Mary (Durrant) Ring (abt. 1589 - 1631)

Born about 1589 in England [uncertain]

Wife of William Ring — married about May 1601 (to before 1629) in Pettistree, Suffolk, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 15 Jul 1631 at about age 42 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

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Mary (Durrant) Ring migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 3, p. 1586) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Mary Durrant^[1] was born about 1589 based on an estimated date of marriage of 1609. If she was the Mary Durrante who married in Ufford in 1601, her birth year would probably be earlier, say 1581.

Mary married William Ring by about 1609 based on the estimated birth of their first known child. Two potentially relevant entries are found in the parish registers of Ufford, Suffolk. A marriage:^[2]

1601 Wylliam Ringe of Petistrey singlman & Marie Durrante of Ufford single woman weare marrie together the xxj day of May

A daughter to this marriage was also recorded there who may have died young:^[2]

1602 Elizabeth Ringe the daughter of William Ringe & Marie his wife was baptized the xxiij day of Februarie (1602/3)

It is possible that the Elizabeth who married Stephen Deane & Josias Cooke is a subsequent daughter of the same name.^[3]

William Ring was a say-weaver (a maker of fabric for tablecloths, bedding, etc.) and became a burgher of Leyden on 7 June 1619, and his guarantors were William Bradford and Alexander Price. ^[4][5]

On 31 May 1614, Mary Ring was a witness to the betrothal of Mildred Charles and Samuel Terry in Leyden.^[6][7][8] An additional witness to the betrothal was Samuel Fuller, a later Mayflower passenger in 1620, the physician and deacon of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, and a witness and overseer to Mary's will in 1631.^[9]

The Ring family may have been among the passengers aboard the ill-fated Speedwell which was to accompany the Mayflower in 1620, but returned to Plymouth, England, because of its unseaworthy condition. Many of the stranded passengers decided to return to Leyden and a wait for another opportunity to migrate to New England.^[2]

William probably died at Leiden between 1620 and 1629. He was mentioned in a letter from Robert Cushman to Edward Southworth in August 1620 as being gravely ill.^{[10] [2]}

The widow Mary Ring and her children Elizabeth, Susanna, and Andrew arrived at Plymouth in Plymouth Colony, probably in 1629, after a voyage on the Mayflower (a second Pilgrim ship of the same name), which sailed from Gravesend in March and landed at Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony in May 1629. Several of the passengers had lived at Leyden prior to their voyage according to William Bradford's history Of Plimouth Plantation. ^[11][12] After some delay at Salem, the passengers traveled by boat to Plymouth. It is presumed that the Ring family traveled with this group. Mary was the widow of William Ring who was a member of the Pilgrim community in Leyden for many years, and a devoted follower of the Pilgrim's pastor, John Robinson.^[2]

She seems to have been educated as she signed her will and her inventory contained a few books. She may have been a woman of business with with money owed to her by William Bradford, Edward Winslow and "Goodman Gyles."^[9][13] Gyles owed money to the estate of Mary Ring of Plymouth, and the widow Ring had purchased of "Edm[ond] Gyles" a ruff.^[14]

She died in Plymouth on 15 or 19 July 1631, leaving a will presented 28 October 1633 in which she named her son Andrew; two daughters Susan Clarke and Elizabeth Deane; son (i.e. son-in-law) Stephen Deane; Stephen Deane's child (unnamed). Stephen Deane was to care for her son Andrew. Witnesses and overseers were Samuell Fuller and Thomas Blossom. The overseers were both deceased by October 1633, and Thomas Prence was confirmed as overseer.^[9][13]

Family

Children:

1. (possibly) Elizabeth, bp. 23 Feb 1602/3, probably died young^[2]
2. Elizabeth, b. say 1609; m. (1) Stephen Deane ca. 1629, m. (2) Josias Cook 16 Sep 1635^[15]
3. Susanna, b. say 1611; m. by July 1631 Thomas Clark^[2]
4. Andrew, b. ca. 1618; d. 22 Feb 1692/3 in 75th year^[16][17]; m. (1) Deborah Hopkins 23 Apr 1646 Plymouth, dau. of Stephen Hopkins^[18] m. (2) Lettice (___) Morton ca. 1674, widow of John Morton^[2]

Will

New Plymouth

1633

A Coppy of the will & Test of Mary Ring widow who dyed the 15^th or 19^th of July 1631. the will being proved in publick Court the 28^th of Oct. in the ninth yeare of the raigne of our Sov. Lord Charles &c.

It. I give unto him [son Andrew] all my wollen cloath unmade except one peece of red wch my will is that my daughter Susan shall have as much as will make a bearing Cloath and the remainder I give unto Stephen Deanes childe.

...As also the forty shillings of Comodities I am to have out of Englan (worn) I give unto him [son Andrew] also except the green Say wch I give unto Stephen Deanes childe to make her a Coat.

... It. one Ruffe I had of goodman Gyles I give to my daughter Eliz. Deane.

... The goods I give my two daughters are all my wearing cloathes, all my wearing linnen.

... It. my will is that the Cattle I give my sonne be kept to halfes for him by Stephen Deane, or at the discretion of my Overseers to take order for them for the good of the childe.

... It. my will is that Andrew my son be left wth my son Stephen Deane; And doe require of my son Deane to help him forward in the knowledge & fear of God, not to opresse him by any buthens but to tender him as he will answere to God. My Overseers of my will I institute & make my loving ffriends Samuell ffuller & Thomas Blossom. whom I entreate to see this my will pformed according to the true intent of the same.^[9][13]

Research notes

Birth/Marriage. If she is the "Marie Durrante" of Ufford, singlewoman, who married there in 1601 to "Wylliam Ringe of Petistrey," then she is presumably also. the mother of Elizabeth Ringe" baptized at Ufford in 1602/3. This Mary/Marie was probably born about 1581.

Pettiestree Registers. Ring entries in the parish registers of Pettistree, Suffolk, 1539-1650^[2]

• 1596 Anthony Durrant of Hilsborough in co. Norfolk s(ingle) m(an) & Elizabeth Stark s(ingle) w(oman) were mard 31 January (1596/7)
• 1597 Edmund Durrant of Framlingham at the Castle & Elizabeth Damforth of Ufford were mard 20 June.

John and Robert Ring. Soon after the arrival of widow Ring in 1629, John and Robert Ring embarked from England in the "Bevis" and are found in Salisbury as early as 1638.^[19]

Sources

1. ↑ John D. Austin, Mayflower Families Through 5 Generations, Stephen Hopkins, Vol. 6 (Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2001 [3rd edition]), p. 9. Her maiden name is given as "?Durrant."
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) John Insley Coddington, "The Widow Mary Ring, of Plymouth, Mass., and her Children," TAG Vol. 42 (1966):193-203. (Link by $ubscription.)
3. ↑ 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). p. 1586-7. (Link by $ubscription.)
4. ↑ Henry Martyn Dexter, Morton Dexter, The England and Holland of the Pilgrims, (London: A. Constable, 1906), p. 577
5. ↑ Johanna W. Tammel, Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, The Pilgrims and other people from the British Isles in Leiden 1576-1640, (Isle of Man : Mansk-Svenska Publishing, 1989), p. 226

   "Ringh, Willem [William Ring], Say-worker, guar[anteed] as Citz[Citizen] by Alexander Prijs [Alexander Price] and William Bradford [William Bradford], 7 June 1619."

6. ↑ William Henry Bartlett, De Pelgrim Vader of Puriteinen, Stichter van Nieuw Engeland (Leyden: P.H. van den Heuvell, 1859), p. 281
7. ↑ Dr. D. Plooij and Dr. J. Rendel Harris, ed., Leyden Documents Relating to the Pilgrim Fathers," (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1920) p. xix
8. ↑ Tammel & Bangs, Pilgrims ... in Leiden 1576-1640, pp. 67, 256.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch : 20 May 2014, Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 13 of 616; State Archives, Boston. Plymouth Colony records, wills, 1633-1686, Vol. 1:4-6, Will & inventory of Mary Ring, 1633.
10. ↑ Caleb Johnson, Mayflower History.com, "Letter of Robert Cushman to Edward Southworth" dated August 1620 at Dartmouth, England, in which Cushman states, Poor William Ring and myself do strive who shall be meat first for the fishes. Cushman survived until 1625, but no further record of William is found.
11. ↑ William Bradford, Bradford's history "of Plimoth plantation." From the original manuscript.( Boston, Wright & Potter, 1899) pp. 294-5.
12. ↑ Charles Edward Banks, The planters of the commonwealth, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1930) pp. 64-5.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2} George Ernest Bowman,"Plymouth Colony Wills & Inventories," Mayflower Descendant Vol. 1(1899):29-34, Will and inventory of Mary Ring, 1633 (full transcription).
14. ↑ 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). p. 765, citing MD 1:30, 33, 34; PCPR 1:4, 6. (Link by $ubscription.)
15. ↑ Plymouth Colony records, court orders, 1633-1690 Vol. 1:81
16. ↑ Plymouth, MA: First Church Records, 1620-1859 from the Plymouth Church Records 1620-1859. CD-ROM. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society; Colonial Society of Massachusetts, c2003. (Online database. NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) p. 275 (Link by $ubscription)
17. ↑ George Ernest Bowman, "Andrew Ring's Will and Inventory" Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 4:193 (which explains why PVR 135 has year of death wrong)
18. ↑ Plymouth Colony records, court orders, 1633-1690 Vol. 2:130
19. ↑ Cape Cod Series Vol. I: History and Genealogy of the Mayflower Planters and First Comers to Ye Olde Colonie. Copyright 1936, Hills Publishing Company, Washington D.C. Leon Clark Hills, Vol. 1:147.

See also:

• The Chrisman Pedigree, website created by Lonnie Chrisman

• Stratton, Eugene A., Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620-1691, Ancestry Publishing, Provo, UT, 2000, 1986.

• Parish Registers of Ufford, Suffolk 1558-1630

• Pilgrim Hall Museum, profile of Mary Ring

• Genealogy of the Dean Family: Descended from Ezra Dean, of Plainfield, Conn. and Cranston, R.I. Printed 1903, F.H. Gerlock and Co., Scranton, PA. Arthur D. Dean.

• The Lee-Beckwith Genealogy. Last updated October 15, 2002. Monty Lee.

• Plymouth Colony, History and People. Copyright 1986, Ancestry Incorporated. Eugene Aubrey Stratton, former Historian General of the General Society of Mayflower Descendents.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 28 March 2021), memorial page for Mary Durrant Ring (1589–15 Jul 1631), Find A Grave: Memorial #34758562, ; Maintained by Linda Mac (contributor 47062703) Unknown. (No gravestone photo.)

• The ancestors and descendants of Johann Adam Schauss, 1620 A.D. to 2020 A.D. edited by Rev. Nelson A L Weller, Ph.D. 2020 A.D.