Alice (Atkins) Stevens (abt. 1578 - abt. 1650)

Born about 1578 in England

Wife of John Stevens — married 27 Feb 1596 in Caversham, Berkshire, England

Descendants

Died about 17 Jul 1650 at about age 72 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

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Alice (Atkins) Stevens migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Birth

Alice was born around 1578 (based on an average age of 20 at marriage), probably in England. The closest record found to date in Oxfordshire is for the birth of Alice Atkynson, daughter of Robert Atkynson baptized in Banbury, Oxfordshire, 10 July 1578.^[1] The date of birth would fit nicely, but we have no means of knowing for sure they were the same person.

Marriage

Alice married John Stevens 27 February 1597/8 at Caversham, then part of Oxfordshire (now part of Berkshire), England.^[2] Her husband John died in 1627 in Caversham, Oxfordshire, England.

Children

According to Moriarty, the children of John Stevens and Alice Atkins, who appear in the Parish Records for Saint Peter's of Caversham were as follows:^[3]

1. Jane Stevens bp 2 January 1602/3
2. John Stevens, bp July 07, 1605 in Caversham, Oxford, England; died April 11, 1662 in Andover, Essex, MA; married Elizabeth Parker; born about 1613 in England; died May 1, 1694 in Andover, Essex, MA.
3. William Stevens, born September 01, 1616, bp 11 September 1616 in Caversham, Oxford, England; died May 19, 1653 in Newbury, Essex, Ma; married Elizabeth Bitfield May 19, 1645 in Newbury, Essex, Ma. ii. Jane Stevens, born January 02, 1601/02.
4. Barbara (Stevens) Ilsley, bp 11 September 1611.
5. Susan Stevens, buried 28 Jul 1617

Notes:

• There was a Humphrey Stevens, son of John Stevens alias Atwell, baptized at Caversham 19 June 1607, but according to Moriarty, this was probably not the same John Stevens.
• Most of the christening records identify only the father. The exception being the record for William's christening which mentions both John and Alice. The Caversham burial records transcripts show evidence of two individuals by the name of John Stevens in Caversham at the time, one died in 1617 and the other in 1627. The embarkation list for the Confidence's voyage of 1638 confirms that John and William were Alice's sons. The same cannot be said for the other children attributed to her. They could be the children of the other John Stevens, who was not her husband.^[4][5]

Emigration

Alice accompanied her sons William and John on the ship Confidence which departed from Southampton in 1638, along with John's wife Elizabeth, and two servants, John Lowgie (aka Lovejoy)^[6], age 16, and Grace Lowgie.^[7] Also on board was William Ilsley, whose wife Barbara, may have been her daughter. John settled in Newbury and then went to Andover after 1642.^[8]

Death

Alice may be the "Anne Stevens, widow", whose death was recorded at Newbury 17 July 1650.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5L6-LLB : 19 March 2020), Alice Atkynson, 1578.
2. ↑ Moriarty Jr., George Andrews. Stevens of Newbury and Andover, Mass. In Roberts, Gary Boyd. English Origins of New England Families. Vol. II. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984. p. 402. Free Ancestry Image Record was confirmed by Oxfordshire Parish Register Transcripts, South Oxfordshire Area, Vol.1. "Alice Atkines married John Stivens St Peter Caversham 27th Feb 1597". Courtesy of Margaret Land
3. ↑ Moriarty Jr., George Andrews. Stevens of Newbury and Andover, Mass. In Roberts, Gary Boyd. English Origins of New England Families. Vol. II. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984. p. 402. Free Ancestry Image
4. ↑ Moriarty Jr., George Andrews. Stevens of Newbury and Andover, Mass. In Roberts, Gary Boyd. English Origins of New England Families. Vol. II. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984. p. 402. Free Ancestry Image
5. ↑ https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Confidence%2C_sailed_April_1638
6. ↑ James R. Henderson, "The English Origins of John Lovejoy of Andover, Massachusetts," in The New England Historic Genealogical Register, 163 (2009):27-31.
7. ↑ Drake, Samuel. Result of Some Researches Among the British Archives for Information Relative to the Founders of New England (Boston, 1860), page 59.
8. ↑ Hoyt, David W. The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury Massachusetts (Providence, Rhode Island, 1897), pages 322-23, 1009-10.
9. ↑ Moriarty Jr., George Andrews. Stevens of Newbury and Andover, Mass. In Roberts, Gary Boyd. English Origins of New England Families. Vol. II. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984. p. 404. Free Ancestry Image