James Parker (abt. 1604 - bef. 1652)

Born about 1604 in England

Descendants

Died before 26 Aug 1652 before about age 48 in Barbados

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James Parker migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 3, p. 1391) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

England

1605 Birth, England

James Parker immigrated to New England between 1621 and 1640 and later departed for Barbados.

James Parker was born in England by about 1604 or 1605.^[1] He was a brother of John Parker, Haberdasher of London, and his brother Joseph, Citizen and Skinner of London.^[2]

Siblings

James' parents are not known, but his siblings are named in his brother Joseph's will^[3]:

1. John Parker, deceased, and John's 5 daughters beginning with Bridget
2. Mark Parker (now residing in Rotterdam),
3. Braford or Bramford, sister
4. James in New England.
5. Elizabeth Shuckford
6. Hannah Elce wife of George

Education

James apparently did not attend university in England, but he obtained sufficient education that he was called a minister after his emigration to New England.^[4]

New England

1631 New England

He emigrated to New England by 28 June 1631, when his name appears in a record.

He settled first at Piscataqua (also known as Strawberry Bank; the site of modern Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Kittery, Maine).

Marriage

He married Mary Maverick, daughter of John Maverick, probably not long after arriving in New England. ^[5][6]

1633 Dorchester, MA

He removed to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1633, and was one of ten men of Dorchester and Weymouth, Massachusetts, who were admitted as freemen on 14 May 1634.^[7] He later (in 1638 or thereafter) went from Dorchester to Weymouth ^[8]

1639 Return trip to England

He made a return trip to England in late 1639, traveling back to New England in 1640.^[9]

James Parker served as Deputy to the General Court from Weymouth 22 May 1639, 7 October 1640, 2 June 1641, 7 October 1641, and 8 September 1642. On 6 June 1639 he and two other men were appointed to "end small businesses" at Weymouth.^[10]

1644 Brother Joseph's Will

Joseph Parker died between 1642 and 1644, prob 1644.

Joseph Parker citizen and skinner of London and of the parish of St. Pancras, Soper Lane in London, 15 October 1642, proved 3 December 1644. To be buried in Pancras, Soper Lane, as near to my most dearly beloved brother John Parker as I may be.

To wife one third part and to Elizabeth my only daughter one third part of my estate. To my deceased brother John Parker’s five daughters two hundred and fifty pounds, to whose father I was much bound for his great care and true affection, always towards me. i. e. cousin Bridget, the eldest, fifty pounds, cousin Sarah, the second, cousin Joanna the third, cousin Mary the fourth, and cousin Elizabeth the fifth and last fifty pounds each.

To my beloved brother Mark Parker’s children sixty pounds. My brother John by his will gave me one hundred and fifty pounds upon condicon to become bound and to pay my sister Hannah Elce fifteen pounds every year during her life and after her death to pay her husband George Elce eight pounds per annum. My brother Mark Parker (now residing in Rotterdam in Holland) to continue the payment. To my brother and sister Bamford (in another place written Bramford) and to her only son Joseph Colson. To my brother James Parker in New England and his children. To my sister Elizabeth Shuckford. To John Elce son to George Elce my brother in law, and to Joseph, Francis, Mark, James and Samuel and to Rebecca and Mary, my sister Elce’s two daughters. To the town of Leicester where I was born, to be distributed among knitters of stockings.

My poor kindred of the Kowleyes and Warrens children. My cousin John Parker of Gray’s Inn and his son Mark Parker. To William Salmon and Russell Allsopp. To my cousin Mary Hall, Her husband referred to. To Sarah Jackson wife of Thomas Jackson. My wife Anna Parker and daughter Elizabeth to be joint executors, and my brother Mark Parker, my brothers William and John Jolly my brother Patrick Bamford, by brother George Smith and my cousin John Dethicke overseers. Rivers 21.

1642 Minister, Piscataqua

In November 1642, he accepted a call to serve as minister at Piscataqua. John Winthrop wrote in his journal that "those of the lower part of the river Pascataquack invited one Mr. James Parker of Weymouth, a godly man and a scholar, one who had been for many years a deputy of for the public court, to be their minister."^[11]

At the time of his brother Joseph's will in 1642, James Parker was in New England. ^[3]

He apparently was at Piscataqua in 1644 and 1645, as he wrote letters to John Winthrop from the Isle of Shoals (offshore near the mouth of the Piscataqua River) on 10 June 1644 and from Strawberry Bank on 28 July 1645.^[12]

Barbados

1646 Minister in Barbados

James Parker relocated from New England to Barbados (in the West Indies) to serve as a minister some time before 24 June 1646, when he wrote to John Winthrop from Barbados and mentioned that he had not yet sent for his wife.

Mary Parker and their children joined him in Barbados before 19 July 1647, when a letter to Winthrop from Barbabos immigrant Richard Vines reported that "Mr. Parker and his wife and family are well seated [in Barbados] with a good plantation of twenty acres, besides a good stipend and many good gifts, well approved in his function, opposed by none, unless by Antinomians and such like."^[13]

1648 Will, Barbados

James Parker made his will in Barbados on 21 August 1648. He died some time after that date and before 26 August 1652, when the will was proved.^[14]

A letter that John Winthrop wrote to his son John on 6 October 1648 stated "the plague is still hot at Barbados: Mr. Parker the minister, and Mr. Longe, who married Capt. Hawkins's daughter, are dead there." Anderson states that "it has been said that this was an exaggeration and he did not until 1652 when his estate was probated, but no record of him is found after 1648."^[15]

In his will James Parker called for ₤5 to be given his son John Parker, and directed that one-third of the residue of the estate should go to his wife "Mary Parker" and the remainder should be divided between his other children, Azircam, James, Thomas, Fearnot, and Mary Parker.

The will also directed that his wife should sell all of his property and that she and the children should go to New England.^[16] This instruction may not have been followed; his children Azricam and Fearnot were recorded in Barbados in later years.^[17]

Children

The known children of James Parker and Mary (Maverick) Parker are:^[18]

1. John, born about 1632; alive as of the date of his father's will in 1648 but not named in administration of brother James 1666 estate.
2. Azricam, born about 1634; recorded in Barbados in 1661 and 1663
3. James, born about 1636; died unmarried in Boston (at the home of Edward Lille) before 13 December 1666 when administration of his estate was granted to his "uncle Mr. Moses Maverick," possible brother or other relation to James' mother. Suffolk and Barbados probate documents suggest that only two siblings-- both on Barbados-- survived. Fearnot, wife of John Pernell, is named; the other would have been Azricam.^[19]
4. Thomas, born about 1638; alive as of the date of his father's will in 1648 but not named in administration of brother James' estate in 1666.
5. Fearnot, born about 1640; married Captain John Pearnell on 19 March 1660/1 in St. John, Barbados
6. Mary, born about 1642; alive as of the date of her father's will in 1648 but not named in administration of brother James' estate in 1666.

Sources

1. ↑ His brothers' births have been estimated as 1600 and 1602. If James was the next younger brother, his birth year can be estimated as 1604. Anderson notes that James Parker's estimated marriage date of 1630 indicates a birth by 1605.
2. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, pp. 1391-3
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters. Will of Joseph Parker, citizen and skinner of London, in Genealogical Gleanings in England, Volume 1. Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1901, pp 578-579.
4. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, pp. 1391-3
5. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, pp. 1391-3.
6. ↑ In New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Torrey listed 1635 as the date for the marriage of Rev. James Parker and Mary Maverick.
7. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, pp. 1391-3
8. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, in New England, 1636-1734, p. xvi
9. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, pp. 1391-3
10. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, p. 1392
11. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, p. 1391
12. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, p. 1393
13. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, p. 1393
14. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, pp. 1392-3
15. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, pp. 1393
16. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, p. 1392
17. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, p. 1392
18. ↑ Anderson, vol. 3, pp. 1392-3. Anderson states that the birthdates of the children are estimated based on the assumptions that they are listed in order of birth in James Parker's will, that Fearnot was about 20 years old when she married, and that they were born about two years apart.
19. ↑ "Notes," in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-, Vol. 68, pp. 202-3, citing Suffolk Probate Records 241 and Barbados Probate Records. NEHGR Link

• Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society. 1995. Vol 3, pp 1391-93. American Ancestors (subscription)