William Nolton, of Hingham

William Nolton

• Birth: Circa 1610 - England
• Death: 1639 (probate)
• Parents: unknown
• Wife: Ann, parents unknown; she married John Tucker 2nd as his 2nd wife
• Father of Mary (Nolton) Guilford

Also known as Norton

biography

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Nolton-11

On March 3, 1636, William "Norton" was made a Freeman in Hingham.[1]

William "Norton" died 6 June 1639, presumably at Hingham.[2]

In the late spring or early summer of 1641 (judging by the dates of preceding and following records), "Ann Norton of Hingham widowe of William Norton her late husband deceased complaines against Mr. Samuel Warde of Hingham" in a case arising from an earlier land transaction between Warde and her late husband.[3]

"Probate records show that the estate of William Nolton, deceased, was appraised Sept. 18, 1661, showing real estate £88, which comprised the same lots of land granted him in 1635 to 1637, and that his widow Ann and granddaughter Susanna were appointed administrators of his estate Oct. 23, 1667. On January or June 9, 1668, the estate of Ann Nolton, widow, was appraised, at her own request, showing personal, £35-16-6, and Sept. 26, 1668, 'Ann Tucker, late wife of William Nolton', presents an inventory of the estate of 'the late William Nolton, her former husband.'[4]

William Nolton of Hingham was identified as the grandfather of Paul Gilford in a 1681 land record.[5]

Sources cited

1. History of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts (1893), p. 92.
2. Recorded in the journal of Rev. Peter Hobart, first minister in Hingham, published in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 121 (1967), p. 11.
3. Note-book kept by Thomas Lechford, esq., lawyer, in Boston, Massachusetts bay, from June 27, 1638, to July 29, 1641, p. 433.
4. Errata and Addenda to Dr. Stocking's History and Genealogy of the Knowltons of England and America (1903), p. 2.
5. Paul Gilford and wife Susanna to John Chubbock, 20 Dec. 1681, in Suffolk County Deeds, vol. 13, p. 258.

notes

Not to be confused with Capt. William Knowlton:

From http://ntgen.tripod.com/bw/know_index.html

">Errata and Addenda:   Pg 2. Gives a presentation trying to make the case that Ann, widow of William "Nolton" of Hingham, who married John Tucker, and died October 8, 1675, is the immigrant widow and mother of the Knowlton brothers. However, he quotes portions of her will and she gives legacies to others who appear to be from her first marriage, not any of them being Knowltons that I know of."

Further, Torrey, has under the listing for Norton, William, died 1639, of Hingham: "Nolton wrong". Savage says: "Knowlton, William, Hingham 1635, was, Felt thot. the bricklayer, wh. d. at Ipswich 1644, found. of a respecta. fam. and in my opio. the Hingham name, giv. Nolton, by Lincoln, means, that same Norton, wh. was of Ipswich."

What this means is that both Savage and Torrey believed the man whose estate was probated in Hingham in 1639, and referred to at times in the records as William Nolton, was actually William Norton, not William Knowlton, the Captain, our ancestor.

Sources

1. New England Marriages Prior to 1700 By Clarence Almon Torrey, Elizabeth Petty Bentley. Page 757.