Bridget Varney

Please see Kathleen Canney Barber & Janet Ireland Delorey: William Varney of Ipswich and Gloucester, Massachusetts; The American Genealogist, v. 81, No. 3, July 2006, p. 134 (Steven Ferry, November 5, 2022.)

Bridget was born say 1600 and died October 26, 1672 in Gloucester, Essex, MA.

Disambiguation

Did not marry Jeffrey Parsons. Was not the daughter of Walter Knight, of Salem. Not a proven child of Robert Deverell & Grisell Deverell See notes & attachments.

Married

• WILLIAM1 VARNEY (born 1608 in Claydon, Buckinghamshire, England, and died March 01, 1653/54 in Ipswich, Essex, MA.) on May 04, 1629 in Barbadoes, West Indies

Children of WILLIAM VARNEY and BRIDGET are:

• 1. THOMAS2 VARNEY, b. 1630, Barbadoes, West Indies; d. December 04, 1692, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts.
• 2. RACHEL VARNEY, b. 1632, Barbadoes, West Indies; d. February 15, 1707/08, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts.
• 3. WILLIAM VARNEY, b. September 11, 1632, Barbadoes, West Indies; d. June 20, 1645, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts.
• 4. WALTER VARNEY, b. July 20, 1635, Barbadoes, West Indies; d. December 09, 1650, Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts.
• 5. SARAH VARNEY, b. 1636; m. JEFFREY PARSONS, November 11, 1657.
• 6. HUMPHREY VARNEY, b. 1642, Barbadoes, West Indies; d. 1713, Dover, New Hampshire.

Notes for Bridget

Unlike her husband William Varney, Bridget left a detailed will behind, proved 27 November 1672 at Essex Probate Court. In it, she mentions her son Humphrey, son Jeffrey Parsons, daughter Rachel (wife of William Vinson) and son Thomas Varney. Torrey suggests that Bridget's maiden name may have been Knight.

In her will, Bridget mentions a son Jeffrey Parsons, and this has been the source of much controversy surrounding the origins of Jeffrey Parsons, first of that name to settle in Cape Ann. According to Parsons family records, Jeffrey left England for Barbados with an uncle and then on to New England, leaving a brother James who died there in 1708. Willis Parsons, in a 1988 article in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register writes that Parsons family is from Loddiswell in Devonshire. However, there is no genealogical evidence for a connection between these Parsons and either the Varney or Knight family in England. It is possible but unlikely that Bridget married a Parsons previous to her marriage to William Varney; not possible that she married a Parsons after William's death, since she was called Bridget Varney when she died.

Will of Bridget Varney:

In 1669 Bridget her house and land to Bartholomew Foster. She moved to Glouster where she died on October 25, 1672. Her will reads;

"I Bridget Verney |of Glocester in ye County of Essex in New England| being by Gods Providence Cast upon my Bed of Sickness & weaknesse & not knowing how neare the time of my death & departure out of this world may be at hand yet knowing that all men are borne to dye & depart out of this world doe therefore declare & make knowne this my last will & Testmanet in manner & forme following. And first I commit & commend my Soule into the hands of God the Father of Spirits & my Body to the Grave to be decently buryed by my Suruining Freinds. And for my Goods and Estate I give & bequeath in the first place unto my Sonne Humfrey Verney the Summe of twenty Pounds to be payd by my sonne Jeffrey Parsons of this Towne in foure yeares. five pounds per Annum during the space of foure yeares after my decease.

Item I give & bequeath unto my Daughter Rachel Vinson (the wife of William Vinson) twenty Pounds to be payd out of my estate according as hee the sayd william vinson my sonne in Law Can best order it for Her And this to be for my sayd Daughter after my decease

Item I give and bequeath unto my sonne Thomas Verney Seaven Sheepe after my decease. And for the rest of my goodes or estate besides what is above mentioned & bequeathed I leave in the hands of my Sonne in Law william vinson as he shall see meet And to the end this my Last will & Testament may be duely & truely performed in manner and forme abovesayd I doe hereby

appoynt constitute & ordayne my sayd Sonne in Law william vinson to be sole Executor. In wittnesse whereof I the sayd Bridget have hereunto Set my Hand

& Seale the tenth day of this instant November Anno Dom. one thousand Six

hundred & Seaventy one.

Bridget (her B mark) Verney (SEAL)

Witness: John Emerson, William Ellery, William (his + mark) Winson, Joh

(his mark) Row.

Proved in Salem court 27:9:1672 by William Ellery and John Row."

The inventory was her estate was taken on November 21, 1672 by Thomas Millett sr., and John Collins sr. It consisted of;

"Tow Cowes and two hefer Calves, £8; nine sheepe, £3 10s; Twp swine, 16s; Three akers of marsh in Chebacco, £4; beding, £1 5s; Paire of sheets, 15s; wearing Clothes, £3 14s; Linen Clothes, £2; box and two Loks, 6s; woole and yearne, £1; old timber vesels, 3s; debts oweing her, £4 2s; total £66 11s."

Attested in Salem court 27:9:1672 by William Vinson, executor.

Disputed Origins

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-296040

Bridget’s surname has been variously reported as Knight, Parsons, and Deverell; Knight and Parsons have been disproven; Deverell remains speculative.

Bridget is not Bridget Knight.

Raymon Meyers Tingley Identified Bridget as Bridget Knight, born about 1611, daughter of Walter and Elizabeth Knight of Salem, Massachusetts.[1] Tingley’s work is undocumented and is known to contain “creative” and inaccurate information. His work has been questioned,[2] and in this instance is simply not credible.[3][4][5][6]

Bridget is not Bridget Parsons

Clarence Almon Torrey identifies Bridget as Bridget Parsons, [2] presumably based on her will, which mentions, along with her children by William Varney, her “son” Jeffrey Parsons. Other Varney genealogies have made the same assumption.[7] The assumption has been effectively disproven for some time.[8]

Bridget may be Bridget Deverell.

Kathleen Barber and Janet Delorey have suggested that Bridget "is probably" the Bridget Deverell who married William Varney on 7 April 1629 in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, Berkshire, England.[5]. The suggestion is attractive, given that the marriage date is about the right time, and Bridget Deverell was about the right age to be the Bridget who emigrated to New England. However there is not, as yet, any evidence to connect the couple in Berkshire with the couple who emigrated to New England.

From https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Bridget_Deverell_%282%29

Barber, Kathleen Canney, and Janet Ireland Delorey. William Varney of Ipswich and Gloucester, Massachusetts. The American Genealogist. (Jul 2006), Secondary quality.

“Bridget Deverell was baptized at Hurley, Berkshire, England, 25 Feb. 1598/9. "This is consistent with the deposition of Bridet Varney in November 1671 when she was described as the 'widow Varnie aged about seventy one yeares'." Barber and Delorey Source for Bridget's birth: Hurley General Register, D/P 72/11, Berkshire Record Office (The same information may be available in the Parish Registers of Hurley (Berkshire), 1560-1969 FHL Film #0088293) https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Knight-1487

Tingley, Raymon Meyers. Some ancestral lines: being a record of some of the ancestors of Guilford Solon Tingley and his wife Martha Pamelia Meyers. (Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing Co., 1935), p. 189, Questionable quality.

Bridget Knight, dau. of Walter Knight and Elizabeth ___, b. 1611, Eng.b.Tingley does not give sources

Weblinks:

• http://home.earthlink.net/~herblst/varney_family.htm
• http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/VARNEY/2005-07/112093...
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/o/j/Heather-W-Rojo/GEN...
• http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/demo8/getperson.php?personID=I11335&t...
• http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-296040
  • http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/188431/walter-knight-wife-elizabeth-gun...
• http://www.wainwrightfamily.org/varneyfhr.html#2

Citations

• 5. Parsons, Willis S., "Jeffrey Parsons of Loddiswell, Devonshire and Gloucester, Massachusetts," Nehgr V142 (1988) pp245-249.
• 6. Essex County Massachusetts, Essex County Massachusetts Probate Court, V2, pp312-313.
• Bridgett Deverell Gender: Female Christening: Feb 25 1598 Hurley, Berkshire, England Father: Robte Deverell Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C01826-2 System Origin: England-ODM GS Film number: 88293
• Bridget Deverell & William Varney Marriage: Apr 7 1629 Saint Georges Chap, New Windsor, Berkshire, England Wife: Bridget Deverell Husband: William Varney Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M03580-1 System Origin: England-ODM GS Film number: 924802

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