I found the English Ancestors of Mayflower Passenger William Brewster had no biographies or sources so I decided to take it on as a project. His father:
http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brewster-131
Only had four known children: William, James, John and Prudence. I'd like a leader to remove the remaining children on the profile as it is project protected. The profile has links to all the sources.
In 1970 John G Hunt published an account of the family of William Brewster of Duncaster in NEHGR Volume 124 p 253 in 1970.[1] This was a follow-up article to his previously published treatment of this family published in 1965 in TAG Volume 41 p 1-5[2] In 2014 the General Society of Mayflower Descendants published the latest research on Elder William Brewster and the authors call these two articles the current state of research on this topic.[3]
Mary Smythe and William Brewster had one child:
- "Elder" William Brewster, "Mayflower" Passenger. He was born in 1566 or 1567 in Doncaster, England and died 10 April 1644 in Duxbury, Plymouth Colony. He married Mary, whose parents are unknown.[1]
William Brewster married second to Prudence shortly after the birth of his first son. It has been postulated that her maiden name may have been Peck or Perkins but not with any confidence.[1][2] Prudence Peck and William Brewster had only three children. The children are specifically listed on NEHGR Vol 124 p 251.[1]
- James Brewster born say 1568 probably in Scrooby died 14 Jan 1613 in Sutton, Nottinghamshire, England. He married Mary Welbeck who died 7 Apr 1637 in Sutton, Nottinghamshire, England and they had four daughters Grace who married William Glaive, Elizabeth, Susanna and Judith who married Edward Oldfied.[6] He is proposed to be the James Brewster who was vicar of Sutton cum Laude. He matriculated at St John's College at Cambridge in 1582, succeeded Henry Brewster (his uncle) as vicar at Sutton on Lound in 1594. His brother William Brewster testified on his behalf.[1][7][7][1] Although it has not been decisively proven that this son James is identical to the man of the same name who was vicar.[3] However, the evidence is fairly strong that he was. [8]
- Prudence Brewster born say 1567 probably in Scrooby and probably died before 1609 in Everton, Nottinghamshire, England when two of her children were wards to William Brewster (see below). She married Robert Pecke whose will was dated 1598 in Everton, Nottinghamshire, England. He possibly had a second wife named Jun Jenyver if he was the man of the same name who married in 15 Jun 1589 in Loude, three miles from Scrooby. It is unclear which children were from which wife but in his will he names: Robert the eldest, Ann, Prudence, William, Thomas and George. His children Robert Peck and Prudence Pecke were wards of their supposed uncle William Brewster at Ledyen.[1]
- John Brewster who in 1595 and 1613 was identified in the town of Myssen in Nottinghamshire, England where he was twice fined. After that he disappears. Note that this son John is often conflated with Rev John Brewster of Surrey and he is not identical. That John is related to the Strong family and has nothing to do with this family of Scrooby. Our John vanishes it would seem in the town of Myssen after 1613. This is last date and place we find evidence for him.[9][1]The other John of Surrey is discussed by Mary Coffin Johnson in The Higleys and Their Ancestry, An Old Colonial Family.[10]
This is the family of a very important historical character and it should be as accurate as possible. A whole list of children are getting copied to GENI, Wikitree, Familysearch, Ancestry and Werelate, etc. and there is no evidence to support their existence. We should raise the bar. If we include a name or a profile in the family tree of the only college educated Mayflower Passenger then we had better pony up a solid source to back up that name or profile. John G Hunt lists no children named Millicent (Brewster) Eames, Elizabeth Brewster, Henry Brewster, Edward Brewster, or Amy (Brewster) Weld. As stated above 2014 the General Society of Mayflower Descendants published the latest research on Elder William Brewster and they called these two articles by John G Hunt the current state of research on this topic.[3] Therefore all profiles of children except for the Mayflower passenger and the three others outlined by John G Hunt in NEHGR and TAG should be removed.
1. John G Hunt "The Mother of Elder William Brewster of the Mayflower" in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1970) Volume 124 p 250-254
2. John G Hunt, "New Light on the Brewsters of Scrooby and New England" in The American Genealogist (Demorest, Habersham, Georgia, United States: D.L. Jacobus, 1965) Vol 41 p 1-5
3. Merrick, Barbara Lambert, and E. Virginia Hunt. William Brewster of the Mayflower: and his descendants for four generations. (Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014), p 1-2, 2014. The GSMD "Silver Book"
