Judith (Ray) Smith (bef. 1596 - 1650)

Born before 15 Dec 1596 in Long Stratton St Michael, Norfolk, England [uncertain]

Wife of Henry Smith — married 15 Sep 1618 in Ketteringham, Norfolk, England

Descendants

Died 24 Oct 1650 after age 53 in Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony

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Biography

Judith Ray, daughter of John Ray and Elizabeth (Walby) Ray, was baptized at Stratton St. Michael, Co.Norfolk in 1596. The register is water-damaged, it has been transcribed as possibly 15 December. The day is fairly readable as the fifteenth and the following record seems to be February 1596/97, so possibly this is the correct date.^[1][2]

Mahler in his TAG87 article cited here notes that her father John Ray was described as "of Denston, Suffolk" in their marriage register making it possible that he is represented by John Ray on Wikitree. This generally unsourced profile gives a death of 1611 at Denston, matching Mahler's opinion that Judith's parents were both dead by the 1614 will of Elizabeth's grandfather Thomas Walby.

She married Henry Smith on 15 Sep 1618 at St. Peter Kettering, Norfolk, England.^[3][4]

Her will was dated Oct 24, 1650. Inventory of her estate was in Dec 1650.^[5]

Children: Judith Smith Smith, John Smith, Henry Smith Jr, Elizabeth Smith Hunt Blake(whose second husband was James Blake), Daniel Smith, Daniel Smith, and possibly an infant daughter.

NOTE: Her family origins are detailed in The American Genealogist, Vol 87 [Jul/Oct 2015], p.263ff.^[4] Judith is named as Judith Ray (along with her brother Daniel) in the 1614 will of her maternal grandfather Thomas Walby.

Some early sources give her maiden name as Whiting. Some say her maiden name was Cooper. A "brother Thomas Cooper" was mentioned in Henry Smith's 1647 will in which wife Judith is named as Executrix. And a Thomas Cooper signed Henry Smith's 1649 inventory. Smith, Cooper, and Peck families were closely associated in 17th century Rehoboth.

Research Notes

Waters. See Henry F. Waters, Genealogical gleanings in England, 2 vols., paginated consecutively (Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1901), 2:1120-21 (Nicholas Stanton), 1121n, 1122n ; digital images, Hathi Trust.

• English will of Nicholas Stanton of Ipswich. proved 1649[/50]. (Quoting) "To my kinswoman Judith Smith the late wife of Henry Smith, living in New England, ten pounds. To her five children Judith, John, Elizabeth, Henry and Daniel, forty shillings apiece."
• Note on Henry Smith and Judith Smith wills. (Quoting) Henry Smith was entered as a passenger for New England In the Diligent, 1638, with his wife, three sons and two daughters (without naming either wife or children). The will supplies the deficiency. Mr. Smith was a freeman 1639, representative 1641, removed to Rehoboth ~1643 and died there 1649. His will dated 3 Nov., 1647 (Inventory taken 21-10mo-1649), mentions sons Henry and Daniel, daughter Judith and brother Thomas Cooper, and appointed his wife executrix. The witnesses were Stephen Paine, Thomas Cooper and Joseph Peck. The will of his widow, Mrs. Judith Smith, was dated 24 Oct., 1650, and named son Henry, daughter Judith, son and daughter Hunt, son John's three children, son Daniel and the three children of her son Hunt. The witnesses were John Pecke and Magdalen Smith."

Sources

1. ↑ Norfolk : Long Stratton : St Michael : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5818d61ce93790eca3ec3909 : viewed 23 Apr 2022) baptism Judith Ray 15 Jan 1596/7
2. ↑ Norfolk, England, Church of England Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812 for Judith Ray Norfolk Stratton St Michael and St Peter 1558-1812 $subscription required and free image courtesy of ancestry.com
3. ↑ Norfolk : Ketteringham : St Peter : : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/581835bce93790eb7f5f3a8f : viewed 23 Apr 2022) marriage Henry Smyth to Judith Raye 15 Sep 1618
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "The English Ancestry of Judith Ray, wife of Henry Smith of Hingham and Rehoboth, Massachusetts" by Leslie Mahler, FASG; The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) TAG:87:263
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G97D-VS56  : 5 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 119 of 616; State Archives, Boston. Page 109-110

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54853452/judith-smith