Ann Vinal

Ann Vinal holds the distinction of being the only female to be considered one of the founders of Scituate, Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts.

Little is known about Ann's life before arriving in Scituate in 1636. She arrived in town as the widow of an unknown husband and the mother of three children born in England -- Martha, Stephen, and John.

Ann lived at Stockbridge Pond in Scituate and arrived in town as a Conihasset Partner, referring to a local, private land division partnership that functioned as a semi-autonomous government in town.

Ann died in 1664 in Scituate. She is remembered as being a pioneering woman in town.

Biography

From http://scituatehistoricalsociety.org/the-land-of-the-men-of-kent/

"On the slopes of Third Cliff, overlooking the marshes of the North River, Nathaniel Tilden, one of the Men of Kent, established the first farmstead in 1626. Others also settled behind their cliffs, cleared their farms and established trade, not only with Plymouth and Boston but with England. Among these merchant adventurers was the widow Ann Vinal, after whom Ann Vinal Road is named. It is recorded that Ann was the best business man of them all for she brought over woolen yarns and notions to sell to the women, for she knew they were the spenders of money.

---

Widow Anne Vinal with three children appeared in Scituate, Mass. in 1636. A record made by her son in extant from which we quote: "As I had the relation from my owne Mother, I was born about the middle of December 1630. We came into New England in the year 1636 and into the town of Scituate the same year. Martha the eldest of three children, she was married to Israel Chittenden 1648, Stephen was born 1630, John two or three years later."

Anne (this enterprising widow) erected a house in 1637 on the brook: (north of Stockbridge mill in later years). She seems to have possessed considerable property, and in the Conihassett partners in 1646 we notice Anne Vinal. She decieased in 1664. Stephen and John were administrators: (Colony Records).

Note by Dorothy Rudd, granddaughter of Annie Maria Vinal Weekes: "Annie Maria's sister, Gertrude, told me that Anne Vinal was descended from Lord Vinal of Vinalhaven, England."

Annie Maria Vinal Weekes wrote: "The Coat of Arms of the Vinall Family was granted during the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell the Puritan, to John Vinall of Kingston, County of Sussex, England, (being of good birth and anciently descended). By Heraldo College 1657. Great Grandson of William Vinall from whom the family of Vinal are all descendants, and frm whence they took their present name."

Family

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159605565/anna-vinal

Anna, an enterprising young widow, erected a house in 1637 on the brook (north of Stockbridge's north pond, in later times).

She seem to have possessed considerable property. Amongst the Connihassett partner in 1646, Anna Vinal can be found. Her sons Stephen & John were administrators upon her passing.

Her maiden name MAY be "Virdge" and she and Stephen MAY have married on Oct 21, 1623 in Benenden, Kent, England

Anna and Stephen had 3 children:

1. Martha, the eldest, she married Isreal Chittenden in 1646.
2. Stephen was born in 1630 and married Mary Baker, the daughter of Rev. Nicholas Baker.
3. JOHN married Elizabeth Baker and lived on the corner of Kent and Meeting House Lane.

Anna may be resting elsewhere, but I have been researching her for several years as she is our "Immigrant Ancestor" and I believe her to be here with her family.

Origins & Family

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/UNKNOWN-120409

Ann(a) Vinal was an early settler of the town of Scituate in the Plymouth Colony (later Massachusetts). There is some uncertainty as to whether she arrived in New England as a widow or accompanied her husband, Stephen.

Her birth name might have been Virdge or Vridge. Steven Vinall was married to Anne Uridge at Benenden, Kent, England, on 21 October 1623.[1][2]

There is a parish record for the baptism of Anne Vridge, daughter of George, at Marden, Kent, on 7 January 1598.[3] Marden is just 9 miles from Benenden.

But Cummings, cited above, theorizes that Anna might have been daughter born about 1600 of Humphrey Uredge and Ruth (Garland?) (Stanley), widow of Robert Stanley. In either case, the Benenden and Biddenden parish records (a few miles apart), listing both the marriage of Stephen to Anne Uredge and the baptisms of their known children who later lived in Massachusetts, confirm that her maiden name was Uredge.[4]

According to Deane's history of Scituate, Ann(a) Vinal, a widow, appears in the records of Scituate in 1636, with three children, Martha, Stephen, and John. Her son Stephen later reported that the family had immigrated to New England in 1636 and settled in Scituate that same year.[5]

Torrey indicates that Anna/Ann had married a man named Vinall in England, circa 1627.[6] The Scituate Historical Society indicates that Stephen Vinal, who appears to have been Anna's husband, was in Scituate circa 1636/7 and was proposed as freeman in Scituate in 1638/9, but apparently died before 1643.[7] The Scituate Historical Society suggests that Anna's maiden name may have been Vridge.[8]

In his history of Scituate, Deane described Ann Vinal as an "enterprising widow." She built a house in Scituate in 1637 and apparently possessed "considerable property." She was one of the Conihassett partners in 1646.[5]

Anna Vinall died in Scituate before 6 October 1664 when inventory of her estate was recorded. Her sons Stephen and John administered her estate. An Inventory of Anna Vinall of Scituate was valued at £87. 10s. 10d. (excepting lands). By Nic. and Nat. Baker.[9][10] Stephen and his family succeeded to Anna's residence.[5]

Children

Note: Benenden and Biddenden are about six miles from each other.

1. Steven, son of Steven Vynal ll was buried 28 Sep 1624 in Benenden, England.[11]
2. Elysabeth Vynall, dtr of Stephen Vynall was baptized 05 Feb 1626 in the Parish Church of Benenden, Kent, England[12]
3. Martha Vynall, dtr of Stephen Vynall was baptized 10 Aug 1628 in the Parish Church of Benenden, Kent, England [13]
4. Steven Vynall, son of Stephen Vynall was baptized 28 Nov 1630 in the Parish Church of Benenden, Kent, England[14]
5. John Vinall, son of Stephen Vynall was baptized 28 Nov 1630 in the Biddenden, Kent, England[15]

Sources

• ↑ FindMyPast, England Marriages 1538-1973, Transcript at FindMyPast (image not available).
• ↑ David Cummings, "Stephen and Anna (Uredge) Vinall of Benenden, Kent, and Scituate, Plymouth Colony," in The American genealogist, 90 (Oct 2018): 296-
• ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, Indexing Project (Batch) Number I05591-6, System Origin England-EASy, GS Film number 1751979 Reference ID item 3, Transcript (Family Search).
• ↑ Cummings, p 297, 299
• ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Deane, p. 364
• ↑ Torrey, p. 768
• ↑ Early Scituate Families
• ↑ Early Scituate Families
• ↑ "Abstracts of the Earliest Wills in the Probate office of Plymouth", New England Historical and Genealogical Register vol. 6 (1852):186.
• ↑ "Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories" The Mayflower Descendant 16:127.
• ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JZ8L-XZ6 : 24 December 2014), Steven, burial 28 Sep 1624; citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,736,524.
• ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Indexing Project (Batch) Number C03463-2, System Origin England-ODM, GS Film number 2228346 Family Search
• ↑ Family Search England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, Indexing Project (Batch) Number C03780-3, System Origin England-ODM, GS Film number 1736524
• ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, Indexing Project (Batch) Number C03780-3, System Origin England-EASy, GS Film number 1736524, Reference ID item 2 p 124 rn 29 Family Search
• ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, Indexing Project (Batch) Number C04221-0, System Origin England-ODM, GS Film number 1736525 link
• Deane, Samuel. Scituate, Massachusetts, from its First Settlement to 1831. Boston: James Loring, 1831