The John Pierce of Watertown, Ma. and the John Pierce of London, are they the one and same individual?

Question

Is there any information available on John Pierce, citizen and clothworker of London and patentee, concerning his family history and burial site? I've read on some of the genealogy sites that the John Pierce of Watertown, Ma. and John Pierce of London are the one and the same individual. I haven't seen any documentation for that claim, however.

Comments

I think the short answer is no, no and no.  Fred Peirce tried to link him to other Pierces, but that was just par for the course in his day.  Any two immigrants with the same name were the same person.  Same surname, brothers.  Same surname as an earl, disinherited runaway sons, or kidnapped by pirates.

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He could have traveled back and forth from his village to occasionally conduct business in London. People did get around in those days It would seem especially if they traveled the high seas to America.

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No. These are definitely two different people. John of Watertown was the ancestor of Frederick Clifton Pierce, and even he did not make the claim they were the same person. John of Watertown was from Norwich, not London. There is absolutely nothing that would suggest that these two men were one and the same.

Answer 1

I don't think they are the same. John Pers of Watertown was Frederick Clifton Pierce's family. He has what looks  to be very good documentation showing John was from Norwich, Norfolk County, England. This first Pierce book seems to have been based on good documentation.

It wasn't until later that Frederick Beech Pierce and Frederick Clifton Pierce tried to make this John related to Thomas Pierce of Charlestown because they found a record of a Thomas Pierce in Norwich sometime in the 1500. It was decided that since there was once a Thomas in Norwich it should only follow that Thomas of Charlestown was from Norwich.

As far as the John of London, if that refers to the Merchant Adventurer, there has never been anything to link him to the early immigrant Pierces.