William Waterbury

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Waterbury-103

Uncertain Origin

A William Waterbury was baptized on March 14, 1593/4 in St. Peter's Church, Sudbury, Suffolk, England. Anderson believes this may well be William, the immigrant, but there are concerns with that date.[1]

Occupation

William was a cloth weaver. As of October, 1621, William is listed as Supervisor of the Commons.

Puritan

Sudbury, England was a hotbed of Puritan sentiment during much of the 17th century. It was among the towns labelled "notorious wasps' nests of dissent." During the decade of the 1630s, many Sudbury families departed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Immigrated to New England

When John Winthrop embarked from Cowes, England on March 29, 1630 to take the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to America. William and his wife, Alice of Lincolnshire, England, were included among the passengers of the Eagle, afterwards named the Arabella, one of four ships in Winthrop’s fleet.[2]

They settled for a time in Watertown, Massachusetts. Their names appear as the 35th and 36th members of the Boston church, in the fall of 1630.[BChR 13][1] William and Alice apparently returned to England a few years after arriving in Massachusetts, but no trace of their deaths has been found in England or America (p 11).

Disputed Wife's Name

Anderson calls William's wife "Alice ______."[1] Others assume she was Alice Parchette/Parcett, without evidence (source Ancestry Family Trees).[citation needed]

Marriage

William married about 1618* in Sudbury, Suffolk County, England to Alice Unknown (Anderson gives her no maiden name). According to Waterbury, they may have had six children, and the second child was John.[2] Per Anderson, they had only one known child, John Waterbury.[1]

• Note that this marriage date, 1618, only works in conjunction with the St. Peter's record and not with Anderson, who determines John was born say 1614.

Alice is said to have remarried after William's death to Gregory Taylor. The theory that Alice was the wife of both men rests on the claim that John Waterbury had on the estate of Gregory Taylor, the rarity of the name Alice, and the possibility that both Waterbury and Taylor originated at the same part of Suffolk in England and therefore may have known each other before immigrating.[1]

Children

The record at St. Peter's, Sudbury shows six children born to William Waterbury (p 9).[2] Anderson seems less than convinced this is the identical family and only lists the one known child, John Waterbury, who remained at Watertown and later at Stamford,

1. John Waterbury b say 1614*; m Rose (Unknown) according to Anderson.

Note there is record of a John Waterbury, son of William, baptism December 30, 1621 at St. Peter's, Sudbury, England. However the Rachel who married in 1659 at Stamford was apparently the eldest of John's children. If John was the usual twenty-five at marriage, then Rachel is only about twelve at her marriage. Anderson recommends a compromise in which John marries at twenty-one and Rachel at sixteen. This would make for "two successive short generations, which should be viewed with caution," according to Anderson.[1] It also contradicts the 1621 baptism date for John at St. Peter's.

Death and Legacy

No record of his death, or of his wife Alice's exist,[1] unless she was also Alice, the wife of Gregory Taylor, who died at Stamford on 18 August 1657.[3]

Puritans who settled in Watertown, MA. 35th and 36th members of Watertown church. No trace of their deaths in America. May have returned to England.

Immigrant. Arrived on the Arbella (Winthorp Fleet) in 1630 at Mass. Bay Colony.

References

1. Anderson, Robert C., 1995 "William Waterbury" Featured name. Great Migration Study Project, Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to N.E. 1620-1633, Vols I-III. AmericanAncestors.org accessed 15 June 2016 (Vol I-III, Pages 1939-40).
2. Waterbury, Grace Adelle., 1930 Jonathan Waterbury Genealogy ... Oswego, NY: Palladium-Times HathiTrust.org accessed 15 June 2016 (Pages 9, 11, 28, 113-14).
3. Anderson, Robert Charles, (1995) "Gregory Taylor" Featured name. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. NEHGS AmericanAncestors.org, accessed 6 Sept 2016 (Vol I-III, Pages 1802 ). See also:
4. French, Elizabeth. (1910, 1912) "Genealogical Research In England (Continued)." NEHGR AmericanAncestors.org 64:135-36; AmericanAncestors.org 66:177-78