John Humphrey, Deputy Governor of Massachusetts

John Humphrey (also spelled Humfrey or Humfry, c. 1597 – 1661) was an English Puritan and an early funder of the English colonisation of North America.

Summary

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Humphrey_(Massachusetts_colonist) retrieved 13 July 2024

John Humphrey was born in the mid-1590s, probably in the English County of Dorset. The exact date of his birth is uncertain: no histories give precise dates, and estimated dates differ, but are roughly clustered around 1595. His father, Michael Humphrey, was steward at an estate in Dorset.

Humphrey was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and studied law at Lincoln's Inn in 1615.[1] He settled in Dorchester, Dorset, where he was a member of John White's church.[2]

He was the treasurer of the Dorchester Company, which established an unsuccessful settlement on Massachusetts Bay in the 1620s, and was deputy governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company from 1629 to 1630. He came to Massachusetts in 1634, where he served as a magistrate and was the first sergeant major general of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. He became involved in English attempts to settle Providencia Island in the late 1630s, and returned to England in 1641 after financial reverses and probable religious differences with other members of the Massachusetts ruling elite. He then became involved in an attempt to settle The Bahamas in the late 1640s, and had some involvement in the politics of the English Civil War.

Children that Humphrey and his wife left in Massachusetts had an unhappy fate, and the Humphreys were criticised at the time for leaving them. Three daughters were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, and only one of them survived to adulthood. The Massachusetts leadership did little to prosecute offenders, and some saw this mistreatment as a form a divine punishment of the Humphreys for their actions in abandoning the Massachusetts colony.

Massachusetts

He was unable to accompany Governor Winthrop on the 1630 fleet that brought the first large-scale migration to Massachusetts, and was consequently replaced by Thomas Dudley as deputy governor shortly before the fleet sailed.[5] He remained actively involved in the Company in London, and assisted in defending its charter against attacks levied by Sir Ferdinando Gorges in 1633.[6] He eventually arrived at the colony in 1634 with his second wife and children, and immediately became involved in the administration of the colony. He had been granted land in what is now Swampscott, Massachusetts, and was regularly elected one of the colony's assistants despite his absence. In 1637 he sat on the tribunal that resulted in the banishment of Anne Hutchinson.

Possibly dissatisfied with the religiously intolerant nature of the Massachusetts government, Humphrey became involved in a scheme headed by Lord Say and Sele to colonise Providencia Island in the Caribbean. His attempts to influence Massachusetts residents to migrate there did not sit well with other Massachusetts leaders, who disagreed with his relatively tolerant views on religion. In 1640 Lord Say and Sele offered, and Humphreys accepted, appointment as governor of the Providence Island colony. A ship of colonists he sent there from New England arrived in 1641 to find the island in Spanish hands, and was forced to return.

Providence Island and Bahamas

Unhappy with the state of affairs in Massachusetts, Humphreys and his wife left the colony in late 1641 for England. Humphreys aligned himself with the Independent faction associated with Henry Vane the Younger and others during the English Civil War. In the late 1640s he became involved in an attempt to establish a more religiously tolerant colony in The Bahamas; the colonisation attempt failed due to a shipwreck and political-religious differences. Humphreys died in England in 1651.[7][8]

Fate of children

With his second wife he had six children that remained in New England; he also appears to have had a son by his first wife. The children he left in Massachusetts ended not being well cared for, and three daughters were subjected to physical and sexual abuse.

Legacy

A house supposedly built for him still stands in Swampscott and is known as the John Humphreys House (sic); it is one of the oldest wooden houses in the United States.

Biography

Updated 13 July 2024

retrieved from https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Humphrey-667 and then edited; additional material from Heffernan, James Arthur. "An Update to the Later Life and Children of John Humfrey (1597–1651), Deputy Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony." (Winter 2024)

John Humphrey was the son of Michael Humphrey of Chalding Herring, Dorset, and Dorothy (Bawler) Humphrey. He was born about 1596 or 1597 "(aged 25 in 1621, 26 in 1623)."[1][2][3][4]

Education

He first enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge on Easter in 1613. He was a distinguished academic in 1614 but then left the school before graduation. He was a student at Lincoln's Inn, London in 1615,[5]an institution for the study of law.[6]

Family

John Humfrey had 16 children by 4 wives.

1. He married, first, Isabel Williams, daughter of Brune and Elizabeth (Churchill) Williams.[78]
2. He married, second, Elizabeth Pelham, daughter 0f Herbert and Elizabeth (West) Pelham, 4 September 1621, at Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.[79] She died 1 November 1628 at Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England.[80]
3. He married, third, Susan Clinton, daughter of Thomas Fiennes, Earl of Lincoln, and Elizabeth Knyvett, about 1633.[81] She died about 1644.[82]
4. He married, fourth, Mary (_____), about 1645.[83]

1st Marriage

John Humphrey's first wife was Isabel Williams, daughter of Bruen and Elizabeth (Churchill) Williams.[5]

Possible children of John and Isabel (Williams) Humfrey:

• i. Daughter Humfrey, m. Hewitt Fynes, Esq.[84]
• ii. Susan Humfrey, m. _____ Holbrook; [85] living June 1652 (mentioned in Mary Humfrey’s Chancery bill).[86]

2nd Marriage

John married (2nd) Elizabeth Pelham[3]on 4 September 1621 at St. Thomas, Salisbury, Wiltshire.[1][2][7][8]

Elizabeth Pelham was born at Hellingly, 27 April 1604. She was the daughter of Herbert Pelham and Elizabeth West. Elizabeth West was the daughter of Lady Anne Knollys and Thomas West, Knt. 2nd Lord De La Warre.[1][2][7] Elizabeth Pelham Humphrey died November 1, 1628.[1][2]at Dorchester, Dorsetshire.[9]

Three children were born to John Humphrey and Elizabeth Pelham at Fordington, Dorsetshire:[9]

• iii. John Humfrey[1][2]was baptised Aug 11, 1622 at St. Georges Church, Fordington, Dorset.[10] d. bef. 30 May 1661 (his son’s complaint in Chancery suit); m. by 1647 _____ (_____).[88] He immigrated to New England with his father and joined the Artillery Company in 1641.[11](page 105) He was named administrator of his father's estate on June 4, 1653.
• iv. Elizabeth Humfrey[1][2] She was baptised on 23 Nov 1623 at St. Georges Church, Fordington, Dorset.[10]. Taylor concludes that she "almost certainly" was married to Adam Ottley around 1641. m. (2) poss. St Mary Woolnoth, London 2 Sept. 1648, Dancer Hancock. [90]
• v. Anne Humfrey.[1][2][12]She was baptised on 21 Aug 1625 at St. Georges Church, Fordington, Dorset.[10]She married (1st) William Palmes, Esq. about 1642. She married (2nd) Rev. John Myles in England or Wales. Anne and Rev John Myles immigrated to Swansea with their family by 1662. On January 15, 1680, as the only surviving child of John Humphrey, Ann appointed her son-in-law Griffin Edwards of Boston, merchant, as administrator of the estate of John Humphrey in the colony of Massachusetts Bay. The letter of attorney mentions both of Ann's husbands, William Palmes and John Myles.[9] After immigrating, Rev John Miles was a Baptist Minister in Swansea, and at Boston. Anne and John had one son together, Samuel Myles. Rev. John Myles died at Swansea on 3 Feb 1682. Anne died at Swansea on 17 Dec 1693. [1][2]
• vi. Jonathan Humfrey, bp. Boston, Lincolnshire 3 May 1627.[95] No further record.
• vii. Mary Humfrey, b. say 1628; living May 1660 (when she was permitted to join her husband in Jamaica);[96] m. abt. 1651, Edward Tyson. [97]

3rd Marriage

In about 1632,[5]John Humphrey married (3rd) Susan Clinton "(otherwise Fiennes)", daughter of Thomas Clinton (Fiennes), Earl of Lincoln,[1][2]and sister of Arbella (Fiennes) Johnson, wife of Isaac Johnson, by whom he had several children, including:[9]

• viii. Dorcus Humfrey[1][2][12]was born about 1633 in England (minimum 9 yrs on June 14, 1642). The Rev. Timothy Dalton of Hampton requested to adopt her since she was the only child of John Humfrey still in Lynn.
• ix. Nathaniel Humfrey, b. say 1634; living Nov. 1652 (when he received £80 from Dawbeny Williams).[100]
• x. Sarah Humfey[1][2][12] was born about 1635 in England.
• xi. Theophilus Humfrey.[1][2]He was baptized at Salem Jan 24, 1636/7.[9]named for the 4th Earl[13]
• xii. Thomas Humfrey, baptized in 26 Aug 1638 at Salem.[9][13]
• xiii. Joseph Humfrey.[1][2] He was baptized at Salem on 5 Apr 1640.[13] He made his will on 3 July 1663 while in route for England. He left to Mrs. Elizabeth Pelham all my right & title of my farm at Lyn. This was presented in court on 9 Oct 1672 and proved on 23 Oct 1672. A David Anderson, testified he was in Lisbon 3 yrs prior when Joseph Humphrey was killed and he helped inter his body.[14]
• xiv. Lydia Humfrey was born just before Jan 28, 1640/1; She was baptized on 25 Apr 1641 at Salem.[13]
• xv. Peter Humfrey b. say 1642; living July 1652 (his uncle’s answer in Chancery suit).

4th marriage

John's surviving widow was called Mary.

Children of John and Mary (_____) Humfrey:[104]

• xvi. George Humfrey, b. say 1646; living June 1652 (his appearance as a complainant in Chancery suit).

  ---

Early Interest in New England

In 1624 while living at Fordington, on the fringes of Dorchester, in the 1620s, Humphrey was treasurer of the Dorchester Merchants, also known as the Company of Adventurers or The Dorchester Company. Their objective was to form fishing settlements on the coast of Massachusetts. By 1626 the endeavor at Cape Ann failed due to illness and poor leadership in Cape Ann.[15]

Humphrey and the leading minister, John White, and others formed a new plan in 1627-28. It began as the New England Company, and finally as the Company of Massachusetts Bay. King Charles I confirmed the patent on 4 Mar 1629.[11]By April 1629, 6 ships were ready to sail. John Endecott was put in charge of the endeavor and arrived at Salem on 20 June 1629. They carried 80 women, 26 children, & 200 men along with 140 head of cattle, 40 goats, victuals, arms, tools, and wearing apparel.[16]

That same year both he and John Winthrop, the future governor of Massachusetts, declined their post as attorneys in the court of wards.

On October 20, 1629, Winthrop was elected Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and John Humfrey Deputy (assistant) Governor. Humphrey, still in England, was discharged and Mr. Thomas Dudley was chosen Deputy in his place.[9]

Winthrop led another mission in 1631 which greatly expanded the colony.[15] Humphrey thought it would have been better to settle further south, on "a good river and in a less cold and snowy place." While in England, Humphrey worked for the success of Massachusetts Bay Colony and through letters, kept in close contact with John Winthrop, Jr.[5]

In 1632, along with other members of the Massachusetts Bay Company in England, Humphrey, Sir Richard Saltonstall, and Mr. Cradock came before a committee of the privy council. Serious charges of disloyalty to the crown and the church were levied against the Massachusetts Bay Colony in letters written by Sir Christopher Gardiner and Thomas Morton who supported an assault on the colony's charter by Sir Ferdinando Gorges.[5] Three days of hearings resulted in the charges being dismissed with a favorable order for their encouragement.[15]

Migration to New England

from An Update to the Later Life and Children of John Humfrey (1597–1651), Deputy Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, by James Arthur Heffernan (2024), page 74

In the early 1630s, John Humfrey married, as his third wife, Lady Susan Clinton, the daughter of the third Earl of Lincoln. The marriage established a familial connection between John and leading members of the Puritan colonial movement, including Isaac Johnson, married to Susan’s sister Arbella; and William Fiennes, the Lord Saye and Sele; whose daughter was married to Susan’s brother, Theophilus, the fourth Earl.[13] When the Humfrey family sailed for New England in 1634, John was well positioned to assume a prominent role in the colony’s governance. Throughout the remainder of the decade, he served as an Assistant to the Massachusetts Bay General Court and as a magistrate in Essex County, where he held a large farm at Lynn.[14]

John Humphrey, apparently intended to migrate shortly after Winthrop, however, he did not actually come to the colony until 1634.[9][11][17] He probably sailed in The Planter, with him he brought his 3rd wife, Lady Susan Clinton, daughter of Thomas Clinton, 3rd Earl of Lincoln and his children, Anne, Dorcas, and Sarah. He also brought money, goods, and cattle for the Colony.[13][18]it was recorded "Mr. John Humfreys with his wife, the lady Susan Fines, set sail,"[9] immigrating to New England. They departed from Weymouth on April 27, 1634, and arrived at Boston in July.[17]

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The family settled at Lynn,[1]called "Saugus" at the time of his arrival. Robert Charles Anderson in his "Great Migration Newsletter" says that unlike most other early New England towns that were settled by middle class families, Saugus (Lynn) "consisted of a few wealthy men... with male servants. The town residents suffered greatly when Isaac Johnson died and when John Humphrey delayed his coming. Quoting Anderson, "When he [John Humphrey] finally did come, he immediately filled a position in Saugus like that held by Nowell in Charlestown, and Endicott in Salem, thus elevating the status of the settlement by his very presence."[19]

He became a freeman on May 25, 1636, becoming eligible to be a freeman before church membership since he had been an officer of the Massachusetts Bay Company in England.[9]. He became member of the Salem church in 16 January of 1638,[11]

He was a Magistrate of Essex,[9]assisting the governor in the colony and worked with both John Winthrop and Sir Henry Vane to establish Harvard College.[5]

He was admitted to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1640 and became sergeant major general on June 2, 1641.[11]

Three men were chosen on November 7, 1632 to "set out a proportion of land in Saugus for John Humfry, Esq." He gained additional land (500 acres) on May 6, 1635 and on March 12, 1637 two farms were laid out for him one at the pond & Stone Meadow and the other about Marblehead. Although he had lands in Salem, Anderson in "Great Migration" says he was never a resident of Salem.[9]

By 1638 Humphrey was plagued with financial difficulties. "Hugh Peter, minister at Salem, petitioned the General Court on September 10, 1638 that some money was to be given to Humphrey. Hugh Peter feared Humfrey's losses would diminish the colony's standing in England", so says Moore in her book "Abandoning America...". By the time the minister made his petition to the court, John Humphrey was already "now bound for England with his sonne only [John Jr] with him . . . purposing to return in the Spring, having left his family and estate in Godly mens hands." At some point in time, Humphrey himself petitioned the court for funds and was contentiously given L250.[5]

He returned to New England by April 1639 and repented before the Salem church for his "cariadges of rashnes and hastiness," so reported John Endecott to John Winthrop.

Caribbean Settlement of Providence

There were attempts between 1635 and 1660 to remove NE people to other places. Between 1620 and 1640 immigration was constant and the colony prospered. Immigration fell of during the contest between Charles I and parliament causing prices to fall and NE faced ruin. Leaders attempted to suppress any exodus. Lord Say and Lord Sele encouraged movement to the Providence Island off the Mosquito coast. Cromwell concurred. Winthrop wrote to his lordship that Lord Say labored to divert men coming to us and draw them to the West Indies. John Humphrey was the leader of this movement in NE and he labored to get recruits. By 1639 Endicott and Winthrop were disturbed by this as the material conditions in NE were very bad. Humphrey and others were thwarted in efforts to get a boat, so went to England.[20]

Early in 1641 John Humphrey was encouraged to relocate to the Caribbean island of Providence with the promise he would be the new governor upon arrival. In the Calendar of State Papers, four meetings are mentioned beginning in 25 Feb 1641, appointing Capt. John Humphreys, Governor of Providence. Three further meetings at Warwick House took place through 9 March where in minutes of a Court for Providence. They dated a commission on 1 Mar 1641 for Humphreys to be Governor of the island when he arrives. An article of agreement between the Company of Provience Island and Emanuel Truebody for providing the ships "Sparrow" and "Salutation" to be employed in transporting Mr. Humphrey and others to Provience was signed 28 June 1641. [12]

Endecott, however, did not trust Humphrey because he had become interested in the Caribbean settlement of Providence. Although well aware that a settlement in the West Indies was beneficial to England, the Massachusetts Bay courts and Winthrop himself, believed Humphrey was speaking disparagingly of New England in the process. Humphrey worked to encourage people from New England to move to Providence and through the Providence Island's Company, promised free transportation. The group he gathered however, did not leave the winter of 1640 as had been expected. In 1641 a small group set sail under Captain William Pierce only to find that Providence had been over-run by the Spanish. Turning around, they arrived back in Boston on September 3, 1641.[5]

Abuse of Sara and Dorcas

By October 26, 1641 Humphrey was returning once again to England; once more leaving his family behind. Soon afterward, Winthrop wrote in his journal, one of Humphrey's daughters "ran mad and two other[s] . . . being under ten years of age, were discovered to have been often abused by divers lewd persons, and filthiness in his family." Winthrop continued that Humphrey "much neglected his children, leaving them among . . . rude servants." Daniel Fairfield, Jenkin Davis of Lynn (a schoolmaster), and John Hudson (a servant) were found guilty of abusing Dorcas and Sarah. [21] Dorcas also claimed two of her brothers had molested her. The minister at Lynn on January 13, 1643/4 proposed that the request of Timothy Dalton to adopt Dorcas Humphrey be accepted. It was Dalton's way of paying back a debt to John Humphrey from years previous. By the time of the adoption, Dorcas "the defiled child" was the only one of the children still in New England.[5]

Return to England and Later Career

John Humphrey and his family permanently returned to England in 1641;[1][9]

from An Update to the Later Life and Children of John Humfrey (1597–1651), Deputy Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, by James Arthur Heffernan (2024), page 76

Several of his younger children remained in New England under the care of servants who were later accused of abusing two of Humfrey’s daughters.[23]. It is unclear when the Humfrey children rejoined their father in England. Dorcas Humfrey, born to John’s marriage with Susan Clinton, remained in New England as late as March 1643/4, when Rev. Timothy Dalton offered to adopt her, “she being the only child of John Humfrey still in Lynn.”[24]

In England, Humfrey was buoyed by the increasing power of his former Providence Island backers, many of whom emerged as central figures in Parliament in opposition to King Charles I during the English Civil War.[25]. In this period, Humfrey staked his political ambitions on a successful military career in the parliamentary forces. In 1642, he was appointed sergeant major in command of land troops raised against the Irish Rebellion.[26] By the summer of 1644, he had attained the rank of Major in a Parliamentarian regiment of foot raised in Kent for Waller’s Southern Association Army.[27] He later became the regiment’s Lieutenant-Colonel, and by February 1645/6 he had been promoted to Colonel.[28]

From the mid-1640s until his death in 1651 he maintained a residence in Westminster, London, appearing in tax rate books at Dean’s Yard, St. Margaret’s parish, in the shadow of Westminster Abbey.[29] On 9 January 1648/9, Col. Humfrey was granted the office of Supervisor ofCustoms for the Port of London.[30] Later that month, on 20 January 1648/9, he acted as sword bearer at the trial of Charles I at the High Court of Justice, where the King was found guilty of high treason and subsequently beheaded.[31] His selection for the ceremonial role underscores the high esteem in which he was held by the principal architects of the English Commonwealth. months later, he was made trustee on a committee to appraise the personal effects of the deposed King and his family.[32]

These prestigious appointments indicate that Humfrey had successfully rehabilitated his professional and financial reputation by the end of the 1640s. Perhaps because Humfrey’s career in the earlier part of the decade was defined by his military service and not as an antagonist to the crown entrenched in Parliament, his notoriety has been largely confined to his earlier involvement in colonial enterprises of the 1620s and 1630s. Surprisingly, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography does not include a sketch for John Humfrey despite his well documented connections to colonization efforts and his later military and political participation in key events of the English Civil War.

Will, Death

John died prior to the recording of a Noncupative Will dated 16 Dec 1651[22] [23] Humphrey then of Westminster, Middlesex co. The will was proved 23 March 1651/2

On April 20, 1652, Roger Williams wrote from London to John Winthrop Jr.: "[o]ur old friend Col. Humphries is gone"[24]

Humphrey left his estate to his son John to be used by him for the education and maintenance of John Sr's younger children. John, the son, was appointed administrator, 4 June 1653;[22]it was probated on June 4, 1653.[5]

25 June 1661, administration of the estate of in New England was given to Mr. Joseph Humphries, his son. An inventory was taken 13 Dec 1661, which contained two small pieces of land and some debts.[25]

Death, Estate, and Family

from An Update to the Later Life and Children of John Humfrey (1597–1651), Deputy Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, by James Arthur Heffernan (2024), page 77

Very few sources help clarify John Humfrey’s family composition from the time of his departure from New England in 1641 until his death in 1651. Humfrey married for a fourth time in this period, but no marriage record has been found, and the maiden name of his fourth wife, Mary, remains unknown. Prior to his death, Col. John Humfrey dictated a nuncupative will which devised the entirety of his estate to his eldest son, John Humfrey Jr., conditional to the maintenance and education of John Sr.’s younger children.[33] While prioritized in the will, none of Humfrey’s other children were mentioned by name, or given distinct bequests, underscoring the apparent haste with which the will was created. Conspicuously absent from the will was Mary Humfrey, whom John married about 1645.[34] Her exclusion, and the events surrounding the nuncupative will’s creation, spurred a series of chancery court cases between Mary and the children and associates of Col. John Humfrey who were present at his bedside in the days preceding his death. In several instances, Mary submitted her legal complaints in conjunction with her son, George Humfrey, John’s youngest child, then an “infant” —under the age of 21.[35]

The bills of complaint and corresponding answers of the defendants have not survived in all cases, but those that have provide a new accounting of the months and days leading to John Humfrey’s death. A 1654 bill of complaint from John Humfrey Jr. to Theophilus, Earl of Lincoln, mentions a September 1651 recognizance whereby John Humfrey Jr., as Col. Humfrey’s eldest son, would receive the entirety of his father’s estate in exchange for a financial guarantee that he would direct a portion of the estate to the maintenance and education of his father’s younger children:[36] ...

... The advancement of Col. Humfrey’s estate was likely tied to the positions he accepted in 1649 in the customs office for the Port of London and on the committee tasked with cataloging and selling the goods and personal effects of Charles I and his family.[37] For his service as sword bearer at the trial of Charles I, John Humfrey had also been granted a pension by the Council of State.[38]

Concerning the September 1651 recognizance, the Earl of Lincoln later testified that much of John Humfrey’s estate was purchased using money derived from the dowry given at his third marriage to the Earl’s sister, Lady Susan Clinton. The agreement was intended to ensure that the many children born to Susan (Clinton) Humfrey, who died about 1644, would not be left unprovided for at their father’s death.[39] ...

... In December 1651, John Humfrey Jr., who had been dispatched by Parliament to the County of Cornwall, received a letter urgently requesting his return to London where his father lay sick and near death.[43]. A group of friends and relations had already arrived at John Humfrey’s Westminster bedside, including Capt. Benjamin Mason, whose 1653 chancery answer to a complaint from Mary Humfrey described the handling of John Humfrey’s ready money:[44] ...

... While not mentioned explicitly by Mason, it is possible that “others of the Children of the said John Humfryes” included Susan Holbrook, who was grouped with the other Humfrey children in Mary Humfrey’s initial bill of complaint in 1652 wherein she alleged that Humfrey’s adult children had conspired to exclude her and son George from Col. Humfrey’s estate:[45] ...

... By Anne Chambers’ recollection, on the morning of 16 December 1651, realizing that John Humfrey was unlikely to recover from his illness, William Strong, a cleric, asked him how he would dispose of his estate:[46]

And the Deft Anne Chambers saith that she being with the said John Humfreyes the ffather the day before he dyed, and he being asked by the other Deft Mr. Strong (to the best of her Remembrance) how he would dispose of his Estate he then answered That he had found his sonne John (meaning the other Deft Humfreyes) always a dutifull Child to him, and therefore he would leave all his Estate to him to be disposed for the Good of his Children; which wordes the said John Humfreyes the ffather spoke betweene the howers of seaven or eight of the Clocke in the morning about sixteenth day of December to the best of her remembrance, there being then p[re]sent Mr. Strong Mr. Benjamyn Mason Susan Holbrooke Edward Tyson and some others this Deft doth not now remember, nor can expresse more certeyntie concerning the same.

John Humfrey died the following day, 17 December 1651, and was buried at St. Margaret’s Church at Westminster.[47]

On 19 December 1651, the House of Commons passed a resolution allowing John Humfrey Jr. to “have, receive and enjoy all such Salaries, Pensions, Profits and Advantages,” formerly belonging to his father.[48] However, administration on John Humfrey’s estate was not granted until 4 June 1653, pending a resolution to the protracted legal complaints of his widow and youngest child.[49]

In John Humfrey Jr.’s answer to Mary Humfrey’s 1652 bill of complaint, he directly addressed her exclusion from John Humfrey’s estate:[50]

Nor doth this Deft beleeve that his father did intend any [estate] to her she having not to this Defts Knowledge either by any fortune or portion she brought to this Defts father on her Carriage towards him . . . but on the contrary she was not only a great preiudice to him in his estate but proved a very great disturbance to him. And did as this Deft beleeves voluntaryly separate herselfe from the said Testator her husband for divers yeares together before his death and was not then reconsiled unto him.

In a separate chancery answer, Benjamin Mason testified that he did not know that the couple were married or that John Humfrey had any children by her.[51] In answer to Mary’s complaints on behalf of her son, John Humfrey Jr. expressed his intention “to the utmost of his power take care that said Complainant George shall have an equall proportion with the rest of the said Children out of the estate . . . such as shall be recovered.”[52]

As John Humfrey Jr. began the administration, it was evident that his father’s estate was insolvent, with debts greater than the assessed value of his personal and real estate by £125.[53] An account of Humfrey’s debts and credits, attached by John Jr. as evidence to a chancery answer, detail John’s precarious financial situation at the time of his death.[54] In addition to small debts, like those owed two vintners and a lutemaker, he owed larger sums to various individuals, including £100 to Dawbeny Williams, who managed in trust John’s property in Dorset, and £30 to Matthew Craddock’s widow, Rebecca Whitchcot. William Humfrey, perhaps a relative, was owed £2. John Humfrey’s estate did not include any direct income from manors, farm rents or hereditaments owned solely in his name.[55]

John Humfrey’s pension as sword bearer at the High Court of Justice was in arrears by two hundred eighty pounds at the time of his death, the payment of which was delayed until 1657.[56] John Humfrey Jr. ultimately assigned the pension to Mary Humfrey “on account of her poverty and charge of children,” as reported on a petition for relief to the Council of State, submitted by the Lord Deputy and Council of Ireland. Mary was granted 40s a week until the pension, which had grown to £700, could be repaid.[57] It is unlikely that the pension was fully paid prior to the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. There is no further record of Mary Humfrey or her son George Humfrey, and it is unclear if her “charge of children” included any children born to a previous marriage.

Like his father, John Humfrey Jr. also attained the rank of Colonel in the Commonwealth forces, where he commanded a regiment of foot during the Anglo-Spanish War.[58] He participated in the American Expedition to control and settle Jamaica in the late 1650s.[59] In an undated request, among others from the early 1660s, Thomas Nichols petitioned the King for a plantation at Liguanea, Jamaica, owned by Col. John Humfrey “deceased about a year ago, as great an enemy to his Majesty as he ever heard of, which is free from any one’s just claim.”[60]

No record has been found for John Humfrey Jr.’s marriage, but a 1661 chancery case reveals that he had a son, Pelham Humfrey, born about 1647.[61] In the case, levied by Pelham Humfrey, “an Infant of the age of ffourteene yeares or thereabouts,” against Dawbeny Williams, it is noted that “Col. John Humfryes dyed and left all his Estate to his Eldest sonn John Humfry the now Complaynant’s father . . . ”[62] This chancery complaint corrects the seventeenth century antiquarian, Anthony à Wood, who claimed that Pelham Humfrey was “the nephew of Colonel John Humfrey, a prominent Cromwellian.”[63] Wood’s claim is also repeated in Pelham Humfrey’s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. [64] Pelham, his name derived from the family of his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Pelham, was a chorister in the restored Chapel Royal of Charles II and became a well-known baroque composer.[65] He died 14 July 1674 and was buried in the cloisters at Westminster Abbey.[66] His will, written three months before his death, includes a small bequest to his “cousin Betty Jelfe.”[67] It is unclear if Betty Jelfe was a relative through the Humfrey family or Pelham’s yet unknown maternal family line.

Edward Tyson served in the Parliamentary forces in Jamaica, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the regiment of foot formerly commanded by his brother-in-law, John Humfrey Jr.[68] In May 1660, the Council of State granted permission for Mary Tyson to join her husband in Jamaica accompanied by two maid servants and a man servant.[69] Before or soon after her arrival, Edward led an unsuccessful mutiny of his troops and was summarily executed by firing squad on 3 August 1660.[70] Litigation over John Humfrey’s estate continued as late as 1656, when Dawbeny Williams entered a complaint against John Humfrey Jr., Edward Tyson and Mary Tyson, regarding payment due on properties held in trust in Dorset. Mary’s chancery answer includes an account of the dowry promised by her father at her marriage:[71]

Mary Tyson’s account suggests that she married Edward Tyson shortly before her father’s death in 1651.[72] If she had only recently reached adulthood, then it is reasonable to suggest that she was born to John Humfrey’s second marriage, perhaps in the eighteen-month gap between the baptism of Jonathan Humfrey in May 1627 and the death of Elizabeth (Pelham) Humfrey in November 1628.[73] Alternatively, given the nearly five-year gap between Elizabeth’s 1628 death and John’s likely 1633 marriage to Susan Clinton, perhaps she was born to another, yet-unknown spouse of John Humfrey. Anne Chambers is very likely the same Anne Humfrey, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Pelham) Humfrey, who was baptized at Fordington, Dorset, 17 December 1625, who later married William Palmes and John Myles, and applied for administration on her father’s New England estate in 1681 as “the only surviving reputed child of John Humphryes.”[74] In Mary Humfrey’s 1652 bill of complaint, the author struck through the start of the name “William” Chambers and replaced it with “Anne,” a potential clue to the identity of her spouse.[75]

While chancery suits hint at additional children of Col. John Humfrey present at his death in 1651, several remain frustratingly enigmatic. It is unclear which Humfrey daughter married Hewitt Fynes or what Fynes’s connection

might have been to the family of the Earl of Lincoln (who adopted the dual surname Clinton de Fiennes) or the Fiennes family of the Lord Saye and Sele.

Susan Holbrook, who the widow Mary Humfrey grouped with John Humfrey Jr., Edward Tyson and Anne Chambers in her 1652 complaint, is never explicitly named as one of John’s children, and her potentially clarificatory answers to Mary Humfrey’s complaint have not been found. If she was a Humfrey daughter, she may have been born to John Humfrey’s first marriage to Isabel Williams. If we assume that Mary (Humfrey) Tyson was the final child born to John Humfrey’s second marriage (to Elizabeth Pelham), then the known baptismal dates for their other children leave very little space for them to have had another child. For this reason, the wife of Hewitt Fynes may also be assigned to John’s first marriage.

In a 1938 article on the children of Thomas, Earl of Lincoln, who were involved in the settlement of New England, Meredith B. Colket Jr. noted that “John Humphrey has been stated to have had seventeen children.”[76] While

Colket’s statement is unsourced, the evidence found in chancery proceedings now brings the number of possible Humfrey children to sixteen. The fates of most of the Humfrey children remain unknown. If Anne (Humfrey) (Chambers) (Palmes) Myles was indeed the only surviving child of Col. John Humfrey by 1681, then the Humfrey children overwhelmingly died after their father but before reaching late adulthood. Future research should seek to solidify the placement of Humfrey’s adult daughters within his earliest marriages to Isabel Williams and Elizabeth Pelham as well as locate proof that the children born to Susan Clinton and John’s fourth wife, Mary, were deceased by 1681.

Research Notes

After returning to England, John is supposed to have married a 4th time to a "Mary". When John Humphrey's estate was being administered, his son, John was involved in a lawsuit with his stepmother.[26][9] Douglas Richardson, in "Magna Carta Ancestry," says she was his 4th wife and that she was alive at the time of his will, which was dated 16 December 1651 at Westminster, Middlesex and proved 23 March 1651/2. Mary was living on March 23, 1651/2.[1] in an online discussion, Richardson goes further and claims Mary was mentioned in the will. [27] Examination of an image of the original will includes no mention of any wife.

Neither Robert Charles Anderson in "Great Migration" nor Susan Hardman Moore in "Abandoning America..." include the 4th marriage to Mary ____.[5]

Older Notes

John Humphrey was born about 1596 at Chaldron, Dorset, England.  He died either before 23 Mar 1651 in prob. England: alternately 1661 in England. Lived in London, but also had a house in Sandwich, Kent Co., England. His parents are not known: perhaps John Humfrey.

He was married four times and his second wife was Elizabeth Pelham, mother of Anne.  The name of his first wife is unknown to us.  His third wife was Susan Clinton.  His fourth wife was named Mary [surname unknown]. He arrived in Salem, MA in 1634. He returned to England for good on 26 Oct 1641, in the same boat with the Rev. John Phillips. John Humfrey went back to England after a falling out with Governor Winthrop. He was offered the Governorship of a new colony to be established in the West Indies, called Providence. He, left his children behind in New England at the time of this trip. He never returned to New England, becoming caught up in the Civil War. He carried the sword at the time of the trial of King Charles.

After he left for England, a scandalous trial occurred in New England involving his children, when it came to light that two of his daughters, age about 10 and 12 had had inappropriate contact with several of their father's servants and other men in the community, as well as with at least two of their brothers. As part of the settlement of this affair, the judge awarded custody and the raising of those children involved to various responsible members of the community. Thomas was probably one of the brothers involved, since they were described as being prepubescent. Certainly the older of the two daughters involved was still living with the family of the Rev. William Walton in Lynn, MA, some years after this, since another minister wrote saying that he would be willing to take her into his household if Rev. Walton moved to Long Island. The argument seemed to be that it wouldn't be responsible to take her off into the unsettled territory into which Rev. Walton planned to move.

Not much is known of John Humphrey’s life after his return to England, as there is no further mention of him in connection with public affairs.  The letters and other personal documents that survive reveal a man burdened with anxiety for his family and encumbered with debts.   Various sources suggest that he died in England in either 1651 or 1661. 

Notes

From Hylbom Family Ancestry Project

Frederick Humphreys discusses my ancestor, John Humphrey, but did not trace his descendants, due to the fact that he settled only briefly in Massachusetts, from about 1635-1641, before returning to England, apparently leaving a couple of daughters behind in the care of others, but he left no sons of the Humphrey name in America.
Beginning with a document dated 31 Dec 1600, the name of John Humphrey (probably the father of the man born in 1596) is mentioned in records relating to the East India Company[1].  Queen Elizabeth’s patent for the East Indies (i.e. the Charter of Incorporation of the East India Company) fills a number of pages and commences thus:

A privilege for fifteen years granted by Her Majesty to certain adventurers for the discovery of the trade for the East Indies; that is to say to Geo. Earl of Cumberland, and two hundred and fifteen knights, aldermen and merchants.  [In the list of names that follows is John. Humphrey].

We do not know why John Humphrey did not sail with the charter, but apparently he was unavoidably detained.  He did not reach New England until about 1634-5, along with his wife, Lady Susan Clinton (daughter to Thomas, Earl of Lincoln) and his children: Ann, Dorcas, Sarah and possibly John.  After his arrival, the family settled at Saugus (now Lynn), about 12 miles from Boston.  Upon an invitation from Lord Say, he intended in the year 1640 to have removed to the Bahama islands; but the island of Providence being taken by the Spaniards, he gave over that design.  Soon after, having met with great losses by fire and his estate being much impaired, he sold his plantation to Lady Moody[11] and returned to England.

Source: The Visitation of the County of Dorset: Taken in the Year 1623, By Sir Henry Saint-George, Henry St. George, Samson Lennard. Page 57. < GoogleBooks >

---

Sir John Humphreys House, historic home at 99 Paradise Road, Swampscott, Massachusetts, est. 1637. Oldest house in Swampscott and owned by the Swampscott Historical Society. It was however moved to its present location in 1891.

Source: < Wikimedia Commons >

---

References

1. Heffernan, James Arthur. "An Update to the Later Life and Children of John Humfrey (1597–1651), Deputy Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony." The NEHG Register, Vol. 178, No. 1. Winter 2024, pgs 73-86. < AmericanAncestors >; (extract attached).
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Humphrey_%28Massachusetts_coloni... cites
   1. Morison, p. 383
   2. Staloff, p. 4
   3. Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry. (2005) pages 883-884
   4. Chester, Joseph Lemuel. Herbert Pelham, His Ancestors and descendants. 1879. Page 4
   5. Avery, p. 12
   6. Breen, p. 104
   7. Catalogue description Will of John Humfrey, Colonel of City of Westminster, Middlesex. 4 June 1653. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D820204
   8. Peacey, J. (2 October 2001). The Regicides and the Execution of Charles 1. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4039-3281-5.
   9. Breen, Louise A (2001). Transgressing the Bounds: Subversive Enterprises Among the Puritan Elite in Massachusetts, 1630–1692. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513800-9. OCLC 213296589.
   10. Whitman, History of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, Volume 1.
   11. Avery, John Humfrey, Massachusetts magistrate < [https://archive.org/details/johnhumfreymassa00aver/page/n22/mode/1up Archive.Org} >
   12. Malden Historical Society, Register of the Society, Issues 5–6
   13. Morison, Samuel Eliot (1995) [1935]. The Founding of Harvard College. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674314511. OCLC 185403584.
   14. Staloff, Darren (1998). The Making of an American Thinking Class. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195149821. OCLC 469081745.
3. [11] Lady Moody’s activities in New England and New York are discussed under the heading of our maternal 9th great grandfather, William Thorne (1617-1657).
4. [12] Alonzo Lewis (“The Lynn Bard”). The History of Lynn, including Nahant (Boston, Massachusetts: Samuel N. Dickinson, 1844) p. 116.
5. [13] James Savage. Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, showing three generations of those who came before May 1692 on the basis of Farmer’s Register (published with two supplements in 4 volumes, 1860-1862).
6. THE GROTON AVERY CLAN, Vol. I, by Elroy McKendree Avery and Catherine Hitchcock (Tilden) Avery, Cleveland, 1912. p. 114
7. The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215: The Barons Named in the Magna Charta, 1215, and Some of Their Descendants who Settled in America During the Early Colonial Years (Google eBook) Frederick Lewis Weis, Walter Lee Sheppard, William Ryland Beall Genealogical Publishing Com, 1999 - Reference - 214 pages.  Page 91. Died 1661.
8. The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215: The Barons Named in the Magna Charta, 1215, and Some of Their Descendants who Settled in America During the Early Colonial Years (Google eBook) Frederick Lewis Weis, Walter Lee Sheppard, William Ryland Beall Genealogical Publishing Com, 1999 - Reference - 214 pages.  Page 99.  "17. Elizabeth Pelham, b Hellingly, 27 Apr 1604, d 1 Nov 1628; m Salisbury, 4 Sept 1621, Col. John Humphrey, gent., of Chaldon (ae 25 years in 1621), who m (3), 1630/4, Susan Fiennes (57-18), q.v. (NEHGR, 33:288)
9. http://web.archive.org/web/20041112185437/http:/home.earthlink.net/...
10. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Humphrey-667 cites
11. Richardson, Douglas: Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd edn. (2011), 4 vols. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
12. Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, in 5 vols. (Salt Lake City, Utah, 2013), Vol. V. page 358.See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
13. Visitation of the County of Dorset Taken in the Year 1623. Publication of the Harleian Society, Vol. 20 (London 1885),Pedigree Charts, p 57 & 75. Page 57, Humphrie: < GoogleBooks >; page 75, Pelham < GoogleBooks >
14. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Boston: NEHGS, Vol. 65 (1911),Page 86.John Humphrey notes on 86.
15. Moore, Susan Hardman. Abandoning America, Life-Stories From Early New England. Boydell Press, New York (2013). p. 150-153.
16. Lincoln's Inn (Wikipedia)
17. Chester, Joseph Lemuel. Herbert Pelham, His Ancestors and Descendants. 1879. Boston, Massachusetts. Pages 3-4.Elizabeth Pelham pedigree
18. Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre; Chippenham, Wiltshire, England; Reference Number: 1900/5 by subscription at: < AncestryImage >
19. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume III, G-H; Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003. . p. 462-468.sketch of John Humphrey, < AmericanAncestors >
20. St. Georges Church, Fordington, Dorset.[1]
21. Roberts, Oliver Ayer. History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts now called The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. Vol. 1. 1637-1738. page 104-105.[2]
22. Humphrey, Frederick. Humphreys Family in America. 1883. Humphrey's Print. New York.Pages 66-91
23. Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England. Vol. II. 1860. Little, Brown & Co. Boston, Ma. Pages-495-496.[3]
24. Essex Institute. The Probate Records of Essex County Massachusetts, Vol. II. 1665-1674. Salem, Mass. 1917. Palge 301-302.Will of Joseph Humphrey.
25. Winthrop's Journal Vol. 1. Page 100
26. Perley, Sidney. The History of Salem, Massachusetts. Vol. I. 1626-1637. Pages 102-108.[4]
27. Winthrop's Journal, "History of New England", 1630-1639.Hosmer, James Kendall, ed. Vol. 1. pub. 1908, Charles Scribner's Sons, N.Y. pages 79-335.
28. Robert Charles Anderson. The Great Migration Directory, Immigrants to New England 1620-1640, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA. (2015) p. 174.
29. Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20.(Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.) Vol 1, p. 19.subscriber$
30. Frank Strong, "A Forgotten Danger to the New England Colonies," in Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1898. Government Printing Office: 1899; .[5]
31. Records of The Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay of New England Vol. II 1642-1649. 1853. Press of William White, Boston, Mass., Pages 12-13
32. Anderson: citing Prerogative Court of Canterbury 297 Brent
33. PROB 11/230/213 Description: Will of John Humfrey, Colonel of City of Westminster, Middlesex Date: 04 June 1653 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D820204
34. Winthrop Papers, Series 4, Vol 6, p 286
35. Probate Records of Essex County Massachusetts. Vol. I. 1635-1664. 1916. Published by the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. Pages 345-347.[6]
36. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Vol. XIV. Transactions 1911-1913. Published by the Society. 1913. Boston, Mass. Page 120-21.John's 4th wife Mary
37. Richardson, Douglas. Response soc.genealogy.medieval Google Group discussion "The will is dated 16 Dec. 1651 and proved 23 March 1651/2 [Reference: PCC, Year: 1653, folio 297].... A full transcript of the will can be found in one of the volumes of the Mary and John Clearinghouse published by Burton Spear."
38. See also: Massachusetts Bay Colony at Wikipedia[7]
39. John Humphrey, Esq. at Wikipedia[8]
40. Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Vol VI. Fourth Series. 1863. Printed for the Society, Boston, Ma. Pages 1-19.Letters written by john Humphrey
41. Avery, Elroy M. John Humfrey, Massachusetts Magistrate: did he marry a daughter of the Earl of Lincoln? Cleveland, 1912.link
42. Nathaniel Lane Taylor, "The Mackworths of Shropshire: Royal Ancestry and Colonial Descendants," The Genealogist, Vol. 35, No. 1, 100–126; No. 2, 157–191