Thomas Brewer (abt. 1600 - abt. 1690)

Born about 1600 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Unknown (Unknown) Brewer — married about 1625 in England

Descendants

Died about 23 Mar 1690 at about age 90 in Hampton, Province of New Hampshire [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Chase Ashley [send private message]

Biography

This is the profile for Thomas Brewer of Roxbury, the father of Mary Brewer who married William Lane in Boston on August 21, 1656.^[1]

Parentage; Date and Place of Birth

Thomas' parentage is unknown and his date and place of birth are uncertain. Based on the estimated date of birth of his probable eldest child (1626), Thomas was probably born sometime about 1588-1604, with about 1600 being a reasonable round-number estimate. Based on his estimated date of birth, Thomas was probably born somewhere in England.

Marriage

As discussed in her profile, the identity of the wife of this profile's Thomas Brewer is unknown and the claim that her first name was Elizabeth is almost certainly mistaken. Based on the estimated date of birth of their first child (1626), they were probably married about 1625, no doubt in Engalnd.

Children

Set forth below are Thomas' known and probable or possible children. A discussion of the evidence supporting his parentage of them is presented in their respective profiles.

1. (probably) John, b. about 1626, m. October 23, 1647 Mary Whitmore in Ipswich, d. June 22, 1684 in Ipswich. (See discussion and sources in John's profile.)
2. Mary, b. probably sometime in 1631-1636,^[2] August 21, 1656 William Lane in Boston,^[1] d. probably before February 1670/1 in Boston^[3]
3. (probably) Sarah, b. probably sometime in 1637-1639, November 2, 1657 Thomas Webster in Hampton, d. after October 15, 1699 probably in Hampton. (See discussion and sources in Sarah's profile.)

Thomas was also possibly the father of Crispus Brewer and Peter Brewer, but there is no evidence connecting either Crispus or Peter to either Thomas or his other children except the fact that they had the same last name and were of about the right age to have been Thomas' children.

Search for Children's Birth Records

In an attempt to find Thomas' origin, identity of his spouse, and his children's dates and place of birth, a search was conducted on familysearch.org in November 2019 to try to find birth records for a John Brewer, Mary Brewer and Sarah Brewer and Crispus Brewer, children of a Thomas Brewer, who were born at the correct time to have been the children of this profile's Thomas Brewer. Since probable son John Brewer's estimated date of birth is 1626 (and almost certainly wasn't much later), a search was conducted for John Brewer or Bruer, son of Thomas, born in 1620-1628 in either England or Massachusetts and found following three matches:

• John Brewer, bpt. October 13, 1621 in Chelmsford, Essex, son of Thomas and Grace Brewer^[4]
• John Brewer, bpt. June 15, 1623 at St. Dunstan, Stepney, London, son of Thomas and Jane Brewer^[5]
• John Brewer, bpt. March 21, 1626 in Woodplumpton, Lancashire, son of Thomas Brewer (no mother listed)^[6]

Since known daughter Mary was probably born sometime in 1631-1636, a search was conducted for Mary Brewer or Bruer, daughter of Thomas, born in 1630-1638 in either England or Massachusetts and found the following matches:

• Mary Brewer, bpt. September 1, 1630 in Yarmouth, Hampshire, daughter of Thomas and Judith Brewer^[7]
• Mary Brewer, bpt. January 1635 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, daughter of Thomas Brewer (no mother listed)^[8]
• Marie Bruer, bpt. April 5, 1635 at Southbroom St James, Wiltshire, daughter of Thomas Bruer (no mother listed)^[9]
• Mary Brewer, bpt. November 15, 1638 in Crowle, Lincolnshire, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Brewer^[10]

Since probable daughter Sarah was probably born sometime in 1637-1639, a search was conducted for Sarah Brewer or Bruer, daughter of Thomas, born in 1635-1641 in either England or Massachusetts and found no matches.

Since possible son Crispus Brewer was probably born sometime in 1625-1634, a search was conducted for Crispus Brewer or Bruer born in 1620-1640 in either England or Massachusetts and found no matches.

Since there is no overlap in locations between the birth date matches for John and Mary and no birth date matches at all for Sarah and Crispus, the search resulted in no clues as to Thomas' origin, spouse's name or children's dates and places of birth.

Immigration; Residency in Ipswich

Thomas was probably the Thomas Brewer who appears in Ipswich town records in 1639-1642. Set forth below are the records that have been found for Thomas Brewer of Ipswich:

• A grant to Thomas Brewer of a house lot with one acre of ground, six acres of planting ground, and two acres of ground within the common fence was entered into Ipswich town records on April 9, 1639.^[11][12]
• A grant of land to John Deane the elder entered into Ipswich town records on April 9, 1639 described the land as having a parcel of ground of Thomas Brewers on the northwest.^[13][12]
• A grant of land to Thomas Bird entered into Ipswich town records on April 9, 1639 describes the house lott as having a house lot of Thomas Brewer on the east and the planting ground having a planting lot of Thoms Brewer;s on the north.^[14][12]
• Thomas Brewer was listed among the the Commoners in Ipswich who have the right to Commonage as of the last day of the last month of 1641 (February 28, 1642).^[15][16]

Since the first record of Thomas of Ipswich is from April 1639 and winter voyages to New England were rare, Thomas of Ipswich probably emigrated from England to New England in 1638.

No record of a Thomas Brewer in Ipswich has been found after the above-mentioned 1642 list of Ipswich commoners. He does not appear on a 1648 list of Ipswich inhabitants who had agreed to annual sums to Major Denison so lons as he was the leader of the Company of Massachusetts Bay.^[17] That list appears to be a fairly complete list of Ipswich inhabitants, suggesting that Thomas Brewer was no longer living in Ipswich by that time.

The reasons for believing that Thomas of Ipswich was the same person as Thomas of Roxbury are (1) the fact that there is no record of Thomas of Ipswich after 1642 and no record of Thomas of Roxbury prior to 1652, which is consistent with Thomas moving between those two dates and (2) the fact that Thomas of Roxbury's probable son, John, lived in Ipswich, which is consistent with Thomas of Roxbury having had land there.

Residency in Roxbury

Only two records have been found relating to Thomas' residency in Roxbury. First, the list of men who were made free at a General Court of Election of the Massachusetts Bay Colony on May 26, 1652 includes a "Tho: Brewar."^[18].^[19] The transcription of the record found in Shurtleff makes it unclear what town of residency, if any, was indicated for Thomas Brewar. The name listed above Thomas' was for a resident of Roxbury, while the name below Thomas' was for a resident of Weymouth.^[18] The residency of other men for whom no place of residence was listed by Shurtleff suggests that either the reference to Roxbury or Weymouth may have been intended to also refer to Thomas. Andrew's composite list of freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony states that the Thomas Brewar who was made a freeman on May 26, 1652 was of Roxbury, probably (but not necessarily) based on his reading of the original records.^[19] The only other record found relating to Thomas' residency in Roxbury is a 1656 Boston marriage record that states that William Lane and Mary Brewer daughter of Thomas Brewer of Roxbury were married 21st -- 6th month by Richard Bellingham Dept. Govr.^[1]

There are plenty of references to Daniel Brewer and his brother Nathaniel Brewer in the early Roxbury town land and church records published in the Report of the Record Commissions, but no reference to Thomas Brewer except an incorrect entry in a later-created index that refers to a record that actually relates to Thomas Baker.^[20] The lack of additional Roxbury records for Thomas Brewer is curious if he was indeed a Roxbury resident.

Removal to Hampton

Based on the assumption that Thomas was a resident of Roxbury in 1656 and died in Hampton in 1690, he removed to Hampton sometime between those two dates and, most likely, lived with his presumed daughter Sarah (Brewer) Webster.

Death

There is a entry in the Hampton town records of the death on March 23, 1689/90 of "ould Goodman Brewer," which probably relates to this profile's Thomas Brewer.^[21][22]

Research Notes

• Neither the Essex County deed indexes nor the Suffolk County deed indexes show any deeds with a Brewer (or Bruer) as a grantor or grantee that could related to this profile's Thomas Brewer.
• Both Ipswich and Roxbury town records are viewable at a Family History Center. Ipswich records are also available on ancestry.com.
• No records related to Thomas were found in Essex Quarterly Court records.

^{[19] [20] [16] [12] [9] [10] [7] [8] [5] [4] [6] [22] [21] [2] [1] [3] [17] [15] [14] [13] [11] [18]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} A Report of the Record Comissioners Containing Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths, 1630-1699. 1883. p. 57. Link to page at hathitrust.org.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Mary's estimated range of date of birth is based on her date of marriage.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} The proposition that Mary died before February 1670/1 is based on the fact that she was not mentioned in the deed by her husband on February 23, 1670/1 or any of the later deeds by him even though it appears to have been the custom that wives were named in deeds by their husband. See "Land Records" in the profile for Mary's husband, William Lane.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "England, Essex Parish Registers, 1538-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJD7-Y954 : 6 November 2017), John Brewer, 13 Oct 1621, Christening; citing , Chelmsford, Essex, England, Essex Record Office, England; FHL microfilm 1,472,064.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPHN-29G : 11 February 2018, John Brewer, 15 Jun 1623); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 595,417.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NB94-X6F : 11 February 2018, John Brewer, 21 Mar 1626); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 0844798 IT 1.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JM98-6HQ : 11 February 2018, Mary Brewer, 01 Sep 1630); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,470,893.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JMGB-29X : 11 February 2018, Mary Brewer, 23 Jan 1635); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 845,460.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3J2-7N1 : 11 February 2018, Marie Bruer, 05 Apr 1635); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 950,261.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N11H-3JV : 11 February 2018, Mary Brewer, 15 Nov 1638); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,450,394.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Ipswich Town Records, Vol. 1, pp. 50-51. Link to page at ancestry.com.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3} The Ancient Records of the Town of Ipswich. Vol I. 1634 to 1650. 1899. page with the heading "Entered this 9th day of April 1639" and the following page. Link to pages at archive.org.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Ipswich Town Records, Voll1, p. 50. Link to page at ancestry.com.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Ipswich Town Records, Vol.1, p. 51. Link to page at ancestry.com
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Ipswich Town Records, Vol. 1, p. 99. Link to page at ancestry.com.
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} The Ancient Records of the Town of Ipswich. Vol I. 1634 to 1650. 1899. page facing the page with the heading "March 17th 1642.". https://archive.org/details/ancientrecordsof00ipsw/page/n97 Link to pages at archive.org.
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} Ipswich Town Records, Vol. 1, p. 99. Link to page at ancestry.com.
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1 18.2} Shurtletff, Nathaniel B. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England. Vol. IV - Part I. 1650-1660. 1854. p. 460. Link to page at hathitrust.org.
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1 19.2} Andrews, H.F. List of Freeman Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1630 to 1691, with the Freeman's Oath the First Paper Printed in New England. 1906. Link to record at archive.org.
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1} A Report of the Record Commissioners, Containing the Roxbury Land and Church Records. Second Edition. 1884. p. 12. Link to page at archive.org.
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1} State of New Hampshire's Copy of Volume 1 of the Hampton Town Records. FHL Film # 005510722, image 80. Link to image at familysearch.org.
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1} "New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSK4-FXC : 10 March 2018), Ould Goodman Brewer, 23 Mar 1689; citing , Bureau Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,001,060.

See also:

• "Notes." The Essex Antiquarian. Volume XII. 1908. p. 140. Link to page at hathitrust.org.