Thomasine (Brike) Meyer (abt. 1600)

Please see g2g discussion regarding proposed changes: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1595147/pgm-proposal-for-changes-to-the-wives-of-john-mayo-1597-1676

From my previous comment, immediately below, pertaining to Wikitree's Rev. John Mayo webpage: "I recently made extensive corrections and insertions to the entire text, virtually all identified by their enclosure in square brackets." As a matter of Wikitree policy, I was asked to remove all the brackets I had used to distinguish my recent contributions from earlier, often inaccurate material, and I have done so. Except for a couple of formerly bracketed paragraphs that are now italicized, the distinction between the older material and my contributions no longer exists. So, if you plan to take a look at the Rev. John Mayo text, you won't find the brackets to which I had previously alerted you.

For another look at the issue of how many wives Rev. John Mayo had and whether or not "Timmosijn Breyck" was one of them (or the only one), please see the Wife or Wives? section on his Wikitree page: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Mayo-13. I recently made extensive corrections and insertions to the entire text, virtually all identified by their enclosure in square brackets.

Addressing here a couple of Richard Sears's points: Although the name Tamasin/Thomasine/etc. was more common in the 1600s than it is now, it was always unusual. If Rev. Mayo married (at least) twice (I believe he did), the odds that both wives were named Tamasin are extremely poor. But putting that aside, that "jan Meyer" was John1 Mayo—especially in the absence of any independent evidence that Mayo was ever in Holland—is a shaky proposition. My position, therefore, is that the identity of Mayo's first wife (who, incidentally, was living in 1670) is unknown.

"[Mayo's] presence in Holland among the Pilgrims jibes with his presence (1st) in Barnstable and Eastham (Plymouth Colony) in New England—and after his living at Second Church in Boston—he returned to Yarmouth (Plymouth Colony territory again) to finish his lifetime." The Pilgrims were Separatists, in Leiden and Plymouth, while Mayo was a Puritan; prior to emigrating he was chaplain for nobleman William Fiennes, who, with other Puritans, financed the colonization of a couple of New England settlements. Separatists established the Plymouth settlement, but most of those who came after and populated other Plymouth Colony settlements were Puritans; Boston, of course (in the Bay Colony), was founded by Puritans. Mayo's 1643 letter to Connecticut Gov. George Wyllys indicates that the former had, in England, become well acquainted with Puritan ministers Thomas Hooker, Samuel Stone, and Ephraim Huitt, and their wives, all of whom went to Hartford and Windsor soon after immigrating. There is no evidence of which I'm aware that Mayo had relationships with Separatists, in Old England or New. It would therefore be incorrect to assume that Mayo would have been predisposed ideologically to go to Leiden. Upon leaving Boston, Mayo didn't "return" to Yarmouth; he hadn't lived there previously. The apparent impetus for his removing to Yarmouth was that a married daughter, Elizabeth Howes, lived there. But it had also been the home of Tamasin Lumpkin since 1638. The will of her husband, William Lumpkin (d. 1670/1), left his entire estate to her—not widow's thirds, not simply the use of a few rooms and livestock, etc., unless, that is, she were to remarry, but ownership of everything he had, "lands Cattle and goods During her Naturall life." These would be the "Goods and estate" that she would bring to any subsequent marriage.

Traditionally John has been assigned two wives: one name unknown, followed by a 2nd named Tamsen [or variation].

Recent scholarship has assigned him one wife: Tamsen Brike whom he married in an otherwise unrecorded sojourn in Holland. Or two wives (1) Tamsen Brike; then another woman also named Tamsen. (Perhaps Tamsen Lumpkin, widow of William Lumpkin, and mother of the Tamsen Lumpkin who married John Mayo’s son Samuel). Certainly his widow was named Tamsen.

It is also thought that John Mayo had two wives, and that his second wife was Tamsen (_____) Lumpkin, widow of William Lumpkin. The wording of John’s estate settlement (15 June 1676) suggests that his widow Tamasin was not the mother of his children. To complicate matters, some later research suggests that John Mayo married a woman named (in English) Tamsen Brike in Leyden, Holland. Is the Tamsen who lived to be his widow also his one and only wife? Tamsen, the daughter of William Lumpkin and his wife Tamsen, married Samuel Mayo, the son of Rev. John Mayo.

Summarizing argument that John Mayo’s widow was the same woman as William Lumpkin’s widow: (Reproduced ad infinitum on the internet; I don’t know who originated it).

[1] The wording to John Mayo’s estate settlement: with Tamasin claiming rights to her goods and estate from before their intermarriage. [2] The wording of Court Orders 5, (see MD 9: 121). “Mistris Tamasin Mayo the Relict of Mr. John Mayo,” on 2 June 1676, swore to the truth of the inventory “soe farr as shee knowes; excepting onely the Goods and estate which shee had before theire Intermarriage.” His estate was settled by Mr. Thomas Hinckley, Captain John Freeman, and Thomas Huckens, all appointed by the Plymouth Court, after an agreement, signed 15 June 1676, was reached between Tamsen Mayo, relict of Rev. John, and his surviving children: John, Elizabeth Howes, and Hannah Bacon. [3] Church record in handwriting of Rev. Increase Mather: “In the beginning of the year 1670, Mr. Mayo, the pastor, grew very infirm. On the 15th of April he removed his person, and his goods also from Boston to reside with his daughter in Barnstable . . . .” (The implication is supposed to be that he had no wife at this point, but I think Increase is not concerned with such an issue—it’s a church record not a familiar letter; his wife could have gone with John Mayo, perhaps equally infirm or perfectly healthy; the arguer says: “Record 3 shows that John Mayo was wifeless in 1670, so that his widow was not his original wife). [4] The rarity of the name Tamison. (True now, but was it then? But what if he were shown to have married a woman named Tamsen in the first place, as the Leyden record purportedly demonstrates. Then the rarity point backfires). [5] The close connection between Lumpkins and Mayos. (Undeniable).

My opinion (not fixed in stone): He was married once, and Tamsen Brike became his widow. She claimed the possessions she brought with her into the marriage: which she might have done whether or not she was the mother of John Mayo’s children. The wording of the legal documents is the work of a clerk or clerks, it does not reflect an “attitude” of non-maternity on her part. Tomasin at the beginning and the same name at the end. Sounds like his bride and his widow. His presence in Holland among the Pilgrims jibes with his presence (1st) in Barnstable and Eastham (Plymouth Colony) in New England—and after his living at Second Church in Boston—he returned to Yarmouth (Plymouth Colony territory again) to finish his lifetime.

Bio rewrite with most recent research with discussion. Comments welcome as it remains uncertain if Rev Mayo had one or two wives, if two they both had the same given name.

The project protection was added many years ago, long before the current project-account profile management standards were put in place. If her LNAB needs changing to Unknown, let me know and we can take care of it. But given that there's been dispute about her LNAB, once we settle on Unknown (or something else), we should place PPP back on to protect it from being changed later-- at least without consultation. Thanks for working on this profile, T.

Preparing to rework/rewrite/clean-up her husband's bio. A number of issues with this profile as his wife: a/ lack of marriage documentation; b/ lack of maiden name documentation; c/ date and place of death are clearly incorrect for the wife of Rev John Mayo. Was this profile made PPP because it is PGM or were there some other issues?

Seems to me from the sources on her husband's profile that Unknown might be correct for Thomasine. These sources indicate she died in Yarmouth in 1682.

Other websites claim John married Thomasine CONSTABLE 21.III.1618 Leiden, Zuid-Holland. Has anyone copied the entry? It seems no one has a clue about her parents . . . ..

Roser has her name as Tamsin Lumpkin.

Lumpkin-246 and Brike-4 appear to represent the same person because: Please merge. Thanks.

Brike-4 and Breyck-1 appear to represent the same person because: Appear to be the same person, lean towards Brike-4 as the LNAB though you all choose freely if you have reasons.