Richard Harding, of Braintree

The first Harding immigrant to New England is believed to be Richard Harding, who is said to have left Weymouth in Dorset with his family on the Charity in 1623.

18 DEC 1657 Will provided for widow Elizabeth, for son John Hardier, and granddaughter Mary.

Richard is our emigrant ancestor, coming to the New World only three years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.

In 1864, Rev. Abner Morse, A.M., wrote of Richard.

"Richard Harden of Brantry"' as his name was spelled in Boston but Hardier, on transcripts of his will and the inventory of his estate, was a very ancient man; for his youngest daughter [namely Lydia Saunders], the only child by his 2nd wife, was married in 1651, and if as old as her husband, was born in 1626.The record of Braintree, where he lived, covers only a part of his time, and it is impossible to recover much of cisatlantic history. He, in company with William Needham and Samuel Bass, also of Braintree, and John Staple of Weymouth, May 10 1648, was admitted to the freeman's oath, which implied church membership.

More at:

Source: https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/r/o/t/Dave-Roth/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0004...

An excellent source for the family is: Four centuries of the Harding family : ancestry and descendents of Perry Green Harding, 1807-1885

The notes below mixup two different Robert Gorges and two different William Harding’s. See Mary Harding, Lady Gorges

From https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=twtoke&id=I6468

John Harding's will leaves property to his brother, William, father of La dy Mary Harding Gorges, wife of Capt. Sir Robert Gorges, appointed Govern or of Plymouth Colony in 1623. His will further mentions his sons Richar d, Amos, John, Lemuel, and Oliver.; (Sir Robert was the son of Sir Fredin ando Gorges, one of the founders of the Plymouth Company which was charter ed in 1606).
Sir Robert Gorges lead a group of colonists from the port of Harwic k, County of Essex, England to the Plymouth Colony at Wessagussett, lat er Weymouth Landing, partly in Braintree of what is now Massachusetts, arr iving in August, 1623. Among those accompanying Sir Gorges were Richard H arding, wife and infant son, John Harding, wife and two young sons, and Jo seph Harding. These three were all cousins of Lady Mary Harding Gorges, a nd sons of John Harding of Barnstable, England and the first of the li ne to immigrate to America.

GEDCOM Sources

• info from The Harding in America - confirm it.immigrated with Governor Gorges in 1623? have death record
• Biography & Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,4394::0 Gale Research Company; Detroit, Michigan; Accession Number: 1928446 1,4394::6841024
• U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations Inc 1,3824::0 Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, USA; Volume Title: New England Marriages Prior to 1700 1,3824::52369
• U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc 1,7486::0 Place: Braintree, Massachusetts; Year: 1623; Page Number: 36 1,7486::749496
• Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.