My 'second change ideas' are in the last 1/3 of my original post. However, it would be better to consider my proposed text changes:-
1. Replace 'father unknown', 'mother unknown' and 'sibling unknown' by Thomas Dewey Snr (Dewye-4), Mary Moore (Moore-76856) and John Dewy (Dewy-11) respectively.
2. Disputed Origins section:- Delete 'Disputed', replace 'unknown' in text with 'now known', replace last sentence before bullet list by:-
The reason why this is so significant is that Swanage is about 6 miles by boat from Poole harbour, which was a port heavily involved in the Newfoundland fishing industry with numerous ships regularly going back and forth across the Atlantic. As such Swanage would be a convenient Winter base for fishermen employed in the industry.
Since then Terry’s research has greatly expanded. His starting point was to define a set of criteria necessary to prove 'beyond reasonable doubt' that a specific person in England went on to become Thomas Dewey The Settler. From research at Dorset Record Office, the most likely candidate narrowed down to a Thomas Dewye. The
evidence criteria are shown below, in italics, together with how Thomas Dewye meets those criteria:-
i) Place and Date of birth: He should be a Thomas Dewey born 1590 to 1620 in the West of England. The Dorset Record Office in Dorchester, England, has the baptism record {Thomas Dewye 1606 baptism} for the town of Hinton Martell stating:-
“1606 Baptized. Thomas Dewye son of Tho: Dewye 20 December”
ii) There are references to Thomas Dewey The Settler as "Thomas Dewey Jr", implying that his father was also called Thomas. In the above baptism record ‘Tho:’ almost certainly refers to a ‘Thomas’.
iii) His Mother: Links to other immigrant families. Another Dorset Record Office item states:- “Thomas Dewye, married, 12 Oct 1601, Hinton Martell to Mary Moore”. There is evidence that Mary Moore is the daughter of Thomas Moore and the sister of John Moore, who were both immigrants that settled in Windsor CT.
iv) John Russell's will: This shows Thomas Dewey The Settler as 1 of 4 witnesses. Mutual witnesses to such a document are usually related or close associates. There is a close association in England between Thomas Dewey Snr and members of the Moore, the Russell and the Wareham families. For example, John Russell’s father is Richard,
he also had sons Robert & Henry Russell; Thomas Dewey Snr & Robert Russell were both church wardens in 1625 at Hinton Martel. Also, Thomas Snr’s first wife was Agnes Wareham.
v) Religion: The candidate in England (and his associates) would almost certainly have been Protestant. The rector at Hinton Martel in 1625 was Samuel Highmore and there is a return in {ProtRtns} for a Sam Highmore, as well as returns for a number of individuals with Dewey, Moore and Russell surnames; there is also one for a George Phellps.
vi) Origin: There are claims that he "came from" Sandwich, evidence supporting any possible link. Thomas Dewey The Settler’s possible connection to Sandwich/Swanage might relate to the Newfoundland fishing industry. It is likely that Thomas Moore and Thomas Dewey were involved with the fishing industry. Swanage is a small port close to Poole harbour (the largest of Dorset's ports) and could have been The Settler's winter base.
vii) Neighbours: Thomas Dewey the Settler was an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut; Windsor settler neighbours might well have come from the same communities in England. TD's nearest 7 neighbours in Windsor are all listed as “Early Settlers”, some were on the Mary&John, some came earlier. By implication The Settler was probably in New England before 1630.
iix) Which ship: Thomas Dewey The Settler cannot be found on any passenger list, any reason for this. If, as seems likely, The Settler (and Thomas Moore) were involved in the fishing industry then they would not passengers, but they were possibly part of a ship’s crew. Alternatively, it is possible that The Settler, Thomas Moore and their friend John Russell were already in Newfoundland prior to PGM i.e. very ‘Early Settlers’. John Moore is listed as a ‘Probable’ passenger on the Mary & John.
ix) Newfoundland Fishing Industry, evidence for any involvement. There is a record of a Thomas Moores as the owner of a Caruell, registered at Poole. The Caruell is a type of ship well suited for fishing at remote locations, and could also make fast crossing of the Atlantic. The fishing industry at Poole was very lucrative which would have made Thomas Moore a man of wealth and make him a likely ‘sponsor’ for his grandson Thomas and his son John. From the book, Dorset Pioneers, by Jack Dwyer:-
P25: Regarding Rev. John White “in 1625 an advance party sailed from Weymouth, eight miles from his parish. They were the first of the Dorchester Pilgrims, as they are revered in American history, who were destined to play a founding role in the settlement of another British colony, Massachusetts. Besides his spiritual motive, White had a practical purpose; he wanted to help the fishermen of Weymouth and the other Dorset ports of Poole and Lyme Regis, who each year were braving 3000 treacherous miles of ocean to harvest the teeming cod off the coasts of New England and Newfoundland.”
P27: “The Dorchester Company...hoped to recoup the outlay by engaging in the long-established custom of West Country fishermen, who each spring dared the Atlantic for the teeming cod banks off Newfoundland. Traditionally, the seamen landed their catches on the American shore to be dried and salted by spare crews they left behind.
The Thomas Dewye born 1606 at Hinton Martel, Dorset to Thomas Dewye & Mary Moore is a match to all of these criteria. The name Dewey/Dewye is not common, the Protestant sect was small; the probability that there could be another Thomas Dewey matching all of these criteria is vanishingly small. And, there is also the verification from DNA research that consists of 40+ DNA matches between individuals in the USA and 3 Deweys in England, i.e. Terry, his paternal uncle and his son. For details, see Research Notes below.
Delete last bullet point, 'he sailed from...'
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3. Research Notes section, add at the end:-
DNA verification results: Terry, his paternal uncle and his son have all taken the Ancestry DNA test, as has a 3rd cousin descended from a daughter of Terry’s 2*G grandfather (Cornelius Dewey b1838 in Wiltshire, England). Targeted searches on the database of DNA hits of about 27,000 individuals have returned a lot of positive results. For example, a search with a filter of ‘Dewey’ as a name in the tree of the match, and ‘Windsor CT’ as a place gave a combined total of 15 DNA matches for Terry and his uncle; a search on ‘Moore’ and ‘Windsor’ gave 25 and 5 DNA matches respectively. Terry’s son and 3rd cousin also have DNA matches, but not so many. Further searches gave broadly consistent results, for example a search on ‘Dewey’ and ‘Westfield MA’ gave 33 DNA matches; Westfield is the town where most/all of The Settler’s children moved to after his death.
These DNA results verify that Terry, his paternal uncle, his son and his 3rd cousin (all descended from Wiltshire, England, Dewey ancestors) between them share Dewey or Moore genes with at least 40 individuals in the USA who are descended from early settlers. The MRCA (Most Recent Common Ancestor) between these 2 groups must be Thomas Snr and his wife Mary Moore; the USA group come down from their son The Settler, the England group down from their son John.
For further details on Terry’s research, please see the profile of Thomas Snr () and Terry’s website ()
4. Sources section, add:-
Shoreham Map:- Series: New Map of Great Britain and Ireland, Publisher: C. Smith, Sheet: Southern England, Publication Year: 1806, Scale: 1:633600,
Source: The British Library, www.bl.uk
ProtRtn: dorsetrecords12frye.pdf; THE DORSET PROTESTATION RETURNS PRESERVED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 1641/2. EDITED BY EDWARD ALEXANDER FRY.
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Regards, Terry
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