William Drew (abt. 1601 - 1657)

Born about 1601 in Devon, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 1657 at about age 56 in Isle of Shoals, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Crystal Drew [send private message] and Carole Gardner [send private message]

Biography

William Drew and son Thomas Drew, both born in England, possibly Devonshire, were at the Isle of Shoals by 1648, where he is listed as William DRUE with other Dover, NH., taxpayers. ^[1]

William Drew died in 1657 near the Isle of Shoals in a boat accident along with Thomas Snell, also a fisherman. William's estate was settled by Captain Bryan Pendleton, who was appointed by the court on 9 July 1657, giving us the year of death for William.

“Wheare as William Drew & Tho: Snell both of the Yles of shoales fisherman lately died Intestate & none hitherto appeareing to Administer, For the better secureing of the estate of the sd persons the Court doth hereby grant Letters of Administration unto Capt. Bryan Pendleton who is hereby Impoured & appoynted to Inventory the sd Drews & Snells goods & to take them into his possession and to give a Just Accompt there of at the next Court to bee houlden for this County.” ^[2]

Captain Bryan Pendleton b. 1599 Birmingham, England, d. 1681. He was a magistrate at Portsmouth, NH in 1656, and lived at New Castle by 1665. ^[3]

Thomas Snell was likely, but not proven to be, the spouse of Martha Mathews, daughter of Francis and Thomasine (Channon) Mathews. Martha's older sister, was Elizabeth who married William Drew. Thomas Snell would have been near the same age as William. No further records have been found for the settlement of the estate of William Drew.

Walter Matthews' will names his sister, Martha Brown, and her son, Thomas Snell. After Thomas Snell died, his widow Martha married 2nd Nicholas Brown. ^[4]

It is suggested, but not proven, that William 1 Drew had five sons: William, Thomas, Bartholomew, James, and Samuel. William and Bartholomew were fishermen, Samuel a sailor, James a mariner, Thomas possibly a trader. ^[5] Bartholomew Drew remained on the Isle of Shoals and apparently died there. If he is one of the sons of William Drew and brother to William, Thomas, James, and Samuel Drew; it should be noted that Bartholomew Drew's close friends and associates on the Isle of Shoals, are connected to the village of Stoke-In-Teigenhead, Devon, England (about 12 miles south of Exeter, Devon, England, on the Teign River). There is a Drew family in the Anglican Church Books at Stoke-in-Teigenhead, Devon, England, but no name familiar to this family. If not the marriage, at least the children should have been christened there.

The Isle of Shoals is a group of islands just off the coast from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Smuttynose is one of the islands, where Drew had property along with other land at Oyster River. The group of nine rocky islands, were partly in NH and ME, the islands in ME were Appledore, Cedar, Duck, Malage, and Smuttynose. They were all originally known to mariners as Smith’s Isles, named for Capt. John Smith who first visited in 1614.^[6]

William 2 Drew, was born about 1627 per a deposition by Thomas Drew born about 1632 stating that he was the brother of William Drew. ^[7] No source is mentioned in this book, noting that the Drew information was mainly compiled by N. W. Davis, of Winchester, Mass. I have not been able to locate the original document. [CG]

William Drew's spouse is not documented, but they would have married prior to William's coming to New New Hampshire. It is possible that she died in England, but there is a reference to William’s wife, not named. On 28 June 1653, a court document states that a "Charles Adams shall not frequent or come into the company of the wife of William Drew." ^[8] This indicates that William's unnamed wife was living on that date. Of course this could have been a second wife, but without her name we don't know.

William Drew is named in at least four Portsmouth, NH., court records between 1653 and 1663. Three of which are actions taken by George Walton against William Drew for his lack of giving an account of a fishing voyage in about 1661. ^[9] One of these records spells William's surname Drewe.

Research Notes

Although many sites link William Drew-76 to be the son of Thomas Drew-17 there is much evidence that this is not the case: There is no reason to believe this William Drew is the son of Sir Thomas Drewe of the Grange - who indeed had a son named William, who succeeded to his father's estates and died in Devon (d. in 1654 will dated 2nd November in that year). William Drew, son of Thomas, married 5 times but had no sons. ^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Noyes, Libby, Goodwin; Geneaological Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, 1988, p. 207.
2. ↑ Province and Court Records of Maine, Maine Historical Society, Ed. Charles Thornton Libby, (1931), 2:58. Original source York County Court Records, Vol. 2, p. 112.
3. ↑ The American Genealogist 10:15
4. ↑ Noyes, Libby, Goodwin; Geneaological Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire
5. ↑ Libby, et. al., Genealogicial Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, p. 207.
6. ↑ "Pioneers on Maine Rivers", by Wilbur D. Spencer, Portland, 1930, p. 46-47
7. ↑ Stackpole, Everett S., History of the Town of Durham, NH (Oyster River Plantation), Durham, 2:134
8. ↑ New Hampshire State Papers, NH Archives & Records Management, 40:103.
9. ↑ New Hampshire State Papers, NH Archives & Records Management, 40 volumes; 1:165; 5:505; 40:103.
10. ↑ Burke, John, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of The Landed Gentry, 4:672