Bridget (Unknown) Varney (abt. 1600 - 1672)

Born about 1600 in Berkshire, England

Wife of William Varney — married about 1629 in England

Descendants

Died 25 Oct 1672 at about age 72 in Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

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Caution: Disproven and Disputed Information

Bridget’s surname has been variously reported as Knight, Parsons, and Deverell; Knight and Parsons have been disproven; Deverell remains speculative.

Bridget is not Bridget Knight.
Raymon Meyers Tingley Identified Bridget as Bridget Knight, born about 1611, daughter of Walter and Elizabeth Knight of Salem, Massachusetts.^[1] Tingley’s work is undocumented and is known to contain “creative” and inaccurate information. His work has been questioned,^[2] and in this instance is simply not credible.^[3][4][5][6]

Bridget is not Bridget Parsons
Clarence Almon Torrey identifies Bridget as Bridget Parsons, ^[2] presumably based on her will, which mentions, along with her children by William Varney, her “son” Jeffrey Parsons. Other Varney genealogies have made the same assumption.^[7] The assumption has been effectively disproven for some time.^[8]

Bridget may be Bridget Deverell.
Kathleen Barber and Janet Delorey have suggested that Bridget "is probably" the Bridget Deverell who married William Varney on 7 April 1629 in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, Berkshire, England.^[5]. The suggestion is attractive, given that the marriage date is about the right time, and Bridget Deverell was about the right age to be the Bridget who emigrated to New England. However there is not, as yet, any evidence to connect the couple in Berkshire with the couple who emigrated to New England.

Biography

Origins and Marriage

Bridget was probably born about 1600, based on her stated age of 70 years in a deposition made in 1671.^[5] At present, no known records based on research in original records give an exact date or place of birth.

Bridget married William Varney about 1629 or 1630, based on the estimated age of their oldest known child, Rachel. Tingley suggested that Bridget and William married 4 May 1629 (place not given),^[1] but has no documentation and his identification of Bridget has been disproven. Bridget Deverell and William Varney married 7 April 1629 in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, Berkshire, England,^[5] but their identification with the couple who emigrated to New England remains speculative.^[9] but their identification with the couple who emigrated to New England remains speculative.

Children

Bridget and William had four documented children:
Rachel Varney, born about 1631
Unknown son Varney, born about 1633, died before 1672
Humphrey Varney, born about 1637
Thomas, born about 1640

When William Varney died in 1654, his probate records listed three sons and one daughter, names not given; the oldest son presumably already of or near legal age.^[10] This would give him an estimated birth date of about 1633.

When Bridget Varney died on 25 Oct 1672, her will mentioned sons Thomas and Humphrey Varney, daughter Rachel Vincion [wife of William Vinson ], and son Jeffrey Parsons.^[10] Bridget as the mother of Jeffrey Parsons has been disproven.^[8]

Other children have been attributed to William and Bridget, without documentation or other evidence, including William Varney, Walter Varney and Sarah Varney. William and Walter have no known documented existence other than their inclusion in the "creative" but undocumented family reported in Tingley.^[1] Sarah as a child of Bridget and William is most likely a result of the wording in Bridget's will that has caused considerable confusion and the erroneous association of her with the Parson's family.^[11]

New England

Bridget’s husband William and son-in-law Thomas Cooke were given liberty to reside in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony on 13 November 1649,^[12] suggesting that the Varney family had arrived in New England sometime in 1648.

Bridget continued to live in Ipswich after her husband’s death, through 1663. Sometime between 1663 and 1669 she moved to Gloucester,^[13] where she died 25 Oct 1672.^[14][15] She left a will, written on 10 Nov 1671 and entered into probate on 27 November 1672.^[10][16]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Tingley, Raymon Meyers. Some ancestral lines: being a record of some of the ancestors of Guilford Solon Tingley and his wife Martha Pamelia Meyers. (Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing Co., 1935), p. 417
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. (Boston, MA : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008)
   available on-line at AmericanAncestors.org, subscription required
3. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), pp. 1139-1142.
4. ↑ Anderson notes that Walter Knight was in New England by 1629, that he probably married there, the name of his wife is unknown, and he had no known children.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Barber, Kathleen Canney, and Janet Ireland Delorey. "William Varney of Ipswich and Gloucester, Massachusetts". The American Genealogist"". (Jul 2006), pp. 162-163.
6. ↑ Barber and Delorey argue that Bridget is too old, based on documented evidence regarding her age, to be the daughter of Walter Knight; and discuss the improbability of Tingley’s information based on the documented time of arrival of the Varney family in New England.
7. ↑ See, for example, Collacott, Margaret Oliver. The ancestors and descendants of Zephaniah and Silence Alden Hathaway: with notes on allied families. (Mentor, Ohio: unknown, 1961)
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Parsons, Willis S. “Jeffery Parsons of Loddiswell, Devonshire and Gloucester, Massachusetts”, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society), Vol 142, July 1988
9. ↑ England Marriages, 1538–1973 : database on-line. FamilySearch.org accessed 17 January 2016
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1916, 1917, 1920)
    Estate of William Varney of Ipswich Vol. 1, p. 173
    Estate of Mrs. Bridget Varney of Gloucester Vol 2, p. 313 (includes transcription of will)
11. ↑ See, for example, Stearns, Ezra S. Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire (Lewis Publishing Company, 1908) Vol. 2, Page 923
12. ↑ Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1911-1925, 1975) Vol 1, pp 179
13. ↑ Babson, John J. History of the town of Gloucester, Cape Ann: including the town of Rockport. (Gloucester Mass.: Procter Bros., 1860), p. 173
14. ↑ Vital Records of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts.: Essex Institute, 1917), [http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Gloucester/Images/Gloucester_D314.shtml Vol. 3 (Deaths), p. 314
15. ↑ Massachusetts, United States. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988: [database on-line]. (Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Gloucester, Births, Marriages and Death (image 63 of 7465)
16. ↑ “Old Series: Probate records, vols. 301-303, Book 1-3, 1671-1694” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YY-KLZB  : 28 March 2024), Film# 007704242, Essex, Massachusetts, image 19, Vol 1, Page 15.

Additional Sources:

• Ancestors of Stanley Elmer Allen, User Trees, by Heather-W-Rojo, Genealogy.com
  Note: Contains much information now disproven, apparently taken from a no longer existing website.

• Bridget Knight Varney, Find A Grave: Memorial #124033761,Created by Robert DeVowe 24 Jan 2014, Find A Grave
  Note: Contains disproven Knight parentage