Francis Austin (1594 - 1642)

Born 1594 in London, England

Husband of Isabella (Bland) Leavitt — married after 2 Oct 1632 (to 13 Jul 1642) in Colchester, Essex, England

Descendants

Died 13 Jul 1642 at about age 48 in Hampton, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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

Biography

Francis Austin migrated from England to Massachusetts.

Francis Austin was born in England about 1594. It is unknown when he migrated to the colonies; but he had purchased land in Dedham, Massachusetts before 1640. Regarding Isabella Bland, whom he took for his wife, the following was said: "How she met Francis Austin, who witnessed the will of Henry Chickering in Ringsfield, near Beccles, almost 50 miles to the north, we shall probably never know."^[1]

Isabella, of Hampton (originally from Colchester, England), was the daughter of John Bland.^[2] The Bland connection was said to be a 'distinguished one,' as her father was an early and prominent settler of Martha's Vineyard. Francis married Miss Isabella Bland on the 2nd of October 1632.^[3] Francis stayed in Hampton, New Hampshire with his wife Isabella.^[4]

Francis was considered one of the earliest settlers and proprietors Hampton.^[5] Property was granted to him on the 30th of June 1640, in Hampton. By that time he had sold the property in Dedham to a Francis Chickering.^[6]

Children:

1. Isabella (Austin) Towle born circa 1633, died 7 Dec 1719. Married Philip Towle.^[2][5]
2. Jemima (Austin) Knowles baptised 24 Jan 1641. She married John Knowles^[2][5]
3. Kezia (Austen) Tucker also baptized 24 Jan 1641. Married unknown Tucker.^[2][6]

Francis wound up with little precious time to spend with his daughters, as he died before his fiftieth birthday.^[6]On the 13th of July 1642, a grant was made to "Widow Asten."^[6]

After Francis' death, his widow married Thomas Leavitt and lived on the Asten homestead that she inherited.^[7][8] She and Thomas were the parents of four more children (Aretas, Hezron, John, and James Leavitt).

Sources

1. ↑ Thompson, Roger. Mobility and Migration: East Anglian Founders of New England, 1629-1640. University of Massachusetts Press, 2009. p.167
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Dow, Joseph. History of the Town of Hampton, (1893) New Hampshire. Salem, MA, Vol. 2, page 810
3. ↑ Clemens, William Montgomery. American Marriage Records Before 1699 (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Com, 1926), 26.
4. ↑ Virkus, F. Adams. Immigrants to America before 1750: an alphabetical list of immigrants to the Colonies, before 1750, compiled from official and other records. (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1965), "Originally published ... 1929-1932; excerpted from the Magazine of American genealogy, section IV, numbers 1-27.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Hazlett, Charles A. History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and representative citizens. (1915) Chicago, IL. Richmond-Arnold, 318.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Blanchard, Wayne. From the Great Migration to the Greatest Generation. England. Lulu.com, 2013, p.95.
7. ↑ Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Maryland, Genealogical Publishing Com, 1985, 25.
8. ↑ Pope, Charles Henry. The pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire, 1623 to 1660 (Boston, MA: C.H. Pope, 1908), p.7, 207.

• London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries
• Austin Families Association of America profile for Francis Austin (requires registration (free)

Also see:

• Francis Austin on Find A Grave: Memorial #108767648 retrieved 2/19/2019
• (Family Histories on Ancestry Some of the descendants of Philip Towle of Hampton, N H," database with images, ancestry.com (subscription
• Ancestry Family Trees Ancestry.com (subscription)

Notes

1. This Francis Austin was not the son of Richard Austin.

2. The following children are said to be issues of Francis, but sources have not yet been supplied:

1. Elizabeth Austin b 1613
2. Joseph Austin b 1616 England
3. Samuel Austin b 1620 England
4. Benjamin Austin b 1622 England
5. George Austin b 1622 England
6. Joseph Austin b 1630 New Hampshire
7. Samuel Austin b 1634 England
8. Sophia Austin b 1642 New Hampshire

While it is possible; there is no proof that Francis had children in England before he traveled to Massachusetts. His presence in Massachusetts in the 1630's makes Samuel's birth to this Francis improbable. Joseph, born 1620, would have been before Francis married Isabella. Joseph and Sophia are not listed in the Hampton records - where Francis and Isabella had their children.

The Frances Austen/Austin born 16 Feb 1602, that also migrated to New England, was the son of John Austen. He may have been the father of some of these children.

3. There is a forum post about the marriage of Isabella and Francis on Genealogy.com that states:

The 1632 marriage record for his daughter Isabel and Francis Austin in St. Mary The Virgin At The Walls, Colchester, Essex calls her Isabel Smith. John Bland alias Smith seems to have come to New England between 1632 and 1635 because his daughter Annabell married William Barsham of Watertown before 1635.Barsham came on the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, but there is no indication that he brought a wife with him. But - there are no sources.

Update: I found the index of this record. "England, Boyd's marriage indexes, 1538-1850," database, FindMyPast (Boyd's Marriage Index on FindMyPast$ : accessed 31 January 2018), entry for Fr Austin and Isabel Smith, 1632 Marriage; citing Parish Marriages, Parish Records, Boyd's Marriage Indexes, England. TEXT Fr Austin, Marriage Year: 1632, Spouse: Isabel Smith, Place: Colchester St Mary At the Walls, Essex County, England. Note: This same record is in another index with the names Isabell Smith and Franncis Austine [sic]. Not listed as Boyd's, just a transcript of Parish Marriages on FindMyPast$. More research would have to be done to determine if they actually married in England, or in the colonies.