Richard Swain (1595 - 1682)

Born 15 Sep 1595 in Binfield, Berkshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Basselle (Saunders) Swain — married 8 Sep 1617 in St Mary, Battersea, Surrey, England

Husband of Jane (Unknown) Swain — married 12 Sep 1658 in New Hampshire

Descendants

Died 14 Apr 1682 at age 86 in Nantucket, Dukes, New York

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Darlene Athey-Hill [send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], and Nantucket Founders Project WikiTree [send private message]

Richard Swain was a founder of Nantucket. Join: Nantucket Founders and Descendants Project Discuss: nantucket

Richard Swain migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 6, p. 609) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Richard Swain was from Salisbury, England and was one of the original purchasers of Nantucket.

• As to his first wife, whom he married 8 September 1617 in Surrey, England, (now South London) we know very little. She is said to be "Bassell" Saunders, also known as Elizabeth.

Bazill Saunders married Richard Swayne 8 September 1617 at St Mary Battersea, Surrey, England, (now South London). ^[1]

Together they had seven children:

1. William Swain (1619-1657) married Purdence Marston
2. Francis Swain (1621-1665); married Martha ____
3. Nicholas Swain (1624-1650); did not marry
4. Grace Swain (1627-1692); married Nathaniel Boulter
5. Richard Swain (1630-1633); died in Easthamstead, England
6. John Swain (1633-1717); married Mary Weare
7. Elizabeth Swain (1634-1712); married Nathaniel Weare

The family migrated to Massachusetts about 1635.

Richard married Jane ____, the widow of George Bunker, on 15 July 1658 in Rockingham County, New Hampshire.^[2] On November 13, 1659, Jane gave birth to their son Richard Swain Jr. in Hampton.^[3].

After Jane's death in 1662, Richard Swain retained custody of his step-children Elizabeth (16), William (14), Mary (10), Ann (8) and Martha (6). When they were adults Richard granted a full share of Nantucket (apparently the share of Robert Pike) to be divided among these children of George Bunker.^[4]

Richard died 14 April 1682 in Nantucket (then part of Dukes Vo., New York) and is buried at the Founders Burial Ground there.

Note: 21 September 1595 is his date of baptism, not birth. He was baptized at Binfield, Berkshire, England.

Note on origins: See g2g conversation here.

Arrival

It has sometimes been stated that Richard emigrated on the Truelove from London to New England in September 1635. However, the name on this list is actually Richard "Srayne". Moreover, this Richard was listed as 34 years old, making him too young to be the Hampton settler if the age is accurately reported. However, ages on these lists are notoriously inaccurate. In any event, Richard's two eldest sons—William age 16, and Francis age 14—arrived in New England on the Rebecca in April 1635. It is likely that Richard emigrated near this time.

"The English Origin of Richard¹ Swaine of Hampton, New Hampshire, and Nantucket" by Clifford L. Stott, CG, FASG, The American Genealogist, volume 74, number 4; whole number 296 (October 1999), pages 241-249.

Savage states that Richard¹ Swaine settled first at Rowley, but he no doubt confused our Richard with a Richard Swan who settled in that place. The first evidence of Richard Swaine found to date in New England records is on 6 September 1638, when the Massachusetts General Court granted the petition of the Reverend Stephen Bachiler of Newbury and others, including Richard Swaine, to establish a plantation at Winnacunnet. Settlement of Winnacunnet was begun in October 1638. The name of the town was changed to Hampton [New Hampshire] in 1639. Richard's settlement at Newbury was probably of short duration. He is not mentioned in the town records. Shortly before leaving for Winnacunnett, he had a daughter Elizabeth baptized at Newbury on 9 October 1638. The event was recorded in Hampton town records.

Founders of the town of Hampton

This note text was imported from a GEDCOM, source is unknown.

Quite a few of our ancestors came to be original grantees of land that resulted in the founding of Hampton, New Hampshire, or settled there at the beginning. The currently known ones are:

Reverend Stephen Bachiler (my personal favorite ancestor, at least for this period)

Christopher Hussey and his wife, Theodate Bachiler (Reverend Stephen's daughter)

Lieutenant John Sanborn and his brothers William and Stephen, (whose mother was Ann Bachiler, daughter of Reverend Stephen, never came to America as far as we know) and his wife Mary Tuck.

Robert Tuck, whose daughter married Lieutenant John Sanborn, and his wife, Joanna, who is NOT a bachiler until it's proven to me, despite what you will see in other trees.

Christopher Palmer, and his wife Susanna Hilton

Edward Hilton (wife unknown) father of Susannah

Richard Swain (of Ormsby) and his wife Elizabeth (who later were among the founders of Nantucket Island)

William Swain (Sr.) and his wife Prudence Marston

William Swain (Jr.) and his wife, Mary Webster

Thomas Webster (of Ormsby) and his mother Margery Webster Godfrey

Late comers to Hampton:

Robert Rowe, who married Mehetable Swayne (Swain) daughter of William and Mary, and whose daughter Abigail married Jonathan Palmer, son of Christopher and Elizabeth Berry.

Lines linked by Marriage:

William Moulton and his wife, Margaret Page (of Ormsby), whose son Joseph married Bethia Swain, sister to William Swain and daughter to Richard Swain

John Moulton and his wife (of Ormsby), whose son Henry married Sobriety Hilton, sister of Susannah and daughter of Edward Hilton

To get the story of these people, start with the story titled "The Founders of Hampton, NH, (A Family Study Aid)" attached to Reverend Stephen Batchelder and others.

Richard Swain arrived in America in 1635. He and the family first lived in the small town of Rowley, Massachusetts, then the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Later he moved to Hampton, New Hampshire where he is listed among the first settlers. That was in the autumn of 1638. The settlement was called "Winnacunnett" according to the History of Hampton. Later the Reverend Steven Bachelor (Bachiler) one of the early petitioners, requested the name be changed to Hampton.

SWAINS OF NANTUCKET, Robert H. Swain, Author. E-mail: rhswain @ earthlink.net. 6510 Paleface Place, Charlotte, NC 29214-1536.

Excerpts from: Richard Swain, 1st Generation in America.

1. Richard Swain was born September 21, 1595 in Berkshire, England. He was christened Rychard Swayn and used Richard Swayne until he moved to Nantucket from the mainland. Other spellings of the name in England during the period 1500-1600's show Swaine, Swayn, Swain, in addition to Swayne. His children, Francis, Nicholas, Grace, Richard and John, are listed in christening records as either Swaine or Swayne. In most instances the name Swayne or Swain(e) is derived from the Old Norse word sveinn which meant "boy, servant peasant" depending on its use in the sentence. It came to England with Danes and Norwegians and was altered there to suein, suen, swan, etc. Sveinn was first used as a descriptive term before becoming a surname. Burke's Armory describes the Coat-Of-Arms for one Swain, one Swain or Swaine, one Swaine and four Swaynes…each of them different. According to some authorities Richard Swayne of St. Albans, England who came to America in 1635, living first at Rowley, Massachusetts Bay in 1635, and then at Hampton in New Hampshire, was in line with William Swayne of Salisbury, England, granted the Coat-Of-Arms on June 20, 1444, later confirmed by a descendant of the same name, of London, in 1612. This is the same Coat-Of-Arms found in Scotland in 1100, but without the Motto. A record of the births of the children of Richard Swayne are found in Easthampstead County, England: Nicholas, Grace, Richard, and John Swayne. After Richard Swayne took his family to America in 1635, there seems to be no further family of that name living in Easthampstead for nearly 60 years. St. Albans, England is Northeast of London. By 1660, Richard Swain had moved to the Island of Nantucket. In 1659 he and his son, John Swain, were two of the ten original purchasers of Nantucket Island from Thomas Mayhew for thirty pounds silver and two "Beaver Hatts".

Children of Richard Swain and 1st wife Elizabeth are:

i. William Swain, born in 1618 in England and died October 20, 1657 when he was lost at sea on a voyage from Hampton, New Hampshire to Boston, Massachusetts. He did not go to Nantucket with his father and many of his descendants settled in and around Newburyport, Massachusetts.

ii. Francis Swain born in 1621 in England and died in 1667 in Middleborough, Long Island, New York. He had property in Exeter and Hampton, New Hampshire. He engaged in the manufacture of Hogshead Staves.

Marriages

1st: Elizabeth Basile, before1619, London, Middlesex, England

2nd: Jane Godfrey, after 1658, Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire, USA^[5]

Resided in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire, Source: #S24 First of Nantucket.

Alternate death information from GEDCOM: 14 Apr 1682, Place: Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA^[6]

Alternate birth info from GEDCOM: 15 SEP 1595, Binfield, Berkshire, England, Source: #S42

Sources

1. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P70/MRY2/002 Image 24 by subscription at: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1624/31280_189953-00036?pid=10037
2. ↑ "New Hampshire Marriages, 1720-1920," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FDGJ-WJJ : 31 December 2014), Richard Swain and Jane Barker, 12 Sep 1658; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 1,001,302.
   note transcription error in Family Search Index, listed as "Jane Barker"
3. ↑ "New Hampshire Birth Records, Early to 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FLPZ-LV8 : 12 December 2014), Jane in entry for Richard Swain, 13 Nov 1659; citing Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,001,038.
4. ↑ "George BUNKER of Nantucket" prepared by Bette Bunker Richard Jan 2009 for the Bunker Family Association (http://bunkerfamilyassn.org)
5. ↑ U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012)
6. ↑ Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).

See also:

• Richard Swaine, died 1682 on Nantucket, Family Search
• Find a Grave Memorial #122980113 Richard Swayne or Swaine Swain. Created January 8, 2014 by Rick Valentine
• West, Randy. Updates from English Records for Some Great Migration Immigrants Who Came by 1635, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2019) Vol. 173, WN 690, Page 189.
• St. Mary, Battersea, Surrey, parish register, 1559–1632, included in London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812, database online at Ancestry.com.
• Barney Genealogical Record, Nantucket Historical Association Research Library. Personal page - 257.
• Richard Swain in the U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/806778:2204
• https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60525&h=74955343&tid=&pid=&queryId=26c6aca3237c335051c90cdf30e91778&usePUB=true&_phsrc=uq1257527&_phstart=successSource

Source S24Author: William M Sargent; Title: The WEARE Family of Hampton, New Hampshire and North Yarmouth, Maine, Old Times Office; Location: Yarmouth, Maine; Date: 1879

• Source S42 World Family Tree, Volume 1, pre-1600 to present, R1Fitzpatrick Home Library