Susan Humphrey

From Royal Ancestry of Susan Clinton, Lady Fynes:

Susan Clinton, Lady Fynes was born in Warwickshire, England (circa 1602). Her father was Thomas Clinton, 3rd Earl of Lincoln (1571 – 15 January 1619).

Susan’s mother was Elizabeth Knyvett (1575 – 11 May 1638), the daughter of Sir Henry Knyvett of Charlton and Elizabeth Stumpe. Both of Susan’s parents were direct, legitimate descendants of King Edward III of the House of Plantagenet.  
Susan married John Humphreys, General between 1630 and 1634 in Kent. John Humphrey was born in 1597, possibly in Dorsetshire, England. He lived in London, but had a house in Sandwich, Kent. He came to Salem, Massachusetts in 1634. After falling out with Governor Winthrop, he was offered the governorship of a new colony to be established called  Providence. He permanently returned to England on 26 October 1641, in the same boat as Reverend John Phillips. He became embroiled in the English Civil War, and carried the sword at the time of the trial of King Charles I of Great Britain. After John left America, several of his children were involved in a scandalous trial. It was alleged that two of his daughters had had inappropriate contact with several of their father’s servants and other men, as well as at least two of their brothers.

John Humphrey died before 23 March 1651, probably in England. [1]

They had around nine children, according to the sources on the net that I’ve found:

• 1. Ann (c. 1630, England – 17 December 1693, Swansea, Plymouth, MA),
• 2. Nathaniel,
• 3. Dorcas (b.c. 1632, England),
• 4. Sarah (b. c. 1633, England),
• 5. Theophilus (c. 1637, Salem, MA -1657 Westminster, England),
• 6. Thomas {my ancestor}, 
• 7. Joseph (c. 1640 -1669, Lisbon),
• 8. Lydia (c. 1641 Salem, MA),
• 9. Peter (living in 1652).[3][4]

From Hylbom Family Ancestry Project:

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.

Lewis[12] explains thus:

“He was one of the most influential in promoting the settlement of the colony, and the people of Massachusetts will ever regard him as one of their earliest and most efficient benefactors.  In discharging the duties of an Assistant in the general government, he devoted his time and energies for seven years to the service of the state, and seems not to have been surpassed in devotedness to her welfare.  But with all his honors and possessions, a shade of dissatisfaction had spread itself over his prospects, which his numerous misfortunes contributed to darken. The disappointment of the Bahamas must have been severely felt by a mind so ambitious of honor as his appears to have been; and it is not improbable that he experienced secret chagrin at seeing the young and uninformed Henry Vane promoted to the office of governor, above one whose years, knowledge and services entitled him to precedence.  It is probable likewise that his affection for his wife, whose hopes were in the land of her nativity, had some influence in determining his conduct.  Living so far removed from the elegant circles in which she had delighted, and having lost the sister who might have been the companion of her solitude, the Lady Susan was weary of the privations of the wilderness, the howling of the wild beasts, and the uncouth manners of the savages, and had become lonely, disconsolate and homesick. She, who had been the delight of her father’s house, and had glittered in all the pride of youth and beauty in the court of the first monarch of Europe, was now solitary and sad, separated by a wide ocean from her father’s house.  The future greatness of America, which was then uncertain and ideal, presented no inducement to her mind to counterbalance the losses which were first to be endured; and the cold and barren wilderness of Swampscot, populated by its few lonely cottages, round which the Indians were roaming by day, and the wolves making their nightly excursions, had nothing lovely to offer to soothe her sorrows or elevate her hopes.  What the misfortunes and disappointments of Mr. Humfrey had begun, her importunities completed.  He sold the principal part of his farm to Lady Moody, and returned to England with his wife on the 26th October [1641].”

• 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 76
• http://web.archive.org/web/20041112185437/http:/home.earthlink.net/...
• http://hylbom.com/family/paternal-lines/paternal-hi-to-hy/humphrey-...