Mary (Unknown) Brewster (abt. 1568 - 1627)

Born about 1568 in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England [uncertain]

Wife of William Brewster — married about 1593 (to 17 Apr 1627) in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 17 Apr 1627 at about age 59 in Plymouth Colony

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Mary (Unknown) Brewster was a passenger on the Mayflower. Join: Mayflower Project Discuss: mayflower

Biography

Mary Brewster, wife of William, was a passenger on the Mayflower. She and William were married by 1593.^[1][2]

In June 1609, Mary's age was stated to be "about 40," so she was born about 1568.^[2]

• Extract from the Getiugnisboek van Leiden, Letter k, folio 26, verso. [25 June, 1609.] Compareerden voor Sohepenen ondergeschreven Willem Bruster Engelsman, out omtrent xlij jaeren, Marytgen Bruster desselfs huysvrowe out omtrent xl jaeren, en Jonatham Bruster zyn zoon, out omtrent xvi jaeren, en de verclaerden met erde hen respective gestaeft en affgenomen gerechtilyck daertoe by een bode mitter roede verdaecht zynde, ten versoucke van Bernaert Rosse, Engelsman, wonende te Amsterdam, waerachtich en hem kennelicken te zyn, dat de requirant, &c., &c.,&c., &c. Soe waerlich moet hem Godt helpen. Actum den xxv Junij o xvje negen. (get.) A. Jasper van Vesanevelt. A; P. Van de Werff.^[3][4]
• Abstract: Witness statement by William Brewster, Englishman, about 42, Mary Brewster, wife of William, about 40, and Jonathan Brewster, their son, about 16, at the request of Bernard Ross from Amsterdam about damaged cloth. On the 25th of April, in William Brewster’s house ín the Stinksteeg, Bernard Ross unpacked five pieces of black-grey English cloth, damaged by seawater, in the presence of Willem Arentsz, son of the lease-holder of the cloth tax. Arentsz attached a seal to only one of the pieces. When the shipment was presented for taxation William Brewster was not personally present. William Bridgeman stated that at that time, on the Hogewoerdsebrug, he purchased from Bernard Ross the good parts of some pieces of damaged cloth; he had left them with Ross until he could pay for them, which was the next day. However, then Ross told him that the cloth tax collector had seized the cloth.^[5]

Mary sailed on the Mayflower, with her husband and children, Love and Wrestling.^[6]

Brewster Family Mayflower Passengers

Mary died 17 April 1627, in Plymouth. Her death was recorded in "The Brewster Book."^[7][2]

Children:^[2]

• Jonathan, was born in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, 12 August 1593; married Lucretia Oldam of Darby on 10 April 1624, in Plymouth.
• Patience, born say 1603; married 5 August 1624 in Plymouth to Thomas Prence, "the ninth marriage at New Plymouth"
• Fear, born say 1606; married in Plymouth by 1627 to Isaac Allerton.
• An unnamed child, buried at St. Pancras, Leiden, 20 June 1609.
• Love, born between 1612 and 1614; married in Plymouth 15 May 1634 to Sarah Collier, daughter of William Collier.
• Wrestling, born say 1614; died unmarried after 1627 and by 1651.

Research Notes

WikiTree Disputed Spouses

When there are two or more theories about who a person's wife or husband could have been, and it's not reasonable to think that one theory is more likely than another, it is best not to add any of them in the spouse fields of the profile. Instead, all theories can be explained in the biography section of the profile.

"The maiden name of William Brewster's wife has not been proven. The claim it was Mary Wentworth rests solely on the fact that Mary Wentworth happened to live somewhat close to William Brewster in Scrooby, Nottingham. It has also been proposed that William Brewster may have married Mary Wyrall, daughter of Thomas Wyrall, who was bailiff of Scrowbie Manor immediately prior to William Brewster, Sr. (father of the immigrant). Both these theories have been rejected by other noted genealogists.^[1] There are no fewer than seven marriages from 1590-1610 that have been located in parish registers showing a William Brewster marrying a Mary.

Both the Mayflower Society and the Elder William Brewster Society agree that Mary's maiden name is unknown. ^[8][9]

DNA

mtDNA Results I4a^[10] The Mayflower DNA Project currently lists one matrilineal (all female line) descendant of Mary and states this individual falls under Haplogroup I4a. This is a relatively rare haplogroup and has been found in England & Scotland and occasionally in Finistère, Brittany, France. It supports the belief that Mary was likely from either Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire (both in northern England).

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Anderson, Robert Charles. The Pilgrim Migration: Immigrants to Plymouth Colony 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004). p. 68
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Merrick, Barbara Lambert. Mayflower Families through Five Generations. Volume Twenty-Four The Descendants of Elder William Brewster Part 1. (Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014.)
3. ↑ "Deposition of Elder William Brewster and Others." New England Historical and Genealogical Register (1874) 18:53
4. ↑ Getiugnisboek van Leiden, Letter k, folio 26, verso image
5. ↑ Pilgrim Docs www.erfgoedleiden.nl/pilgrimdocs
6. ↑ Bradford, William, 1590-1657. Of Plimoth Plantation: manuscript, 1630-1650. State Library of Massachusetts "List of Mayflower Passengers." In Bradford's Hand.
7. ↑ "The Brewster Book," The Mayflower Descendant. vol.1 (1899). p. 7
8. ↑ Mayflower Society Books and Articles
9. ↑ Elder William Brewster Society Website
10. ↑ MayflowerDNA.org wiki mtDNA profile of Mary, wife of William Brewster

See also:

• Azel Ames, M. D., member of the Pilgrim Society, etc., The Mayflower & Her Log" July 15, 1620 - May 6, 1621, (Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston & New York - The Riverside Press 1901)
• Benton, Charles Edward, Ezra Reed and Esther Edgerton: Their Life and Ancestry, A.V. Haight Company, 1912 On Archive.org
• Bradford, William. History of Plymouth Plantation (Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856) p. 447 (6) M. William Brewster; Mary, his wife; with 2, sons, whose names were Love & Wrasling; and a boy was put 6. to him called Richard More; and another of his brothers. The rest of his childeren were left behind, & came over afterwards." p. 451 "(4) M. Brewster lived to very old age; about 80 years he was when he dyed, having lived some 23, or 24 years here in y” countrie; & though his wife dyed long before, yet she dyed aged. His sone Wrastle dyed a yonge man unmaried; his sone Love lived till this year 1650. and dyed, & left 4. children, now living. His doughters which came over after him are dead, but have left sundry children alive; his eldst sone is still liveing, and hath 9. or 10, children; one maried, who hath a child or 2."
• Lowell, D.O.S. A Munsey-Hopkins Genealogy, being the ancestry of Andrew Chauncey Munsey and Mary Jane Merritt Hopkins, Boston, Priv. print, 1920.
• MayflowerDNA.org wiki and mtDNA profile of Mary, wife of William Brewster

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