Origins of the Colonists of the Winthrop Fleet and pre 1632 Massachusetts Bay Colony Settlers

A study of the origins of the Colonists of the Winthrop Fleet and pre 1632 Massachusetts Bay Colony Settlers. Research on completing passenger lists, name variants, marriages between families, ancestry in England. The Winthrop Society is actively looking for additional passengers, as its lists were never complete, and only partial passenger lists exist. The Winthrop Fleet was a group of eleven sailing ships under the leadership of John Winthrop that carried approximately 700 Puritans plus livestock and provisions from England to New England over the summer of 1630.

The Puritan population in England had been growing for many years leading up to this time. They disagreed with the practices of the Church of England, whose rituals they viewed as superstitions. An associated political movement attempted over many years to modify religious practice in England to conform to their views. King James wished to suppress this growing rebellious movement. Nevertheless, the Puritans eventually gained a majority in Parliament. James' son King Charles came into the greatest possible conflict with the Parliament, and viewed them as a threat to his authority, temporarily dissolving parliament in 1626, and again the next year, and finally dissolving parliament permanently in March 1629.[1] The King's imposition of Personal Rule gave many Puritans a sense of hopelessness regarding their future in that country, and many prepared to leave it permanently for life in New England.

Motivated by these political events, a wealthy group of leaders obtained a Royal Charter in March 1629 for a colony at Massachusetts Bay.[2]

A fleet of five ships had departed a month previously for New England that included approximately 300 colonists, led by Francis Higginson.[3] However, the colony leaders and the bulk of the colonists remained in England for the time being, to plan more thoroughly for the success of the new colony. Later that year, the group who remained in England elected John Winthrop to be Governor of the Fleet and the Colony. Over the ensuing winter, the leaders recruited a large group of Puritan families, representing all manner of skilled labor, to ensure a robust colony.

The initial group (Arbella and her three escorts)[4] departed Yarmouth, Isle of Wight on April 8,[5] the remainder following in two or three weeks. Seven hundred men, women, and children were distributed among the ships of the fleet.[6] The voyage itself was rather uneventful, the direction and speed of the wind being the main topic in Winthrop's Journal, as it affected how much progress was made each day. There were a few days of severe weather, and every day was cold. The children were cold and bored, and there is a description of a game played with a rope that helped with both problems. Many were sick during the voyage. The Winthrop Fleet was a well planned and financed expedition that formed the nucleus of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. However they were not the first settlers of the area. There was an existing settlement at Salem, started in about 1626, populated by a few hundred Puritans, most of whom had arrived in 1629, and who were governed by John Endicott. Winthrop superseded Endicott as Governor of the Colony upon his arrival in 1630.[7]

The flow of Puritans to New England continued for another ten years, during a period known as the Great Migration.

Winthrop's Journal lists the eleven ships that were in his fleet:

Arbella: The flagship, designated 'Admiral' in the consortship; named for Lady Arbella, wife of Isaac Johnson (see below). Talbot: Designated 'Vice Admiral'. Henry Winthrop, John Winthrop's son, sailed on this ship.[8] Ambrose: Designated 'Rear Admiral'; Jewel: Designated a 'Captain'; Mayflower: A different ship than that of the Pilgrims; Whale; Success; Charles; William and Francis; Hopewell; Trial.

Six other ships arrived at Massachusetts Bay in 1630, for a total of seventeen ships that year.

Passengers

Nine leading men both applied for the charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony and came to New England in Winthrop's Fleet.[10]

1. Mr. John Winthrop, Governor, and three of his sons, including two minors and one adult son, Henry Winthrop
2. Sir Richard Saltonstall, three sons and two daughters.
3. Mr. Isaac Johnson Esq. and the Lady Arabella his wife and daughter of Thomas Clinton, 3rd Earl of Lincoln
4. Mr. Charles Fiennes the said Earl's son
5. Mr. Thomas Dudley, his wife, two sons, and four daughters
6. Mr. William Coddington, the first Governor of Rhode Island, and his wife
7. Mr. William Pynchon, and his wife and three daughters
8. Mr. William Vassall, for whom Vassalboro, Maine was named, and his wife
9. Mr. John Revell, merchant, who loaned the Plymouth Colony money, and who was chosen assistant to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
10. Mr. Jon Waterbury

Other passengers of historical significance include:

1. Allan Perley;
2. Robert Seeley;
3. Edward Convers;
4. Simon Bradstreet and his wife Anne Bradstreet;
5. Thomas Mayhew;
6. Captain John Underhill;
7. William Phelps, wife Ann Dover and four sons;
8. Robert Abell;
9. Jehu Burr, Great Great Grandfather of Aaron Burr;
10. William Phelps, a founder of both Dorchester, Massachusetts and Windsor, Connecticut and foreman of the first grand jury in New England;
11. John Wilson, first minister of the Boston church;
12. Captain Edward Johnson (1598-1672) was a leading figure in colonial Massachusetts, and is one of the founders of Woburn, Massachusetts.

Winthrop Fleet on Wikipedia

An incomplete list of passengers is maintained by The Winthrop Society,[11] a hereditary organization of descendants of the Winthrop Fleet and later Great Migration ships that arrived before 1634. OP = Old Planter.

Check the Part 1 list, and please add your ancestor profile if you find it there, especially information about where your family originated (which isn't necessarily the port they left from). If your ancestor is not listed under Part 1, please put their name under part 2 and add their profile with as much information on the profile as possible, especially their origins. Please add on their profile a note if they married into another settler family. Alternately: Please hyperlink to a Geni profile... (Will show in blue)

1.Part 1 - Establishing known passengers from the Winthrop Society &; name variants.

Abbott

Abell

Agar

Alcock Origin: Cambridge Deacon George,

Aleworth

Allen, William. OP.

Andrew (s), Thomas and Joseph. Devonshire. Thomas Andrews, and Joseph Andrews, drew house lots in Hingham, Mass. September 18, 1635. It is said that Thomas, the father came over with his only son, from Devonshire Eng. and settled at Hingham, where the son, Joseph, was the first town clerk.

Joseph Andrews, was made free at Boston, March 3, 1636, made constable at Barre Cove, - now Hingham, July 8, 1686.

The same year he was deputy of the General Court at Boston and one of a committee to inquire after the valuation of the sev- eral towns, and was a member of the General Court of that year, which sat until May 17, and was appointed one of a committee to look after the boundary between Massachusetts and Plymouth Colonies, and report at both courts, which was done at an ad- journed session, August 1, 1637.

Goodman Andrews, was appointed 13th, March 1638, to run the line between Hingham and Weymouth. He was the father of Joseph above, and lived in Hingham to a great age. Thomas Andrews was a deputy to the general court from Hingham in 1678. Samuel Andrews, in the Boston custom house, in 1671; is a descendant of Thomas, and Joseph his son, of Hingham, in 1635. The writer has a letter from him, dated January 6, 1887; in which he says; "My ancestors came from Devonshire, Eng., and settled in Hingham, Mass., in 1635, where Joseph Andrews, was the first town clerk. I belong to the ninth generation, in this country, and am an old boy, hav- ing been born the nineteenth of April, 1809." http://archive.org/stream/historyofandrews00andr/historyofandrews00...

Archer

Aspinwall Origin: Manchester, Lancashire Chesire. William, Elizabeth

Audley Origin: Chesire John, William

Auger

Baker

Balch, John. Origin: Somersetshire. OP. According to a book "Passages of the Planters", there is a record of a Captain William Traske as a passenger upon the ship "The Sea Lion" which departed Delft, Holland during June of 1624 to New England. According to the historians Will and Ariel Durant, in "The Age of Exploration", Captain Traske and Woodbury, Connaut, Balch, and Palfrey (The Old Planters) were confronted by Miles Standish and company while they were operating a fishing station, at Cape Ann, Massachusetts, during the year 1624.

Balston

Barsham

Bartlett

Bateman

Bascomb

Baxter

Beamsley

Beard

Beecher

Belcher

Bendall

Bennet < possible lead: https://www.geni.com/people/William-Bennett/4433712334980056023'' (related by marriage to CONANT (OP))

Benham

Benjamin

Biggs

Bishop Alice and Richard. Origin: Dorset.

Bishop John.

Bishop, Edward Sr.*

Black

Boggust

Boswell

Bosworth

Bourne

Bowman

Brackenbury

Bradley, William

Bradstreet

              Simon, Anne (Dudley)Origin:  Lincolnshire

Brand

Branker

Bratcher

Brenton

Brewer

Bright

Brown

Browne

Brude

Buckland

Bugby

Bulgar

Burnell/Bunnell

Burr

Burroughs

Cable

Cakebread

Capen

Carrington

Chadwick

Chambers

Chase

Chauner

Cheesebrough

Child

Clinton

          Lady Arabella ; her sister m. Baron George Booth of ''' Dunham Massey,     Chesire'''

Church

Churchman

Clark

      George

Clarke

Clapp

Clayton

Clement

Clough/Cluff

Coddington

               Wiliam

Colgan

Colbron

Colby

Cole James and Mary.

Coggeshall

Collicot

Conant or Connaut, Roger, Caleb, Sarah. Origin: Devonshire.OP. According to a book "Passages of the Planters", there is a record of a Captain William Traske as a passenger upon the ship "The Sea Lion" which departed Delft, Holland during June of 1624 to New England. According to the historians Will and Ariel Durant, in "The Age of Exploration", Captain Traske and Woodbury, Connaut, Balch, and Palfrey (The Old Planters) were confronted by Miles Standish and company while they were operating a fishing station, at Cape Ann, Massachusetts, during the year 1624. wikipedia Surnames close in tree: CLARKE; DUDLEY

Converse

Cooke

Cowlishaw

Crabb

Craddock

Crafts

Cranwell

Cribb

Crugott

Curtis

Cushman

Dady

Davenport Origin: Chesire. William, John Origin: Manchester

    Thomas: origin: Chesire

Deekes/Dix

Denslow

Devereux

Dike

Dillingham

Dixon

Dixy

Dodge

Doggett

Downing

Drake

Dudley

         Thomas Origin: Lincolnshire

Duncan

Dutton

Dyer

Eales

Eaton, Theophilus Origin: Chester, Chesire.

Edes

Edmonds

Edmunds

Eggleston

Elford

Ellis

Elmore

Elston

Elwell

Endecott/Endicott

Ewstead

Eyens/Ijons/Irons

Farr

Fayerweather

Feakes/Fooks

Fiennes

          Charles, Earl Clinton's son. Clinton's family owned lands Chesire.

Finch

Firman

Fitzrandolph

Ford

French

Fox

Foxwell

Freeman

French

Frothingham

Gage

Gardner Thomas. OP.

Garrett

Gallup

Gaylord

Gibbs

Gibson

Gilbert

Gillette

Glover

Goodwin

Grant

Graves/Greaves

Gray, Thomas. OP.

Goldthwaite

Gosnall

Gosse/Goffe

Gott

Goulworth

Gridley

Greenaway

Gyver

Haddon

Hale

Hall

Hammond

Hannum

Harding

Harris

Harwood

Hanscombe

Haughton

Hathorne

Haward

Hawke

Hawkins

Hawthorne

Hayden

Heath

Herrick

Hesselden

Higginson

Hoames

Holgrave

Holcomb

Holland

Holley

Holman

Hough/Hoffe

Hopwood

Horne

Hoskins

Hosier

Hooker, Thomas Rev.

Howlett

Hudson

Hulbirt/Hubbert

Hull

Hutchins

Hutchinson

Huson

Ingersoll

James

Jarvis

Jeffrey, William. OP.

Johnson,

            Isaac, m. Lady Arabella Clinton. 

Jones, William Lt. Gov.

Kidby

Kingsbury

Knapp, Knap

Knight, Walter. OP.

Knower

Lamb

Lambert/Lombard

Laskin

Lawson

Leach

Learned

           Isaac

Leatherland

Leavit

Legge,Legh, Leigh

Lewis

Lockwood

Louge

Lovell

Ludlow

Lyford, John. OP.

Lynton

Lynn

Malbon

Manning came to Ipswich (several individuals)

Martin Alice

Marshfield

Massie

Mason

Masters

Matson

Maurie/Morrey

Maverick

Mayhew

Miller

Millett

Mills

Moulton

Morey

Morrill

Morley

Morris

Morton

Moulton

Mousall

Munt

Nash

Needham

Newton

Noddle

Norman, Richard & son. OP.

Norton, John Origin: Herefordshire

Nowell

Oldham

Oliver

Olmstead

Patch

Paige

Painter

Palfrey, Peter, Elizabeth( Somerset)Alice, Edith. Origin: Northhamptonshire. OP. According to a book "Passages of the Planters", there is a record of a Captain William Traske as a passenger upon the ship "The Sea Lion" which departed Delft, Holland during June of 1624 to New England. According to the historians Will and Ariel Durant, in "The Age of Exploration", Captain Traske and Woodbury, Connaut, Balch, and Palfrey (The Old Planters) were confronted by Miles Standish and company while they were operating a fishing station, at Cape Ann, Massachusetts, during the year 1624.

Palmer

Palsgrave

Parke

Parker

Pattrick

Peach

Pelham

Pemberton

Penn

Penniman

Perry

Perley, Allen

Phelps

Phillips

Pickering

Pickryn

Pickworth

Pierce, Robert.

Pond

Porter

Pratt

Prudden, Rev. Peter

Pomeroy

Puckett

Pynchon William

Rainsford

Ratcliffe

Rawlins

Reade

Reading

Revelle, John

Reynolds < possibly: Robert Reynolds, of Boston but no confirmation

Richards

Richardson

Rickman

Rockwell

Roberts

Rossiter

Royse/Royce/Rice/RyseDeacon Edmund.

Ruggles

Ryall

Sales

Saltonstall

Sampson

Sanford

Saxton

Scott

Scruggs

Seaman

Seely, Robert born of numerous royal families.

Sharpe

Shelley

Sibley

Simpson

Skelton

Smead

Smith

Smyth

Squire

Southcott

Sprague

Stearns,Sternes

          Isaac

Stileman

Stoughton

Stowers

Strong, John the Elder & Eleanor. Origin: Somerset.

Sumner

Swaddon

Sweet

Talcott

Talmadge

Taylor

Terry

Tillie

Tomlins

Totman

Trask, Capt. William. OP.

Turner

Tylly, John. OP.

Tyndal

Ufford

Underhill

Upsall

Vassall William

Wade

Wadsworth

Walker

Ward

Warren, Waren, Warenne Origin: Chesire John, Mary { What about J]

• http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/neng_winthrop.shtml
• http://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/winthrop.htm
• http://www.winthropsociety.com/settlers.php
• http://www.feliixplace.com/genealogylists/firstfleet.html
• http://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shipnamesA.htm