NATHANIEL HATHORNE, of Cookham in County Berks, gentleman, 27 September, 1652, proved 29 July, 1654, by Martha Hathorne, the relict and executrix. To wife Martha eight hundred pounds in lieu of her jointure and thirds, &c. My manor of South Braham* in the county of Somerset. Estates in the counties of Devon, Somerset and Berks. My four brothers-in-law, Thomas Loggins, John Whistler, Ralphe Whistler and Thomas Whistler, gentleman. My three own sisters, Elizabeth, Mary and Anne, and John Laurence, the husband of Anne. My son-in-law William Mattingly and Jone his wife. My kinsman William Eldridge and Judith his wife. Anne Winche, the wife to my nephew John Winch. My nephew William Winche. The poor of Cookham and South Braham. Wife Martha to be executrix, and two loving kinsmen, Dr. Daniel Whistler of Gresham College, and John Winche, of London, haberdasher, to be Alchin, 251. overseers. One of the witnesses was John Hathorne. [This testator was, of course, brother to the foregoing William Hathorne and uncle to the American immigrant. It is with a peculiar satisfaction, it must be confessed, that the compiler of these Gleanings, himself a native of Salem, has at last been able to prove beyond a doubt whereabouts in "Our Old Home," that elder England beyond the seas, we must look for the ancestry of the most widely known among the distinguished sons of old Salem, the most original of the prose writers of our New England, and the one whose writings are most native to her soil; a satisfaction tinged with the regret, however, that the discovery was not made in the great writer's life-time. We can easily imagine with what delight he would have made a pilgrimage into Berkshire, how gladly he would have loitered about Binfield and Bray, Cruchfield and Oakley Green, making new sketches to illustrate his English Note Book, and how eagerly his quaint and vivid fancy would have seized even upon the scanty materials offered to it in the Legend of Hawthorn Hill and its pots of gold, to weave therefrom a story that should rival in weirdness any of his "Legends of New England." The eldest son and namesake of William Hathorne of Binfield, and first American ancestor of the distinguished writer, was, next to Governor Endicott, by far the most important personage in the civil history of Salem during the first generation. By sheer force of natural talent and commanding character, this son of a plain English yeoman easily came to the front rank among the many wise and active New England men who were then engaged in the tremendous and to them solemn task of founding a state, opening up the wilderness, treating with "the barbarious Heathen," justly and peaceably if possible, but with fire and sword if need be, allotting lands to the new comers in proportion to their means and ability and to the numbers of their families, establishing offices of record, settling disputes, levying taxes, making provision for meeting-house and school-house, regarding justice and morality, a careful religious training and the free education of all, as the only sure basis of good order and sound government, the only firm and stable foundation whereon to crect the superstructure of a mighty new state. In all this work Major William Hathorne bore a prominent part, whether as an enterprising and prosperous merchant, a trusted citizen and deputy, an honored speaker of the House, a wise and influential magistrate in the highest court, or an active and successful commander in the wars; and his career illustrates most happily the wonderful capacity of the Anglo-Saxon race, that imperial race of modern times, its adaptability and readiness to cope with new conditions of life, to adjust itself to strange and heretofore untried surroundings, its plain and homely common sense, its union of native practical sagacity and sound judgment with a love of law and order, and at the same time a spirit of adventure, which has made Great Britain not only the most prosperous of nations, but the greatest colonizing people in the world, the mother of Nations, and which is so conspicuously manifested in the marvellous career of her daughters, the "Greater Britain" in America and Australia and elsewhere throughout the world wherever a love of enterprise or any other cause has led its people to settle and plant new homes.-H. F. w.] * Probably South Bruham (or Brewham) in the Hundred of Bruton.-H. F. W. 1 Sir WILLIAM PHIPS, Knight, of Boston in the county of Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, 18 December, 1693, sworn to by Dame Mary Phips 10 September, 1696; proved 29 January, 1696. To brother James Phips or his heirs, the sum of five shillings. To my dear and entirely beloved consort Mary Phips, and to her heirs forever, all my estate, real and personal, &c. &c., with power to alienate by deed of gift, will or codicil. If she should die without having, by will, disposed of my estate, &c., it shall all descend and fall to my adopted son. Spencer Phips als Bennett and the heirs of his body. If he should die without issue surviving, what is left shall be equally divided and shared, one half thereof by my sisters Mary, Margaret and the heirs of my sister Anne deceased, or their heirs forever, and the other half in like manner, to the relations of my beloved consort, reserving only out of the whole estate one hundred pounds current money of New England, which my said relations and the relations of my said wife shall cause to be paid unto John Phipps, son to my brother John Phipps deceased, or to his heirs, if this clause be not repealed by my wife aforesaid. If my dear consort should die before my said son is come to age or is married, then I do nominate and appoint my friends Capt. John Foster, Esq., and Capt. Andrew Belcher of Boston, merchants, to be trustees of my estate and guardians to my said son, until he shall be of full age or married. The witnesses were John Phillips, John White, John Hiskett, Josiah Stone and John Greenough. Pyne, 15. FRANCIS PHIPPS, the elder, of Reading, in the county of Berks, mentions (inter alios) son Constantine Phipps, in his will proved 1668. Hene, 69. [A flattering sketch of the mathematical and inventive ability of Sir William Phips-our governor during the time of the witchcraft delusion; with a copy of the epitaph from his monument in St. Mary Woolnoth's Church in London, are given in "The Peerage of Ireland," by John Lodge, vol. vii. p. 84, of the edition of 1789, edited by Mervyn Archdall, as a prelude to the history of the ancestry of Lord Mulgrave; which is followed by the statement that Sir William Phips was father of Sir Constantine Phipps, Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1710 to 1714, who was grandfather of the first Baron Mulgrave. Sir William (whose will is given above) was son of James Phips, a gunsmith, who came from Bristol, England, and settled near the Kennebec River. Cotton Mather states that James had twenty-one sons and five daughters. Sir William mentions in his will but one brother and three sisters, and having no child adopts his wife's nephew, afterward known as Spencer Phips, who lived and died in New England. Sir Egerton Brydges copied the statement from Archdall and incorporated it in his celebrated edition of Collins's Peerage (1812), but having noticed later the Life of Sir William Phips by Cotton Mather, corrects the statement in an appendix, so far as Sir Constantine was concerned, by suggesting that Spencer Phips, the adopted son of Sir William, was the true ancestor of Lord Mulgrave. Debrett, in bis annual Peerage, carried the original story for years, but finally left it out entirely. Burke substituted "cousin" for "father," still keeping Sir William Phips for the "figure-head" of the family by saying he was cousin of Sir Constantine. Savage (1861) Vol. iii. p. 422, calls attention to the "preposterous fable," and quotes "Smiles's Self-Help, p. 169," as a present example of its continuance. The Heraldic Journal (1865), Vol. i. pp. 154-5, contains a full and interesting account of this "popular error." The latest promulgation of the old story which has come to my sight is in an elegant volume purchased by the Boston Athenæum during 1881, "Picturesque Views of Seats of Noblemen, &c.," by Rev. F. O. Morris, no date, but evidently a very recent publication, Vol. ii. pp. 11 to 12, with a view of Mulgrave Castle, the seat of the Marquis of Normanby. This magnificent place was inherited by Constantine Phipps (a grandson of Sir Constantine previously mentioned) from his maternal grandmother, whose paternity was a question of historic doubt. Catherine Sedley, created Countess of Dorchester for life, was the acknowledged mistress of James II.; the keeper of his privy purse, Col. James Graham, also had intimate relations with her. It happened that her daughter-Lady Catherine Darnly-bore an exact resemblance to his daughter, the Countess of Berkshire. Col. Graham was Lot inclined to deny the paternity, while the mother asserted that her daughter "need not be so proud, as she was not the King's child, but Col. Graham's." (Jesse's Lives of the Stuarts, Vol. iii. p. 508.) Lady Catherine Darnley was married first to the Earl of Anglesey, from whom she was divorced; she then married the Duke of Buckingham. From him she received Mulgrave Castle, and she gave it to Constantine Phipps, the son of her daughter by her first husband. This Constantine Phipps was created Baron Mulgrave of the peerage of Ireland in 1768, but the titles have accumulated upon his descending line until the present head of the family is "Marquis of Normanby, Earl of Mulgrave, Viscount Normanby and Baron Mulgrave of Mulgrave, co. York, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; Baron Mulgrave of New Ross, co. Wexford, in the Peerage of Ireland." The armorial bearings are quarterings of those of James II.! and of Sir William Phips! Mr. Waters has found a father for a Constantine Phipps, and we hope the whole question of relationship to Sir William (if any existed) will be fully settled soon. Dr. Marshall in "The Genealogist," Vol. vi., gave new material as to the marriages and children of the first Constantine.-J. C. J. BROWN. From Hist. and Antiquities of Reading, by the Rev. Charles Coates, LL.B., London, 1802, p. 445, we learn that there was a tradition that Sir Constantine Phipps, the ancestor of the Mulgrave family, was born at Reading.-H. F. W.] SYMON BRADSTREETE, citizen and grocer of London, 22 February, 1627, proved 28 February, 1627, by Samuel Bradstreete. Daughter Margaret, now wife of Edmond Slater, citizen and mercer of London, married without my love, leave or consent. My nephew, Samuel Bradstreete, to be residuary legatee and sole and absolute executor. Barrington, 14. [Simon Bradstreet, the "Nestor of New England," who was governor of Massachusetts, 1679-86 and 1689-92, was probably related to the testator. Gov. Bradstreet used on his will a seal with these arms: On a fesse three crescents, in base a greyhound passant (REGISTER, viii. 313). The tinctures are not indicated. The arms of Sir John Valentine Bradstreet, baronet, descended from Simon B. of Kilmainham, co. Dublin, Ireland, created a baronet in 1759, are, Arg. a greyhound passant gules; on a chief sable three crescents or. The father of Gov. Bradstreet was named Simon, according to the statement of the Rev. Simon B. of New London (REG. ix. 113). Cotton Mather, who does not give the christian name, says that he was "a minister in Lincolnshire who was always a nonconformist at home as well as when preacher at Middleburgh abroad" (Magnalia, ed. 1702, Bk. ii. p. 19; ed. 1853, vol. i. p. 138). Gov. Bradstreet, according to Mather, was "born at Horbling, March, 1603." He died at Salem, March 27, 1697, "æt. 94," according to the inscription on his monument (REG. i. 76). He was bred at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, A.B. 1620, Α.Μ. 1624, came to New England in 1630, being then secretary of the Massachusetts Company. He married first, Anne, daughter of Gov. Thomas Dudley, by whom he had eight children-Samuel, Dorothy married Rev. Seaborn Cotton; Sarah wife of Richard Hubbard; Rev. Simon, Hannah or Ann, wife of Andrew Wiggin; Dudley, John, and Mercy wife of Nathaniel Wade. He married secondly Mrs. Anne (Downing) Gardiner. See memoirs, REGISTER, i. 75-7; viii. 312-13. Lists of descendants of him and his gifted wife, the first female poet in New England, including some eminent American writers, are printed in the REGISTER, viii. 312-25; ix. 113-21.-EDITOR.] JOHN SEDGWICKE, of the parish of St Savior's, Southwark, in county Surrey, brewer, 27 November, 1638, proved 5 December, 1638, by Martha Sedgwicke, widow and executrix. To be buried in the parish church of St Savior's. To wife Martha two thousand pounds of money and certain personal property at my house at Barnes in county Surrey, late in the occupation of Mr Hubland deceased. To my mother Elizabeth Sedg 1 wicke, of Woburn in the county of Bedford, widow, the sum of five hundred pounds in money within one year after my decease. But if she die before the expiration of said year, then two hundred and fifty pounds of that money to be given to my wife and the other two hundred and fifty pounds to be at the disposal and ordering of my said mother to such of her children as she shall think most meet, at her own will and pleasure. To my sister Mary Houghton, now wife of Robert Houghton, and their daughter Martha, my god-daughter, the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds within one year, &c. To my brother William Sedgwicke, minister of Farnam, near Bishops Starford, fifty pounds within one year, &c. "Item I give and remitt to my loving brother Robert Sedgwicke, of Charlestowne in new England Thirtie and eight pounds which hee oweth mee by bill and fourty shillings to buy him a ring." To my father and mother in law, Edward and Joan Wicke, of Leighton in the county of Bedford, the sum of five pounds each; to sister Joan Wicke ten pounds; to brothers Matthew, Mark and Thomas Wicke ten pounds apiece; and to brother Luke Wicke thirty pounds; all within one year after my decease. To my friend and brother Nicholas Crisp, citizen and girdler of London, ten pounds, and to his wife Sarah Crisp, ten pounds within one year, &c. To the poor of the parish of Woburn in the County of Bedford, the sum of twenty pounds, &c., it being the parish in which I was born. To the poor of the town of Leighton twenty pounds. To the poor of the Liberty of the upper ground, on the Bankeside, in the parish of St. Saviors, ten pounds. To ten poor godly ministers of God's word the sum of forty pounds, to be distributed at the discretion of my overseers. To Mr Nicholas Morton, minister of the parish of St. Saviors, forty shillings to preach my funeral sermon. Το Μ James Archer, minister also of the said parish, forty shillings. To my uncle, Mr Stephen Sedgwicke, brewer, five pounds to buy him a ring. To servant Nathaniel Barrow five pounds. Wife Martha to be executrix, and kinsmen and friends Edward Wicke, Stephen Sedgwicke, Nicholas Crisp and Robert Houghton to be overseers. Lee, 181. [Robert Sedgwick, named in this will as brother of the testator, was a prominent man in early New England history. It is noteworthy that Sarah Sedgwick, second wife of Gov. John Leverett (REG. xxxv. 348), who has been supposed to be a sister of Robert, is not mentioned here. Robert Sedgwick settled in Charlestown as early as 1636, was one of the founders of the Artillery Company in 1638, was chosen Major-General, the highest military office in the colony, May 26, 1652; went to England and was appointed by Cromwell commander of the expedition which captured in 1654 the French posts in Acadia. He was sent as a commissioner to Jamaica after the capture of that island (REG. ante, p. 24), where he died May 24 (Drake), or June 24 (Palfrey), 1656. His children were Samuel, Hannah, William and Robert (Wyman's Charlestown). His widow Joanna became the second wife of Rev. Thomas Allen of Charlestown, whose first wife was Anna, widow of John Harvard, founder of Harvard College. Descendants have been distinguished in literature and in civil and military life. -EDITOR.] Notes on Abstracts previously printed. CONSTANT SYLVESTER. (Ante, p. 17.) GRACE SYLVESTER.-In the REGISTER for October last, page 385, Mr. Waters gives an abstract of the will of Constant Silvester, made in Barbadoes in 1671. In this will the testator gives his two daughters, Grace and Mary, "two thousand pounds each on the day of their marriage, besides One hundred pounds each to buy them * jewel at the age of 16 years." The following deposition, made by the mother of these two young ladies, has been transcribed from the "Proceedings in the Spiritual Court of the Diocese of London," and brings to light an interesting episode in the annals of the family of Sylvester : "12 Die Menses Decembris Anno Dom 1685 which day appeared p'sonally Grace Sylvester, widdow and Relict of Constant Sylvester, Esquire, decd and by vertue of her oath deposed that about Ten years since her husband being dead, her affaires called her into Barbadoes; she left her children, vizt one Sonn and two daughters under the care and tuition and government to Anne Walrond her sister, who dyed in ffebruary last, as she was informed and she was likewise informed yt one Mr John Staples being an acquaintance of this deponents sonn Constant Sylvester, thereby became acquainted with Grace Sylvester this deponents daughter and pretended to make his addresses to her in the way of marriage and the same (as this deponent was informed) Came to the Knowledge of the said Anne Walrond & she forbad the said John Staples to come to the said House and he thereupon did desist and she doth farther depose that she this deponent arrived at London on the 28th of September last and after such her arrival Sir Henry Pickering Bart made courtshipp in the way of marriage to her this Deponents daughter Grace Sylvester and he made also his addresses to this deponent therein to whom she gave her consent, upon Information of his Quality, State and Condition and after some tyme the said Mr John Staples came to her this deponents lodgings in St James St vizt. on or about the Sa day of Nov last and in the p'sence of this Depont, Henry Walrond Sen Esqr and severall other psons the said m2 John Staples told this deponent that he understanding that her daughter Grace was speedily to be married to Sir Henry Pickering and he thought good to acquaint this deponent that her daughter could not justly pceed in the sd match, for she was by promise engaged to him or to that effect and he being asked, when, where, and in whose p'sence, he answered, in the Mall in St James and that her sister Mary and Mrs Mary Seaman were with them, but were either soe much before or behind them that they could not heare theire discourse and the sa Grace Sylvester being then p'sent absolutely denyed that she made any such přmise, but declared that she told him that she would never marry any p'son wth out her mothers consent and approbation, or to that very effect, whereupon the st John Staples replyed that the p'mise made to him had that condicon and the sa Grace denying any p'mise, the sa John Staples said that this was noe more than he expected and in a little tyme after departed, but imediately before his departure had some private discourse with Henry Walrond Sen Esq and this depont findeing that her sd daughter Grace Sylvester was noe wayes engaged to the sd John Staples nor had any kindness for him, This dept did consent that the said Sir Henry Pickering should pursue his addresses to the sa Grace her daughter which he did accordingly and hath obteyned the affections of her sd daughter and there was and is an agreement made between them by and with the Consent of this dep and that order was and is given for drawing up writings and settling of a Joynture and preparation for the marriage between him the sa Sir Henry Pickering and the sd Grace to be solemnized before any or Inhibition was served on the said Grace which was not served as she believeth untill the fourth of this Instant-December and upon designe (as this dept doth verily believe) by the st John Staples to gett some money or other sinister end. In witness whereof she hath hereunto sett her hand. GRACE SYLVESTER. 12 Decemb. 1685. p' fata Gratia Sylvester vidua jurat coram me, |