Robert Shelley (abt. 1612 - 1692)

Born about 1612 in Kent, England [uncertain]

Husband of Judith (Garnett) Shelley — married 26 Sep 1636 in Scituate, Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died 6 Sep 1692 at about age 80 in Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Robert Shelley immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Robert Shelley was born about 1612. He arrived in Boston in 1632 on the ship Lyon, and settled in Boston or Roxbury.

He married first Judith Garnett, at Scituate 26 September, 1636.^[1]

She had been admitted to the Boston church on 7 September, 1634.

Judith Garnet is thought to have come to America on the "Francis."^[2]

In 1644 Robert Shelley is described as a member of the church at Barnstable. ^[3]

By 1668 Robert Shelley married second, Susanna (possibly Susanna Dimock, daughter of Thomas Dimock). ^[3]

Robert Shelley signed his will 11 March 1688/89^[4] in the presence of witnesses. He died 6 September 1692.^[4] Inventory of his estate was taken 3 October 1692, and entered at Barnstable Court 22 October 1692.^[4][5]

Robert was literate, and signed his name on his will. His inventory included books worth 10 shillings. It also included two beehives and a cow, his house, land, and other property. ^[5]

Children

1. Hannah, bpt Scituate 2 Jul 1637;^[6] she died between 2 Feb 1708/9 and 5 Apr 1709; she married in Barnstable 15 March 1652/3 David Linnell.
2. Mary, bpt Barnstable, 2 Nov 1639;^[7] she d. aft 30 Jan 1693/4; she married first at Plymouth 25 Jan 165[6], William Harlow; she married second at Plymouth 19 Oct 1692 Ephraim Morton
3. John Shelley, bpt Barnstable 31 July 1642; d bef 29 Oct 1669. No issue.
4. (possibly) Susanna, b abt 1662-64; d. Halifax, Mass., 6 feb 1735; m1 John Gardner; m2 Joshua Ransom
5. Joseph, b Barnstable 21 Jan 1668^[8]
6. Shobel (aka Shubael), b Barnstable 25 Apr 1674;^[8] m in Guilford, Connecticut 15 Feb 1703/4 Mary (____) Euarts/Evarts
7. Benjamin, b Barnstable 12 Mar 1679/80;^[8] d prob Raymham, Mass.; m. Barnstable 8 Aug 1705 Alice Goodspeed.

Emigration

Emigration: on the ship Francis, 1634, Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts

List September, 1632 The Lyon, from London , England, arrived at Boston, Massachusetts

Source: ...The Planters of the Commonwealth... , pages 99-102

Residence

Residence: 1636, Scituate, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts

"Robert Shelley and his wife Judith Garnett from Boston were married by Mr. Hatherly in Scituate, 26 Sep 1636. He built the 39th house between 1636 and 1637 and removed to Barnstable in 1639." ^[9]

Burial

Burial: Scituate, , Massachusetts

Research Notes

Susan P. Canney, author [title? when published?]

"Robert Shelly came to New England on the ship Lion which sailed 21 June 1632 and landed in Boston on 12 September 1632. Judith Garnet came in the ship Frances which sailed from Ipswich, England, the last of April 1634. Her age is given on the ship's list as twenty-six. In September 1634 she was admitted to the first church at Boston as "our brother John Coggeshall's maidservant." Robert and Judith were living in Scituate, Plymouth Colony, MA, soon after Rev. John Lothrop arrived. Lothrop kept careful church records, of which the following relate to the Shelleys: "The Houses in the plantation of Situate...since my coming...No. 39 was Robert Shellyes, 1636." "Goodman Shelley joyned 14 May 1637." "Isaac Robinson & Margaret Handford contracted at Mr. Hatherlyes 27 June 1636, and by him Robert Shelly and his wife from Boston marryed here 26 September 1636." Robert had a farm in Scituate in 1636, on the Third Cliff near Gillson's windmill. Plymouth Colony records show: Nov. 5, 1638m "Robert Shelly & John Winter desire to be admitted freeman at the next Genral Court." 1 Feb. 1639/40, Robert Shelly of Scituate took oath of allegiance and fidelity." In October 1639, he, with Mr. Lothrop and other members of the church, moved to Barnstable, where he was living in 1670. Another record shows that he was listed among those able to bear arms, in 1643. On 5 Jan. 1643/4, Thomas Hinckley, Thomas Lothrop, Henry Cobb and Isaac Robinson drew up a list of those who were then inhabitants of Barnstable, and among the forty-five householders was "Robert Shelley, from Scituate 1639." Mr. Lothrop's Barnstable church records state: "Judith Shelly joyned by dismission from the church att Boston, 25 August 1644."

Sources

1. ↑ NEHGR 9:286: Edith Bartlett Sumner, Ancestry and Descendants of Amaziah Hall and Betsy Baldwin, Los Angeles, CA 1954, p, 167
2. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, et al., Great Migration III, 26-27: "Judeth Garnett, age 26, enrolled at Ipswich for passage to New England on the Francis 30 April 1634."
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995), page 1662-1663.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} "Probate records, 1686-1894". Catalog: Probate records, 1686-1894 Probate records v. 1-3 1686-1747. Film number: 007705400 > image 49 of 577. FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C9YB-N9Y4 (accessed 19 February 2023).
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} “Barnstable, Massachusetts: Probate Records 1685–1789.” Records of Barnstable, Massachusetts CD-ROM. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) P 84 (death date recorded on next pGe) Link for members.
6. ↑ NEHGR 9:281
7. ↑ NEHGR 9:281; 60:332
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} Records of Barnstable, Mass. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002. CD-ROM image 59. (citing 1:381) AmericanAncestors.org (free)
9. ↑ Scituate Historical Society

• The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995), page 1662-1663.

• Scituate and Barnstable Church Records, NEHGR Vol 9, page 286

• Miessner, Betty, "Early Families of Scituate," Scituate Historical Society. Accessed 17 Jun 2023.

• "The Lyon, 1632", Voyages are listed at ship name on Passenger Lists for Lyon

See also:

• Otis, Amos and Charles F. Swift (ed.) Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families (Barnstable, Mass.: F.B. & F.P. Goss, 1888), p. 156, which mentions Robert Shelley and Judith Garnet.
• Early Families of New England. (Original Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. (By Alicia Crane Williams, Lead Genealogist.) Robert Shelley
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LRQC-4XY
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=milosfamilyoftro&id=I7314.
• Passengers of the Lyon by Sandra Sulphin Olney
• Plymouth Colony Records
• A SURVEY OF THE GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF THE SHELLEY FAMILY OF HILL AND BOSQUE COUNTIES TEXAS by and copyrighted by Larry Shelley
• James Savage, GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND. Originally published 1860, p. 71.

SHELLEY, ROBERT, Scituate, came to Boston in the Lion, 1632, arr. 16 Sept. rem. 1640. to Barnstable, m. Judith Garnett of Boston, 26 Sept. 1636, at S. where he join. Lothrop s ch. 14 May 1637, had Hannah, bapt. 2 July foil.; Mary, 3 Nov. 1639 ; John, 31 July 1642; and other ch. it may be. Hannah m. 9 Mar. 1653, David Linnell ; and Mary m. 25 Jan. 1666, William Harlow, and next, Ephraim Morton. ROBERT, Barnstable, x perhaps s. of the preced. had Joseph, b. 24 Jan. 1669; Slmbael, 25 Apr. 1674; and Benjamin, 12 Mar. 1679. Sometimes the name is Sherley or Shirley