884 (XXXVIII. 342). The Maverick MS. was printed in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society for October, 1884 (XXI. 231), and in the REGISTER for January, 1885 (XXXIX. 33). These discoveries have excited great attention among historical students, not only in this country but also in England.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society, having no fund at its disposal which could properly be used to defray the expense of this most important historical mission, has been obliged to rely upon the voluntary contributions of public spirited men to meet the cost of the work, and the responses to its appeals have always been prompt and generous. But it is necessary, for the successful prosecution of the undertaking, that money sufficient to carry it on uninterruptedly for a series of years should be obtained, and the committee confidently hope for further subscriptions for this purpose.

The index of the persons named in this volume is the work of Frank E. Bradish, Esq., a member of the Society.

Boston, April 2, 1885.

ist

itor.

GREGORY COFFIN, of Stepney, co. Middlesex, mariner, shipped on board the William & Jane of London, Mr. John Baker commander, on a voyage to New England and Bilboe, by will dated 15 February, 1660, proved 20 August, 1662, appointed John Earle of Shadwell, mariner, his attorney, and left all his estate to the said John Earle and his wife, Joane Earle, whom he appointed joint executors. Laud, fol. 105.

ever.

JOHN COCKERELL, of Great Cogshall, co. Essex, clothier, made his will 14 July, 1662, proved 12 August, 1662. He bequeathed to his wife Mary all the lands and tenements in Bradwell, in the county aforesaid, which were her jointure; and also lands, &c., in Cressing, which he had lately purchased of one Mr. Jermyn and one Joseph Raven, during her natural life, and after her decease then to his son John Cockerell and his heirs forHe devised to her also that part of the messuage which he had lately purchased of John Sparhauke, then in the tenure and occupation of Mistress Crane, for life, with remainder to son John, &c. The residue of his estate to son John at age of twenty-one years. He made bequests to two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, and to the child his wife was then going withall. He appointed said wife executrix, and directed her to redeem the mortgage which he had made to Mrs. Hester Sparhauk of the messuage he then lived in, and which was in the occupation of the said Mrs. Crane.

Laud, 106.

BENJAMIN KAINE furnished an account of his goods and chattels, 16 October, 1654. Among the items was a tenement in Shoe Lane, and property in the hands of Mr. Coddington, his attorney, in Bow Lane, and in keeping of other persons (among whom a Mr. Walter Gibbons, cutler in Holborn). Thomas Blumfield spoken of, and called a brother of Mr. Withers. By his will, of same date, he gave his whole estate to his daughter Anna Kaine, except some particular legacies, viz., to his father Mr. Rt Kaine of Boston in New England, to whom he left (inter alia) a Japan cane with a silver head, which was in the trunk at Mr. Blumfield's, to his dear mother, to his cousin Dr. Edmond Wilson, to his Colonel, Stephen Winthrop, to Cornet Wackfield, to Mr. Mastin, to Mr. Richard Pery and his wife, to Mr. William Gray, late of Burchin lane; the said Gray and Pery to be trustees for his estate in England; to his servants John Earle and Thomas Lamb. The will was signed in Glasgow, in presence of Nicholas Wackfield and Richard Pery. On the sixteenth of May, 1662, emanavit comissio Simoni Bradstreet prox. consanguineo in hoc regno angliæ remanenti dicti defuncti, etc. Laud, 67.

[This was Benjamin, only son of Capt. Robert Keayne, of Boston, founder of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. He married Sarah, daughter of Gov. Thomas Dudley. Gov. Simon Bradstreet, named in the probate, married another daughter, Anne (see REG. viii. 313; ix. 113; x. 130). Bradstreet sailed, November, 1657, for England, as the agent of the colony, and remained there three years, returning July 17, 1661. Probably the application for probate on Keayne's will was made before Bradstreet_left England. For notices of the Keayne family, see REG. vol. vi. pp. 89-92, 152-8; xxxv. 277.-EDITOR.

See Savage Gen. Dict. iii. 1, where the date of Benjamin Keayne's death is incorrectly given. See also Suffolk Deeds, Lib. i. fol. 83 and 84.

John Morse, of Boston, in New England, salt-boiler, by deed of mortgage dated Nov. 9, 1654, recorded with Suffolk Deeds, Lib. 2, f. 180, conveyed to his uncle, Mr. Robert Keaine of said Boston," my third part of that tennement or howse in shoe lane in London which comes to me by the right of my wife mary Jupe now mary morse which was left and given to hir by mrs Grace Jupe hir mother by will before hir deceass with all the right title or Interest that myself and wife or either of vs haue ther ," and also their interest in one half part of five certain tenements in Gravel La stor the Parish of St. Buttolph without Aldgate, London, to secure the payment of £32. See also fol. 86 and 182. See fol. 183 and 184 for a bond and an order from said John Morse to Mr. Simeon or Symon Smith of Southwark to pay my Couzen major Benjamin Keajne" of London, £15 advanced by "my vnckell m Robert Keajne to pay for the passage of said Morse, his wife, and his wife's brother Benjamin Jupe from New England back to Old England. This sum was to be paid at the Golden Crown in Birchin Lane, London, on or before April 26, 1655, out of the rents belonging to his said wife, or brother Benjamin Jupe, remaining in the hands of said Smith as executor.-J. T. H.]

66

CAPTAIN HUMPHREY ATHERTON, 25 December, 1661, proved 3 July, 1662, by John Atherton, his brother and one of the executors. He named his brother Francis and his two sisters, Elizabeth Osborne, widow, late wife of Robert Osborne, and Anne Parker, wife of Richard Parker, of the city of Bristol. There was due to him by bond from Lieut. Col. Maurice Kingswell the sum of one hundred pounds, of which he ordered twenty pounds to be given to his worthy friend Mr. Richard Smith, one of the life guard to his Grace the Duke of Albemarle, to buy him a mourning suit and a cloak, thirty pounds apiece to his two sisters and ten pounds. apiece to his two brothers, John and Francis Atherton, and also ten pounds apiece more which was owing unto him by Mr. William Walker at the Green Dragon in Cornhill, London. To the said Richard Smith he devised fourteen pounds owing to him by bill from Capt. Nathaniel Disborough. The residue of his estate, with arrears due from his Majesty for his service at Dunkirk, he left to his brothers, whom he named executors.

Laud, 94.

[It is singular that this Capt. Humphrey Atherton died about the same time as our Maj. Gen. Humphrey Atherton of Dorchester. The latter died Sept. 16, 1661, less than a year before his English namesake. For facts concerning the Atherton family, see REGISTER, ii. 382; x. 361; xxxii. 197; xxxv. 67.-ED.]

JOHN BURGES, the elder, of Westly, lying sick in Richman's Island, in New England, 11 April, 1627, proved 24 May, 1628, by Joanna Burges. alias Bray, relict and executrix. Besides his wife, he mentioned his three sons, Robert, John and William ; and he enumerated, among other things, his bark, called the Annes, with her boat, tackling and provisions, and what she had gained that summer, his whistle and chain, and all his instruments that belonged to the sea. Barrington, 45.

[Richmond's or Richman's island is situated near Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Walter Bagnall had a trading post there from 1628 till October 3, 1631, when he was killed by the Indians. The same year, Robert Trelawney and Moses Goodyeare of Plymouth obtained from the Council of Plymouth a grant which included this

GENEALOGICAL GLEANINGS IN ENGLAND.

3

island. John Winter was their agent there. The papers relating to this plantation, fortunately preserved to this day and discovered by the late J. Wingate Thornton, A.M., are in press, edited by James P. Baxter, A.M., and will soon be issued as a volume of the Collections of the Maine Historical Society.-Ed.]

CAPT. JOHN WILCOCKS, late of Plymouth, now of Accomac, intending to go on service against the Indians, made his will, dated in Elizabeth City, Virginia, 10 September, 1622, proved the last of June, 1628. He named wife Temperance, his daughter in law, Grace Burges, legitimate daughter of his said wife, and his sisters Katherine and Susanna Wilcocks.

Barrington, 55.

EDWARD GREEN, late of Bristol, grocer, and now at present at Capt. Robert Dudley's in the county of Middlesex, in Virginia, 22 August, 1697, proved 9 August, 1658, by Robert Green, his brother and executor. He desired his body to be buried in a decent and christian manner at the discretion of John Barnard, then residing at John Walker's in King and Queen County in Virginia. The residue of his estate he left to his brother Robert Green of Bristol, haberdasher of hats. The witnesses to his signature were Robert Dudley, Senior, William Reynolds and Robert Dudley.. Lort, 186.

BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, of Stoake, near Guldeford, co. Surrey, schoolmaster, 2 July, 1695, proved 22 September, 1698, by Nathaniel Williams his brother and executor. To cousin Susanna Hall, John, Samuel and Daniel Hall, now or late of Whetenhurst in co. Gloucester, twenty shillings apiece, within six months after decease of the testator. To cousins Anna Cliffold (Clifford ?), of Bisley, and her two brothers, Richard and Nathaniel Tindall of Nibley, and to my cousin Joseph Tindall, of Nibley, sometime of Trotton Hinton, ministers, ten shillings apiece, within six months, &c. To my cousins Samuel, Thomas and Benjamin Williams, of New England, and to my cousin Elizabeth Bird, of Dorchester in New England, and to the eldest child of my cousin Williams, of New England, deceased, in case there (are) any of them living, and also to the eldest child of my cousin Joseph Williams, deceased, in case he have left any living and who shall be living at the time of my decease, to every and each of the said last mentioned persons the sum of twenty shillings, within one year, &c. To the poor of the parish of Eastington fifty shillings, and to the poor of the parish of Whetenhurst fifty shillings, any poor people of my father's kindred principally recommended. To my brother in law Nathaniel Williams, of Brandley, in co. Worcester, and his heirs forever, all those my freehold, tenements, lands tenements and hereditaments, &c., in Eastington and Framptou, and elsewhere in Gloucestershire, and all the residue; he to be exec

utor.

Note that the name Nathaniel is by my mistake omitted, and also the eldest child of my cousin Hannah Parmater is to be comprehended. B. W. Lort, 208.

[The children of Richard Williams, one of the first settlers of Taunton, N. E., were 1. John, 2. Samuel, 3. Joseph, 4. Nathaniel, 5. Thomas, 6. Benjamin, 7. Elizabeth, wife of John Bird, 8. Hannah, wife of John Parmenter. See REG. v. 414. All these children, except John, who may have died young, are named in the above will. Emery, in his Ministry of Taunton," i. 43-5, quotes a manuscript of conrable antiquity," but evidently not written before 1718, which states that hard Williams was descended from a family of that name in Glamorganshire, s, and found a wife in Gloucestershire, Er same mar uscript

4

GENEALOGICAL GLEANINGS IN ENGLAND.

states that his wife was Frances Dighton, sister of Katharine, second wife of Gov. Thomas Dudley. Baylies, in his "Historical Memoir of New Plymouth," part i. p. 284, says there was a tradition that Williams was a relative of Oliver Cromwell. He also prints (i. 272) a letter from the Rev. Roger Williams, in which reference is made to " my brother." Baylies thinks this may be Richard Williams, of

Taunton.

John Bird, the husband of Elizabeth Williams, was a son of Thomas Bird of Dorchester. See Bird Genealogy, REG. xxv. 21–30.—ED.]

THOMAS BEAVAY, waterman, of the city of Bristol, 21 Jan. 1656, proved by Mary Beavay, widow and executrix, 24 April, 1657. To be buried in the churchyard of St. Phillipps. To son Thomas Beavay, now a planter in Virginia, my best suit of clothes and all belonging to it. To my godson, Samuel Gosner, a small boat or twenty shillings in money. To godson Edward Martin the younger, twenty shillings. To godson Thomas Webb, twenty shillings. To wife Mary, the passage boat, with all the term of years that is yet to come. Ruthen, 145.

EZEKIEL SHERMAN, of Dedham, clothier, the last of December, 1656, proved 12 May, 1657, by Martha Sherman, widow and sole executrix. To son Ezekiel one hundred pounds at age of twenty-one years. To daughters Grace and Hannah one hundred pounds each, at the age of twenty-one. To daughter now born eighty pounds at the age of twenty-one. To my brother John Sherman ten pounds within a year and a day after my decease. To Mary Sherman five pounds at the same time. After decease of wife Martha, son Ezekiel to enter on lands, &c. If he die without lawful issue, then the property to go equally among the daughters then living. Wife Martha to be executrix. The overseers to be Robert Stevens, of Dedham, my father-in-law, and Robert Stevens of Ardleigh, brother-in-law. William Grindell one of the witnesses.

Ruthen, 147. [Ezekiel Sherman probably was of the same family with the Rev. John Sherman, of Watertown, whose ancestors came from Dedham, co. Essex, England. See "Sherman Family," REG. xxiv. 66.-W. B. TRASK.]

To

WILLIAM SUMPNER, of Waltham Holy Cross, co. Essex, 12 February, 1656, proved 7 May, 1657, by Roger Sumpner, one of the executors. daughter Susan Williams, daughter Mary Sumpner, son William; wife Jane and youngest son Roger executors. The overseers to be brother Roger Sumpner and brother-in-law William Sawdrie. Ruthen, 148.

[There seems to be a similarity in early names between this family and that of the Sumner or Somner family of Bicester, co. Oxford, who settled in Dorchester, Mass., before 1637. See REG. viii. 128e; ix. 300.-W. B. T.]

JOHN MASON, of Mashburie, co. Essex, husbandman, 2 December, 1656, proved 7 May, 1657, by Sarah Mason, his widow and executrix. Real estate in Much Waltham to wife for twelve years and then to John Mason, the eldest son, he to pay certain legacies to daughters Mary, Lydia and Sarah Mason. Stileman's Croft, in Good Easter, Essex, to wife for six years, and then to son David Mason, he to pay to two (sic) other children, Abraham Arthur Mason and Samuel Mason, five pounds at age of twenty-one years. Ruthen, 150.

ROGER BAKER, of Wapping, co. Middlesex, 15 August, 1676, proved 24 January, 1687 by Mary Johnson, alias Baker, wife of Thomas Johns is and de luary legatee of the testator named in the will. and in M land, in Virginia, which he directs to b

mentias some ran