Roger Garde

Roger Gard was born about 1585, based on his marriage to Philippa Gist at Bideford, Devonshire on 4 July 1610. The parish register of Bideford shows that Roger and Philippa had at least six children, of whom only two are definitely known to have reached adulthood and gotten married. Roger Gard was a woolen draper in Bideford, leaving few extant records besides those in the parish register.

After 24 years of marriage, his wife Philippa died and was buried on 1 Feb. 1634/5. Not long after her death he left England and settled in York, Maine then under the proprietorship of the Gorges family. He received a land grant there on 6 June 1637 and soon became a prominent individual. Mr. Thomas Gorges made Roger Gard his agent when Gorges went back to England in 1643 [York, Maine Deeds, Vol. 1, part 2, p. 14]. Roger served as Alderman, Town Clerk and Recorder of the York Court in the early 1640's and became Mayor of York, 1644-45.

In 1645 he presided over the trial of one Catherine Cornish who was accused of murdering her husband, Richard. During the trial, Catherine accused Gard of having had an affair with her. Although she was found guilty and executed, her accusations were harmful to Gard's reputation and may have hastened his death, as he died a few months later, before 28 July 1645. He is quoted as saying on his death bed that "the people had broken his heart".

He was buried "with his arms" and Rev. Joseph Hull preached his funeral sermon [GDMNH, p. 252]. A letter reporting Roger Gard's death was sent by Rev. James Parker on 28 July 1645 to Gov. John Winthrop of Massachusetts who entered the information in his journal [GDMNH, p. 528; The Journal of John Winthrop, 1630-1649, Harvard University Press, 1996, p. __]. In his Gard article Moriarty noted that Roger Gard was a member of the Church of England rather than a Puritan [TAG, Vol. 20,p.106].

While he was living in York, Roger Gard was mentioned on two bonds which were recorded in Aspinwall's Notarial Records [Boston Municipal Printing Office, 1903]. The first bond, dated 13 May 1643, was from John Manning and Nicholas Trerice for £70.10 to William Pennicott of the Island of Fayal. The bond specified that if Manning and Trerice failed to deliver on their contract with Pennicott, they would then pay the amount of the bond to "Abraham Shurt, Mercht & in his absence to Mr Roger Gard & in the absence of them both to Mr Samuel Maverick all living in New England." The appearance of Samuel Maverick's name on this bond is interesting in that he was the brother-in-law of the Rev. James Parker whose letter reporting the death of Roger Gard is mentioned above.

The second bond mentioning Roger Gard was also dated May 1643. It was from Nicholas Trerice and John Manning for 100,000 Portuguese Reis payable to Samuel Andrews or John Gard of Fayal in the Azores. This John Gard may have been Roger's son born in 1618, but might instead have been his presumed brother, who married Rebecca Copp at Bideford, Devon on 27 Sept. 1629. This bond contained the provision that payment could also be made "in New England unto Roger Gard". Payment of both bonds was acknowledged when they were recorded in 1647.

The connection between Nicholas Trerice and Roger Gard on these bonds is worth noting, because Trerice's son John was associated with William Gard in 1666 as presented under William Gard below. An excellent article on the career and family of Nicholas Trerice can be found in NEHGR, Vol. 143, pp. 25-39. As for Roger Gard's probable brother John, he may have been the same John Gard who, by 1660, was living in Newport, Rhode Island with a wife named Harte. Harte Gard died at Newport 16 Sept. 1660 age 55 and John Gard died there 7 Aug. 1665, age 61. As Roger Gard's son John also moved to Rhode Island by 1664 there has been some confusion regarding the two as discussed in the section on Roger's son John.

Roger & Phillipa (Gist) Garde were married on July 4, 1610 in Bideford, Devon, England.