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Prior to 1647, Ralph Allen, Jr. m. Esther Swift, dau. of William Swift and his 2nd wife Joan, bap. of record May 28, 1629 at St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, Surrey, England. She married 2nd to Henry Bull
2) Children of Esther Bull (Swift, Allen) and Ralph Allen, Jr.
from The Two Ralph Allens of Sandwich, MA, in the 1600s Prepared June 27, 1997 © Richardson B. Allen e-mail
the wife of this Ralph Allen was Esther Swift, daughter of William and Joan Swift. They were married about 1645-1646 based on the date of birth of their first child, Jedediah.
in 1884 John O. Austin pointed out the marriage [14th of the 12th month 1664] of Esther Allen of Sandwich and Henry Bull of RI (4:134-6). Austin and all authors since have suggested that this Esther was the Hester Allen born in Sandwich in 1648. However, this results in an age difference of about 38 years between Henry and Hester, and the marriage would have taken place when Hester was only about 16 years old. An alternative explanation based on the suggested death about 1659 of Ralph, husband of Esther, is that the marriage was between Henry Bull and Esther widow of Ralph. This would result in Henry and Esther being much closer to each other in age, and is consistent with the widow Esther Allen being absent from Sandwich records after the death of her husband.
Note: Esther Swift, dau. of William Swift and his 2nd wife Joan, bap. of record May 28, 1629 at St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, Surrey, England. She came to New England with her parents in circa 1634 and d. of record Mar. 26, 1676 at Newport, RI. She was twice married. Prior to 1647, Esther m. 1) Ralph Allen, Jr., b. at England and historically the s. of undetermined parents. Identified as a mason, Ralph is called Jr. in the Sandwich, Mass. town records to distinguish him from an older Ralph Allen of Sandwich, called Sr., latter the acknowledged s. of the immigrant George Allen of Sandwich, Mass. Ralph Allen, Jr. d. on the incomplete date of "ye 26 of ye...," as written in his son Jedediah's bible, but undoubtedly before Oct. 12, 1662 when Esther's mother made her will at Sandwich, Mass. Ralph Allen, Jr. and Esther Swift had four known children who are outlined in their father's memorial. Contrary to conflicting conclusions by professional genealogists, a careful review of the facts indicate the widow Esther (Swift) Allen, not her dau. Esther as sometimes claimed, m. 2) of record on Feb. 14, 1664/5 at Sandwich as his 2nd wife, Henry Bull of Newport, Rhode Island. There are no known children of this marriage. Henry Bull m. 1) an Elizabeth, by whom he had two known children, and 3) on Mar. 28, 1677 at Newport, RI as her 2nd husb., Ann Clayton, the widow of Gov. Nicholas Easton of Rhode Island. There were no children of this latter marriage with Henry Bull d. of record Jan. 22, 1693/4 and his widow Ann on Jan. 30, 1707/8, both at Newport, RI. The record of Esther's death and of Henry Bull and his 3rd wife Ann are per the records of the Rhode Island Monthly Meeting of Friends contained in the NEHGS' electronic version of Arnold's Vital Records of Rhode Island. It is unclear at the time of Esther's 1st husband Ralph Allen, Jr.'s death whether this Allen family were members of the Society of Friends at Sandwich, Mass. The early records of the Dartmouth, Falmouth, Sandwich and constituent meetings at Rhode Island, which formed the Rhode Island Yearly Meeting of Friends, were lost during the American Rev. War when the ship that was transporting them for safe keeping was sunk by the British. Although the records were subsequently recovered their length of time underwater prevented salvaging of the written content. In particular, there is no record of whether Esther (Swift)(Allen) Bull was or was not interred at a Friends burying ground at or near Newport, RI.
1629 |
May 28, 1629
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Surrey, England (United Kingdom)
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May 28, 1629
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St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, Surrey , England (United Kingdom)
Ester Swift in the London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
http://search.ancestry.com/search/collections/LMAearlyparish/199197... http://interactive.ancestry.com/1624/31280_199007-00181?pid=1991974... |
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May 28, 1629
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St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, Surrey, England
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May 28, 1629
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Bermondsey, Surrey, England
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1646 |
January 3, 1646
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Sandwich, Plymouth Colony, Colonial America
Jediah Allen in the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
-------------------------------------------------- Jedediah Allen in the American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)
http://search.ancestry.com/search/collections/agbi/65857/printer-fr... |
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1648 |
December 8, 1648
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Sandwich, Plymouth Colony
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1651 |
March 14, 1651
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Sandwich, Plymouth Colony
Experience Allen in the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
http://interactive.ancestry.com/2495/40400_274562-00561?pid=4663397... |
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1656 |
March 26, 1656
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Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America
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