Proof to Children
William Read has seventeen children attributed to him! Eight from his first wife and nine from his second! Daughters Susanna and Hannah are described in M. Anderson's E-Mail as aged 1 and 3 upon immigration in 1635. Specific source unknown. She gives a bibliography at end of E-Mail.
Proof to John, Josiah and Hezekiah appears to be a combination of
the Hezekiah orphan petition and the Percy lawsuit. The Hezekiah petition
shows them to be brothers, and the Percy lawsuit shows that Ruth Percy
was the mother of Hezekiah. Torrey shows that Ruth (Crooke) [Read] Percy,
married [Robert?] Percy after William Read died.
Hezekiah orphan petition:
William and Ruth's orphaned son, Hezekiah, chose Josiah Reade and John Reade as his guardians according to New London, Ct., court records of 13 June 1679. "The Court haveing Considered of the petition of Hezekiah Read an orphane under age, & the allegations therein doe grant him Libertyaccording to Law to choose his Guardians, & accordingly he did in open Court chose Josiah Read & John Read, his Elder Brothers, to be his Guardians who are accepted by the Court & the sd orphan Committed to their care for his good Education in the feare of God, good Literature, & some particular calling, and the sd orphane desireing to be with his bother Jn Read dureing his minority to the age of twenty-0ne yeares, the Court have Consented thereunto, he the sd John his Brother ingageing before the Cout to give him good education as before & to teach him the trade of a weaver according to his best skill & to allow him Competent & Comfortable maintenance, meate, dinke, cloathing & other necessaries Convenient dureingthe sd terme & to pay him five pounds towards his setting up at the expiration of the terme with Comly apparell, his Eldest Brother & Guardian, the sd Josiah Read Consenting unto this dispose." [New London County Court Records, 3:124]
Percy petition.
On 7 June 1681, "Ruth Percy Plaintiff Contra Jn Read Deffendt in an action of Debt due to her for the sevice of her sonn Hezekiah Read for the time he was with him to the value of eighteene pounts: In this action the Court orders a nonsuite." [ib. 3:156]
The other kids must be coming from birth records in Weymouth, Mass. M. Anderson shows a total of 19 children! Eight from Susannah and 11 from Ruth... wow...
WHERE KIDS BORN
M. Anderson's E-Mail doesn't show where all the kids were born. I'm
showing all of the first wife's kids as born in Weymouth or Boston for
the moment. And no locations showing for the second wife's kids. Don't
know when he went to Conn (if he ever really did) - possibly after 1672,
when his property disclosed. Michael Roman's page shows first two kids
born England, then no place for Margaret, then Weymouth for next two kids,
then no place, then Boston for John and implies all of Ruth's kids born
in Boson.
PROOF TO WIVES.
The first wife is referenced, apparently, in a ship's log or manifest by first name. M. Anderson sent me a transcript of a parish record from England that is presumed to be them and shows her maiden name as Hayme. I don't see a specific reference that "nails" this marriage record as theirs, other than coincidences of time and names. I see no reference to probate records, etc to add corrobroating evidence that the immigrants are that couple. See marriage note.
I don't see a source for the death of the first wife.
The second wife must be coming from Weymouth, Mass marriage records. She apparently remarried a man named Percy after Willam Reed's death. See details of his life below for more about her going to England and getting into trouble when she came back.
How is it known that the William Read / Ruth Crooke marriage is to William, the immigrant, and not to the William born in 1639 (for whom nothing else much seems to be known)?? This apparently comes from the orphan petition of Hezekiah that describes John and Josiah as brothers.
WHERE LIVED
Batchombe, Somersetshrie, England to Weymouth, Mass. in 1635. M. Anderson's E-Mail indicated he died in New London, CT by 06/13/1679.
He apparently had to give up his Boston property in 1672, due to foreclosure. Perhaps he went to CT after that?
M. Anderson has the place of birth for some of the kids fr 1637-1669, as Boston or Weymouth, but not all kids place of birth shown, so hard to draw an inference there.
I don't have a source that has him in Conn.
PERSONAL DATA AND VITALS
From M. Anderson's E-Mail, Jul 30, 1998:
William Reade, (possibly the son of William Reade, above) of Batcombe, Somersetshire, England, b. abt. 1607; d. New London, Ct., before 13 June 1679; m. (1) 12 Oct. 1629, at St. Mary's Gillingham, co. Dorset, England, Susannah Hayme, b. 1606 Gillingham; d. Boston, Ma., 12 Oct. 1653, age about 47 years; dau. of Edward and Johanna (_?_) Hayme. He m. (2) at Weymouth, Ma., 20 March 1653/4 Ruth Crooke; dau. of Roger Crooke of Hammersmith, co. Middlesex, England.
Susannah's mother, Johanna had been married at last three times;
first to John Reade of Langham in Gillingham; second, to Edward Hayme;
third, to Francis Montier, who d. testate, about 1622.
DATE OF BIRTH:
Was age 28 years old in 1635 per ship's list. 1635-28 = 1607.
DATE OF DEATH
M. Anderson shows "before 06/13/1679, in New London". I see no probate,
or similar records and have not seen a death record. This is the date from
the orphan petition of Hezekiah.
IMMIGRATION
From M. Anderson's E-Mail, dtd Jul 30, 1998:
William Reade came with Rev. Joseph Hull's company, which sailed
20 March 1635 from Weymouth, co. Dorset, and was described as "Willm Read
of Batcombe Taylor in Som'stt aged 28 Yeare" with wife Susan, aged
29, and daughters Hannah, aged 3, and Susan, aged 1. This company
disembarked at Dorchester, 7 June 1635, and settled in Weymouth.
DETAILS OF LIVE IN WEYMOUTH
William Reade, left Batcombe, Somersetshire, England in 1635 and sailed to New England with his wife, Susan, their two children, Hannah, age three, Susanna, age one, and his servant, Richard Adams. They settled in Weymouth, Ma., where he was a tailor; a member of the Great and General Court of the Bay State colony; freeman 2 Sept. 1635, 1636, 1638; admitted to the church with wife, Susanna 15 May 1647. In 1644 he was chosen "Townsmen or Selectmen" although by then a resident of Boston.
Freeman of Massachusetts Bay, 2 Sept. 1635; deputy for Weymouth to the General Court, Oct. 1636 and Sept. 1638. Constable 1644/ William and Susanna, his wife, admitted to the First Church of Boston, 15 May 1647 "upon letters of Dismission from the Church at Waymouth."
While the land records for that period are quite imperfect, they show that William Reade owned more than 50 acres in Weymouth; in 1636 he was given 18 acres in the Freemen's Grant, and in 1637 he bought the house and 20 acres of land that had belonged to Zachary Bicknell of Weymouth; about 1643, he owned the following lots in Weymouth: 18 1/2 acres in the East Field, 8 1/2 acres in the "Wester Neck" with 2 acres of sald marsh, and 16 acres among the "Great Lots"; in 1644, he bought of Edward Smith 10 1/2 acres in the "Wester Neck."
On 16 Feb. 1654, Rev. John Wilson of Boston, for £40 sold to William Reade of Boston, tailor, a strip of 100 by 13 feet on "ye streate yt leadeth to ye Dock," bounded on land of Read's which he had purchased of John Stephenson, and on the east by Devonshire Street (then called "Crooked Lane"). On this property he erected the dwelling house and shop, sold by him in 1672. William Reade of Boston, tailor, on 20 July 1661, mortgaged his Boston property, a dwelling house with a shop, and on 15 April 1672, having failed to keep up his payments, resigned the property to the mortgagees. [Suffolk Deeds, 2-142; 3-486; 5-291]
His second wife, doubtless much younger than himself, went back to England in 1669, soon after the birth of her 10th child. Upon her return in 1673, she was tried for misconduct while in England, and banished from the Colony. She went to Rhode Island and on 2 Sept. 1674, William petitioned for permission for her to return, which the Court refused. Ruth (Crooke) the second wife of William Reade, was almost certainly sister of Rebecca Crooke, wife of Peter Gardner. and dau. of Roger Crooke of Hammersmith, co. Middlesex, England.
William Read of Boston, on 28 Nov. 1673, sold to Stephen French of
Weymouth, two acres of swamp land in Weymouth, "granted to me the said
William Read for a swamp lott by ye Inhabitants of ye towne of Weymouth"
Return to the Read Index at this site.
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