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Edward Rice (abt. 1621 - 1660)

Edward Rice
Born about in Rappahannock, Virginiamap
Ancestors ancestors
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married after 1650 in Old Rappahannock, Colony of Virginiamap
Father of
Died at about age 39 in Rappahannock, Virginiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 31 May 2011
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Biography

Edward Rice of Virginia[1] In recent years there has been a lot of confusion between the Edward Rice (aka Deacon Edward Rice) whose family immigrated to Massachusetts from Suffolk, East Anglia, England, and "our" Edward Rice, whose family were what some have called "Lace Curtain Irish," meaning upper-class Irish, whose origins were not from the Emerald Isle. Most such families were Anglo-Norman and followed William the Conqueror when his barons extended their invasion of Britain to Wales and then Ireland in the 12th Century. The Rice family, however, apparently were of Anglo-Welsh origins ("Rhys" or "Ap Rhys" were the original spellings) but they identified with the Anglo-Norman gentry.

Ancestors of the "Rhys" or Rice family from which Edward Rice descends went to Ireland with Robert Fitz-Stephen in 1169 CE and settled in County Kerry. They were very likely relatives of "Griffydd Ap Rhys," one of the Princes of South Wales (1081-1137) who allied with the victorious Normans. Within a few generations, their name had become "Rice" and they were intermarried with the other Anglo-Norman gentry of Ireland. James, Stephen and Edward were frequently-used first-names for sons.

The prevailing custom of "primogeniture" meant that only the eldest son would inherit titles and estates; younger sons sometimes inherited from their mother or entered the military or the clergy. According to the library records of County Kerry, researched by Rice family descendants in the 1990s, a Stephen Rice of Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland, married Helena Trant and had four sons: James, Dominic, Thomas and David plus three daughters. His son Dominic, married Alecia (Alice) Hussey, daughter of Baron James Hussey of Galtrim, Co. Meath. Stephen Rice was their first son and heir. They lived in Ballymacadoyle, near Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland.

Dominick & Alice's youngest son, William (b. ca. 1598), knowing that he would not inherit anything (he had 5 older brothers!), hired aboard a ship that was sailing for North America in 1619. He "jumped ship" when it took on supplies along the Potomac River, hiding until it left. He settled in Rappahannock, Virginia, married a local girl named Sara, and they had two sons: Edward Rice, born ca. 1620-21 and Dominic (1623 - 1664).

Edward Rice married Mary Elizabeth Claiborne, born ca. 1635, when she was a teenager, after 1650. They had 3 sons: James, John/Claiborne and Thomas. Edward died in 1660, leaving Mary with at least 2 babies to raise alone (the 3rd likely died as an infant). As was often the case, young Mary married a local widower, also with young children, Robert Harris, in 1661. Robert, son of Thomas Harris and Adria (Osborne) Harris, had been born in England in 1615 and left behind when his parents emigrated to Virginia in 1619. Raised in England, he sailed for Virginia in 1650 with his own family. His wife (Names: Unknown) died around 1660, leaving him with several young children. Robert and Mary had one son together: William Harris, who married Temperance Overton in 1697.

There are three sets of Rice's who came to North America who claim that they are descendants of Griffith Rhys in Wales but claim not kin.
Our set moved to County Kerry, Ireland in 1169 and changes their name to Rice. In America they were called the Rice family by everyone who wrote about them.
A Henry Rice who was born in Bucks Co., Ireland, went to England and sailed to Virginia in 1620 and was killed by Indiana a few days before the Indiana [sic = Indians] attacked the colony in 1622, leaving a baby boy Nicholas Rice who lived. They were called the County Bucks, Ireland line. They say they moved to County Bucks, Ireland at about the same time our line moved to County Kerry. Also changed their name to Rice when they moved.
A Major Jonas Rice and a Deacon Edmund Rice moved from England to Massachusetts. They claim to have left Wales and went to England and changed their names to Rice at the same time as the other two. In Massachusetts they were called the English Rice's but when they moved from there they were called the Massachusetts Rice's.[2]

Marriage

Husband: Edward Rice
Wife: Mary Claiborne
Child
Child: Claiborne Rice
Marriage:
Date: 1680 [Could not be - he died in 1660 & Mary remarried]
Place: St Peters Parish, Hanover, Virginia, United States[3]

Sources

  1. "Rice Southern L Archives," by Roberta J. Estes, Feb. 7, 2007; online at: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/RICE-SOUTHERN/2007-02/1170902742 - Researched & written by Chet Snow, November 6, 2014.
  2. Added by Chet Snow, November 6, 2014.
  3. Source: #S-2050775419 Page: Birth year: 1630; Birth city: King William Co; Birth state: VA. Note: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=genepool&h=5020928&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt Data: Text: Birth date: 1630Birth place: King William Co, VA, VADeath date: 9 February 1710Death place: Glen Cairn, Doswell Hanover Co, VAMarriage date: 1660Marriage place: VA, VA




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Comments: 10

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The Y DNA of the Edward Rice line and the Thomas Rice line don't match and aren't even close. There is absolutely no evidence that Edward is related to Thomas Rice. A great deal of confusion exists and Thomas needs to be removed as Edward's son. We don't know who Thomas's parents are.
posted by Roberta Estes
#1-Question about the sources for the following statement in Rice 987 Biography: "According to the library records of County Kerry, researched by Rice family descendants in the 1990s" Who did the research? Where is it located, how can we find it?
  1. 2- Thomas Rice (Rice 539) the supposed son of Edward Rice (Rice 987) is said to have been born in Wales, or Bristol... Not Virginia. Has anyone researched this?
posted by Nathan Pyles
Rice-10488 and Rice-987 do not represent the same person because: One is a Virginian, the other from Massachusetts. Two men with the same name. Read the notes on Rice-987 profile.
posted by Mary Elizabeth Stewart
Rice-10488 and Rice-987 appear to represent the same person because: clear duplicates
posted by Stephanie Stults
Rice-1268 and Rice-987 appear to represent the same person because: same birth and death dates
We seem to have a bit of a problem here. If Edward was born in Virginia, how account for the fact that both his sons, Thomas and Claiborne, were said to have been born in England (or Wales)? Evidence exists for the emigration of Thomas from England in 1679/80.

Also note, Old Rappahannock County was formed from Lancaster Co. in 1656. It ceased to exist in 1692 when it was divided into Essex and Richmond Counties.

Rice-4765 and Rice-987 are not ready to be merged because: EDWARD 2 (s. Edmund 1), was the son of Deacon Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost. He was christened on 26 October 1622 at Stanstead, England, under the name "Edmund Ryce". The authors who provided this information on the Edmund Rice (1638) Association website write: "...your authors are convinced that Edward was the child baptized (and of course born) that year, and that he [Edward Rice] exaggerated his age in later life."



Edward Rice married Agnes Bent circa 1647. Barry’s History of Framingham states that Agnes Bent was without issue, which is clearly wrong. The will of John Bent of 1672 makes provision for his daughter Agnes Rice and her son John Rice, which not only shows she was still living at that time, but also proved she was indeed the wife of Edward Rice (there being only one John Rice available as a grandson of John Bent). The confusion stems from the fact that the birth records of her children and the record of her death all show her name as Ann, a common variant of Agnes in her time.

He resided at Sudbury, removed to Marlborough, 1664, was Deacon of the Church, and died August 15, 1712. By a paper on the Court files at Cambridge his age was 47, October 2, 1666, and if so he was born about 1619. He died at Marlborough on 15 August 1712, not far from 93 years old at the time of his death.

Edward Rice received one lot in the Sudbury Two-Mile Grant in 1655, and was living at Sudbury at that time. He resided at Marlborough, Massachusetts in 1664, where he was a Deacon of the church. In a court paper filed on 2 October 1666 at Middlesex County Court in Massachusetts, he declared his age as 42. He was in a land transaction on 1 April 1686 at Sudbury, to their son Edmund Rice of Sudbury, half of the farm lying within the bounds of Sudbury, "near the spring". (Edward had purchased this from his father Edmund and some purchased from his brother Benjamin. John Rice of Sudbury, a brother of Edmund, had the choice half.) He was elected Deacon in 1687. He was questioned in court, aged 70 years, in 1692. A 1712 obituary in the Boston News Letter gave the death year as 1711 and said he had been born in Berkhamstead in 1618. It also said he had 142 descendants at that time, of which 119 were living. It further said that Edward’s brother, Henry, who had died at Framingham in 1711, had a similarly large number of descendants.

Deacon Edward Rice’s wife, Agnes Bent, was born on 12 December 1631 at Wayhill, Penton Grafton, England. She was baptized in 1631 at Penton Grafton, England. Agnes died on 4 June 1713 at Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Different wife and children do not correspond.

posted by Wesley Doughman
Rice-987 and Rice-1256 do not represent the same person because: Birth dates and places do not match, death dates and places extremely different -- one in Virginia the other in Massachusetts. "Deacon" is common in New England, rarely seen in Virginia.
posted by Mary Elizabeth Stewart
Rice-4765 and Rice-1256 appear to represent the same person because: same birthdate and place ,same death date and place,wife Mary claiborne seems to be a mistake as she was in a different generation and place

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