Thomas Friar migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 122) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm
Richard Friar and Hannah Stenning were previously attached as parents without a source. As Thomas's origins are unknown, they have been disconnected.
Biography
Not much is known about Thomas Friar. The first record of him is a land grant in Salem 4 February 1638/9:
"Thomas ffryar desires some planting ground on the north side. He was granted 5 acres of land & a half acre lot near winter harbor for fishing on 4 12th mo (Feb) 1638.[1]
He is believed to be Mr. Fryer who appears in Gloucester in 1642 as one of the persons appointed to order prudential affairs.
"Mr. Fryer was probably Thomes Fryer, who was of Salem in 1639. He was one of the persons appointed to order prudential affairs in 1642, but does not appear after that date. He may have been the husband of Elizabeth Fryer, whose lots of land on the neck of house-lots are named in Hugh Calkin's grant. In 1668, the town agreed with Thomas Judkin to take care of her, during the remainder of her life, for ten bushels of Indian corn yearly, and the use of her house, land, and cow. She died Sept. 9, 1685."[2]
Elizabeth Fryer is mentioned in a land grant dated November 1645, so Thomas Fryer had probably died by this time.[3]
[E]lezabath Frier died 9 Sep 1685 in Gloucester.[4]
Research Notes
From Torrey: FRYER, Thomas & Elizabeth ____; ca 1639-42?; Gloucester/Salem {Gloucester 94}
STR 1:80 :: xxvij th day 11th moneth 1638 (23 Jan 1638/9)
No journal articles at NEHGS
Savage: THOMAS, Salem, had gr. of Id. 1639, rem. prob. to Gloucester, there was selectman 1642; and Elizabeth perhaps his wid. or a. d. there 9 Sept. 1685. Margaret, perhaps his sis. was first w. of Thomas Gardner.
English records
Possible records:
Baptism: 1578 St. John's Parish, Wapping, Middlesex, England[5]
Marriages:
Thomas Friar and Elizabeth Hall: 8 Oct 1599, Haddenham, Cambridgeshire, , England[6][7]
↑ England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1940. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.Original data - Genealogical Society of Utah. British Isles Vital Records Index, 2nd Edition. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, copyright 2002. Used by permission. Note: Ancestry Record bivri_englandmarriages #1000038Ancestry Record bivri_englandmarriages #2324940
↑ Shropshire, England, Extracted Parish. Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. Note: Ancestry Record epr_shropshire #428934 Data: Marriage date: 19 Apr 1629 Marriage place: Shropshire, England
↑ Shropshire, England, Extracted Parish. Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. Note: Ancestry Record epr_shropshire #470100 Note: Data: Marriage date: 21 Sep 1625 Marriage place: Shropshire, England
↑ England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1940 Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc Haddenham, Cambridgeshire, England; Date Range: 1598 - 1627; Film Number: 1040479
See also:
Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Page: Ancestry Family Tree Data: Text: Ancestry Family Tree 60443264
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Frier-126 and Friar-20 are not ready to be merged because: Since Frier-126 has a specific English origin, it might be more useful to not merge these until there is more English documentation and a connection established to the New England immigrant.
Cheryl, I'm not sure I understand your reasoning. Can you be more clear? Both profiles originate in England. Friar-20 mentioned Elizabeth Hall, which is the spouse on Frier-126. This indicates one of two things (IMHO): 1) they were intended to be the same person; or 2) Elizabeth Hall is attached to the wrong person. Frier-126 has no sources; did you look for a birth record for 1578 in St. John's Parish, Wapping? If that can't be located, I would vote to merge the profiles since Frier-126 has no attachments (I doubt he was born in Middlesex and married in Cambridgeshire -- any opinions on that?). Thanks.
I think this has already been gone over and worked out on this profile. Especially since Thomas Frier-126 and his wife Elizabeth Hall-49959 have no other connections, it is time to merge them away.
What is the evidence connecting Thomas Friar of Gloucester, and his possible wife Elizabeth to that English couple? I see no reason for them to be merged.
The issue with changing it to an unmerged match, as opposed to leaving it as a proposed merge, is that it basically 'vanishes' from the radar screen. This has been up for discussion for over a year, but no one has come up with anything (or else they have forgotten it and moved on). I would prefer that it remain as a proposed merge so that people see it in the merge list. How do other members feel? And do we have someone that will work on this so it can (finally) be resolved? This has been batted around for over three years . . .
Since Frier-126 has a specific English origin, it might be more useful to not merge these until there is more English documentation and a connection established to the New England immigrant.
I've just postponed the merge of the two wives. I've done some research. Torrey: FRYER, Thomas & Elizabeth ____; ca 1639-42?; Gloucester/Salem {Gloucester 94} -- I think Gloucester Hist: John J. Babson, History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Anne, Including the Town of Rockport (Gloucester 1860)
She should be Elizabeth Unknown and not either of these last names. She died 1685. Thomas died way before 1685. And I would disconnect the daughter. Elizabeth was not likely to have been over 100 so not born before 1585. The alleged daughter estimated birth 1598 would not be hers
I totally agree with Isaac's assessment of all the traveling around and that the multitude of sourcing is wishful thinking.
I believe that we should eliminate the speculative chaff and stick to what we know. Objections?
I would like to work on cleaning up this profile, but don't have access to any of the English records. Do we consider them all irrelevant, or should they be summarized as disputed/errors?
Please yes, clean up the profile and the wife problem. Work on the New England records, if anything leads to anyplace in England, we can evaluate whether the existing records are correct. I think I would just park them (at the end of the profile) for the moment.
I'm concerned this family teleports around England prior to emigration. A lot.
What's the biographical rationale for how he, ostensibly born in Wapping (call it London) later marries and has children in Haddenham, 80-100 miles away, north of Cambridge. That's a long way, then.
Upper-class people tended to marry far-er away and in the bride's hometown. But working people and middle-class families, less so. This family is "covering" a lot of ground, without explanation.
This might make sense if either a) he was educated at Cambridge and living/working in that vicinity prior to emigration, which did happen, but isn't even hinted at here; or b) either side of the family were based in Cambridge/shire, but they're not-- or at least, we're currently saying dad is from Suffolk and mom is from Sussex (also potentially problematic, without explanation).
Overall, I'm worried past online researchers may have conflated real church records between unrelated people with merely-similar names into a synthetic narrative.
There are a lot of sources (which is great!) on this profile, but they're if this family group were originally sourced/researched via Ancestry.com (that is to say: which de facto encourages blind merges merely on basis of like names) that is a honking red alert.
In this situation, ideally we'd have a persuasive fact-filled biography that explains the asserted fact pattern. We don't, yet.
Not sure if this is signal or noise, but Norfolk Record Office (Norwich, Norfolk, England; Reference: PD 28/1) has a certain Margarett Fryer baptized 29 Jan 1597 Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, dau. of a Thomas Fryer by his wife Ellen NN.
Unmerged match to allow time for others to research. No need to rush if others are still researching. Cheryl
M Cole, you may proceed with any additional research on the profiles in question. Thank you.
edited by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl
Is it likely that the Fryers would be more susceptible to scrutiny with better resolution than might those Gardners?
She should be Elizabeth Unknown and not either of these last names. She died 1685. Thomas died way before 1685. And I would disconnect the daughter. Elizabeth was not likely to have been over 100 so not born before 1585. The alleged daughter estimated birth 1598 would not be hers
I totally agree with Isaac's assessment of all the traveling around and that the multitude of sourcing is wishful thinking.
I believe that we should eliminate the speculative chaff and stick to what we know. Objections?
The listed Marriage "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NVCJ-D4W : 13 March 2020), Thomas Fryer, 1599. I didn't look for his bapt.
What's the biographical rationale for how he, ostensibly born in Wapping (call it London) later marries and has children in Haddenham, 80-100 miles away, north of Cambridge. That's a long way, then.
Upper-class people tended to marry far-er away and in the bride's hometown. But working people and middle-class families, less so. This family is "covering" a lot of ground, without explanation.
This might make sense if either a) he was educated at Cambridge and living/working in that vicinity prior to emigration, which did happen, but isn't even hinted at here; or b) either side of the family were based in Cambridge/shire, but they're not-- or at least, we're currently saying dad is from Suffolk and mom is from Sussex (also potentially problematic, without explanation).
Overall, I'm worried past online researchers may have conflated real church records between unrelated people with merely-similar names into a synthetic narrative.
There are a lot of sources (which is great!) on this profile, but they're if this family group were originally sourced/researched via Ancestry.com (that is to say: which de facto encourages blind merges merely on basis of like names) that is a honking red alert.
In this situation, ideally we'd have a persuasive fact-filled biography that explains the asserted fact pattern. We don't, yet.
Is this a real family?