Frances
Potter
formerly [surname unknown]
Born in Lewes, Sussex, England
[uncertain]
[uncertain]Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of
William Potter
— married
before 1635 [location unknown]
Descendants 
Mother of
Joseph Potter, Mary (Potter) Mansfield, Sarah (Potter) Blatchley, Hope (Potter) Robins, Nathaniel Potter and Rebecca (Potter) Adams
Died after
after age 54
in New Haven Colony [uncertain]
[uncertain]
Profile managers:
Darin Neves 
[send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Theodore Palmer [send private message], and George Graham [send private message]
[send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Theodore Palmer [send private message], and George Graham [send private message]Profile last modified
| Created 31 Aug 2011
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| Frances (Unknown) Potter migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
The Birth Date is a rough estimate. See the text for details.
Disputed Surname and Parents
According to Robert C. Anderson, the wife of William Potter was Frances Unknown.[1] Her surname and parents are unknown.
It has been suggested that Frances's [2] maiden name was Child, and that she was the daughter of Thomas Child of Bedfordshire. However, Frances's origin remains unknown. This is according to Robert C, Anderson in his Great Migration series.[1]. In the case of Puritan Great Migration project profiles, we defer to Anderson, unless there is new evidence discovered.
Birth c. 1609 at Lewes, Suffolk, England is a guess, based on the ship's passenger list which reported her age as 26 in 1635.[3]
An article by Patricia Law Hatcher, published in 2004, identifies the parish records for the Potter and Beecher families at Lewes.[3]. William was baptized on 28 August 1608 at St. Thomas as in the Cliffe, Lewes, Sussex, England, son of William Potter and possibly his 2nd wife, Ann/Hannah Langford.[3]
A Find a Grave memorial, which cites no sources, claims to know William's birth place.William's actual birthplace is Moreton, near Kingsbridge in Devonshire. He immigrated on the "Abigail" with his wife Frances in 1635-- they are on the ship's manifest, along with 4-month-old son Joseph, and their daughter Hannah was born the next year, in the New World. He was a founder of New Haven and signatory to the New Haven Covenant."[4]
Immigration
We have record of William Potter on the passenger list for the Abigail.[5] The ship left Plymouth, England destined for Boston in New England on June 4, 1635; among the passengers were William Potter age 27, wife Frances age 26 & 4 month old son Joseph Potter. His mother and brother, John, with his step-brother or half-brother, Isaac followed him to New England.
They settled briefly at Watertown, MA then moved on to New Haven Colony around 1639.
Marriage and Children
Frances married by 1635 to William Potter.[1]
Children of William and Frances Potter:[1]
- Joseph, b in England c. Feb,1635; m. Phebe Ives
- Mary, b say 1637, bpt in New Haven, 22 Aug 1641; m abt 1657 Joseph Mansfield
- Sarah, b say 1639, bpt in New Haven, 22 Aug 1641 (but not a twin); she m1 Lieut. Robert Foote of Branford; she m2 Aaron Blachley/Blakesley. Not named in her father's will but living 23 Aug 1706 when she obtained some piece of her father's estate.
- Hope, bpt 3 Oct 1641; m 3 Feb 1663 Daniel Robinson; (removed to NJ[citation needed])
- Rebecca, bpt 1643[/4?]; m 27 Nov 1667 Thomas Adams; (removed to Crosswicks, NJ[citation needed])
- Nathaniel, bpt 12 Nov 1644; m 1 Apr 1675 Elizabeth Howes
Death and Legacy
Frances was living when, on 7 April 1663, she was admonished by the court for giving her son Joseph part of her late husband's estate, contrary to his will.[1] She may have died at the farm where she and her husband lived. However, her death was not recorded as Frances Potter at new Haven (p 26).[5] Possibly she died elsewhere, or remarried.
Note: New Haven was part of the New Haven Colony until after 1664, when it joined with Connecticut.
Research Notes
Early writers of secondary sources commonly confounded two different William Potters.
One problem may be the use of the 1900 NEHGR article (which follows Savage). Roberts used this article in his Genealogies of Connecticut Families ...[6] Anderson cautions that Savage incorrectly assigned the Abigail voyage to the other William Potter and split the New Haven William Potter into two men.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Anderson, Robert Charles, "William Potter" Featured name. Great Migration 1634-1635. (Online database accessed 9 May 2016. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010.) Volume V, M-P, Pages 507-513.
- ↑ Selected and Introduced by Gary Boyd Roberts, Genealogies of Connecticut Families From The New England Historical and Genealogical Register ([CD] Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983), vol 3, p 153.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Hatcher, Patricia Law, 2004 English Origin of the Potter and Beecher Families of New Haven, Connecticut. The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database accessed 9 May 2016. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) Volume 79, Pages 28-32.
- ↑ *Find A Grave Memorial# 70381849
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Shepard, James, 1900 "The New Haven (Conn.) Potters, 1639." The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database accessed 10 May 2016: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.) Vol 54, Page 23.
- ↑ Cook, Dale H., The Plymouth Colony Pages. revised Dec 19, 2015, accessed 9 May 2016, pdf Page 227.
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DNA
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- Please PPP Unknown-104136? May 11, 2016.
Rejected matches › Elizabeth (UNKNOWN) Rose (abt.1610-1677) › Elizabeth (UNKNOWN) Rose (abt.1610-1677) › Frances Child (1609-1662)
Featured National Park champion connections: Frances is 12 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 18 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 10 degrees from George Catlin, 13 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 22 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 11 degrees from George Grinnell, 24 degrees from Anton Kröller, 12 degrees from Stephen Mather, 20 degrees from Kara McKean, 14 degrees from John Muir, 16 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 23 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
[Do you know Frances's family name?] | P > Potter > Frances (Unknown) Potter
Categories: Puritan Great Migration | Estimated Birth Date
This William Potter was no doubt born in Aug of 1608, as he was christened on the 28th of that month in the parish church of St. Thomas - Cliffe, one of the three historic parishes of the town of Lewes, in the southeastern portion of Sussex.
He was the oldest child of William Potter Sr., by his wife Hannah (Langford) Potter. I see no conceivable reason why he would have sought a wife in Chesham.
William Potter came to New England at age 27 (approx.) with his wife Frances and five month old son Joseph, sailing from London in July, 1635 on the "Abigail" to Boston, Mass.
On 1 Jul 1635, "Husbandman William Potter," aged 27, with "uxor Francis Potter," aged 26, and "Joseph Potter," aged 19 [? 22?] weeks, were enrolled at London as passengers for New England on the Abigail. See http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/abigail1635.shtml. The ship did not leave London until at least July 10, as the last set of passengers' certificates are dated that day.
Note that some people give Joseph's age per the ship list variously as 4, 20 or 22 weeks. However "four weeks" is clearly a misreading of the list. Joseph had been christened 1 February 1634/5 at Otham, Kent, the son of "William and Francis Potter." (Otham is located two miles southeast of Maidstone, and nine miles south of Gillingham, where, if I am correct, William's brother Steven would be buried a few years later.)
It may be that the passenger list was made up some time prior to July 1, and only sworn to that day. Assuming this to be the case, Joseph's actual age as of the date when the certificate was drafted could have been 19 weeks -- or if done on July 1, the 22 weeks per one of the alternate readings would be more consistent with the church record.
I believe that the head of this family was the William Potter who had married Frances Bringhurst 8 October 1627 at St. Botolphe's Aldgate, London. Considering that William was orphaned in 1619, it is reasonable to imagine that he would have left home at age 18, if not sooner, and attempted to make his way in the metropolis. While his age at marriage (i.e., 19 years) would have been a bit younger than normal, teen marriages were very frequent for women in those days, and not unknown for men at the time.
I would argue that in light of the very unhealthy conditions in the London area during these times, William and Frances moved out of London at the first chance. (Note, e.g., that in July of 1625, when Mary wife of a John Potter was buried at Bermondsey, Surry (Southwark), the parish was burying from 25 to 35 bodies per day (!); some without names - just corpses brought in on a wagon.)
Just to be clear, this William Potter should not be confused with the William Potter later of Fairfield County, Connecticut, who died in 1684. Fortunately the biography on Frances' husband's Wikitree profile makes that distinction clear.
As noted above, son Joseph had been christened 1 February 1634/5 at Otham, Kent, the son of "William and Francis Potter." (Otham is located two miles southeast of Maidstone, and nine miles south of Gillingham, where, if I am correct, William's brother Steven would be buried a few years later.)
I believe that this was the William Potter who had married Frances Bringhurst 8 October 1627 at St. Bololphe's Aldgate, London. Considering that William was orphaned in 1619, it is reasonable to imagine that he would have left home at age 18, if not sooner, and attempted to make his way in the metropolis. While his age at marriage (i.e., 19 years) would have been a bit younger than normal, teen marriages were very frequent for women in those days, and not unknown for men at the time.
I would argue that in light of the very unhealthy conditions in the London area during these times, William and Frances moved out of London at the first chance. (Note, e.g., that in July of 1625, when Mary wife of John Potter was buried at Bermondsey, Surry (Southwark), the parish was burying from 25 to 35 bodies per day (!); some without names - just corpses brought in on a wagon.)
In any event, I find no records of any children born to this couple in London. Instead, I would posit that the following were the children of William and Frances Potter:
1. Thomas Potter son of William, chr. 30 Aug 1629, at Horsted Keynes, Sussex (about 8 miles north of Lewes - long a center of the iron industry - and per one source William Potter followed the trade of an iron worker for time. This Thomas must have died young, as we find:
2. Thomas Potter son of William chr. 8 Aug 1630 in Gillingham, Kent. The second Thomas must have likewise died in infancy, as he was not part of the family coming to New England five years later. But the location of this Thomas' christening seems significant for other reasons.
3. "____amos" (unreadable given name, but most likely another Thomas), son of William, chr. 8 July 1632 at Hucking, Kent (just four miles northeast of Otham). (I haven't checked the original parish register to try my hand at deciphering the given name in the original register and bishop's transcript.)
4. Joseph (above), chr. 1 Feb 1635 at Otham, Kent.
5. Mary, born (guess) 1637 born in New England (Watertown??)
6. Sarah, born (guess) 1639 born in New Haven Colony
7. Hope born in 1641 born in New Haven Colony
8. Rebecca 1643 born in New Haven Colony
9. Nathaniel 1644 born in New Haven Colony.
Please approve if you agree. Thanks!
Have added some additional information to Child-631 and changed the guessed BD per John's suggestion. We have the passenger list stating she was 26 yrs old in 1635.
Also the guessed birth place has been addressed on Child-631 with a note in the bio and a bulletin board message.
Please take a look, and see whether there is anything else you feel needs research before merging this duplicate profile. I am sure we can work together to resolve. Thanks!
The parish records found by Patricia Law Hatcher and published in The American Genealogist are a primary source (and therefore better evidence than an unsourced Find a Grave memorial or an Ancestry Tree).
Please let me know, if I can help in any way. Thanks!
Please merge into Unknown-104136.
Please approve if you agree. Thanks!