Edmond Lewes (abt. 1601 - abt. 1650)

Born about 1601 in Suffolk, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died about Jan 1650 at about age 49 in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Edmond Lewes migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 4, p. 278) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Origins & Relationships

Various Internet Sources confuse the origins and relationships of Edmond Lewes (Lewis). The family, in particular the children of Edmond Lewes (Lewis) and his wife Mary Lewes have recently been updated with the most current sources, so this profile has been protected by the Puritan Great Migration project. In the future, if additional information comes to light, please discuss in the comment section on this page. Thank you.

Biography

Edmond Lewes’s origins, his parents and ancestors, his birthplace, the way his name was spelled, his wife’s maiden name and his life before 1630 are obscured by incomplete records and published speculation by genealogists and historians. This Lewis line is alleged to have come from Wales, according to family oral history but there is no documentation to support this claim.

In The Lewis Family of Wales and America, Edward Simmons Lewis claimed that Edmond Lewis came to Massachusetts Bay Colony from Wales^[1], citing contemporary documents and histories of Lynn, Massachusetts.

William Lewis of Roxbury, brother to Edmund Lewis of Lynn, was descended from a very respectable family in Wales. His descendants enjoy great satisfaction in being able to trace their descent from a very high antiquity. - Annals of Lynn^[1]

Edmund Lewis of Lynn was brother to William Lewis of Roxbury, who descended from a Welsh family with a pedigree running back centuries. History of Lynn, by Alonzo Lewis and James Newhall (second edition)^[1]

This is undoubtedly the source of the family oral history of Edmond Lewes’s origin. Lewis made the claim that Edmund Lewis, born in Llystalybont, Glamorgan, Wales in 1601, son to George Lewis and Catherine Matthew, was the immigrant ancestor of our line, but provided no documentation to back up this claim.

In fact, we now know that William Lewis of Roxbury descended, not from deep Welsh ancestry, but from the Edmond Lewes family of Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, England, documented in Parish Records to the senior Edmond Lewes’s birth in 1519.^[2]

Isaac Newton Lewis claimed that:

“Edmund Lewis, cousin of William, with his wife and son John took passage on the Elizabeth out of Ipswich, the nearest home port and arrived at Watertown, Mass., in 1634 and the next year moved to Lynn.” ^[3]

Unfortunately, this statement is inaccurate in two respects (Edmond Lewes sailed on the Elizabeth with wife Mary and sons John and Thomas. They resettled from Watertown to Lynn in after 1642) However, Lewis’s claim of kinship between William and Edmond, though not supported in the Parish Records of Stoke-by-Nayland, is entirely possible if Edmond was a cousin born in a nearby town. Since, Lewis did not document this claim of kinship, we are still left in the dark on Edmond’s possible ancestry.

Furthermore, there is evidence that the Welsh Edmund Lewis was still living in Llys Talybont, Glamorgan Wales in 1637, three years after our emigrant Edmond Lewes and family had left England in 1634:

Survey of Llystalybont of 1653 - Edmund LEWIS, Gent, Houldeth There by coppie of court rowle enrowled and bearing the date eight day of may in the 13th; year of the late King Charles I, in the year of our lord god 1637. One messuadge one of chard. one garden, and 36 acres of lands arable meadow and pasture with appurtence for the terme of his leiff and the lives of CATHERIN his wiffe and Thomas LEWIS their sonn and the longest liver of them successive lie according to the custome of the said manor at Ye yearlie rent of 8/4d. Etc; etc; signed by Thomas LEWIS esq; Then Steward of the Said Manor.^[4]

The most extensive documentation of Edmond Lewes and his descendants is Edmund Lewis of Lynn, and some of his descendants, by George Harlan Lewis, 1908. While much of this reference is well documented, the author also made errors, drew conclusions not based on primary doumentation, and. most importantly, was not privy to documents located and made available after 1908. Caution is urged in taking all of his work at face value.^[5]

Lewis/Lewes surname occurrence in 15th to 18th Century Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Leicester and Lincoln.

Research in English Parish Records and other sources reveals an astonishing presence of Lewis families in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire from the 15th to the 17th Centuries. The entire eastern half of England seems to have been populated by Lewises early on, from the town of Lewes, Sussex in the south to Yorksire in the North. Among these Lewis families are many Edmond/Edmunds, Thomases, Johns, Marys, Elizabeths, Ann/Hannahs and other given names that run strong in our line.

The various spellings of the Lewis surname offer tantalizing clues to family origins. Although English spelling was not standardized until the mid-1700s, research reveals interesting geographic patterns that hint at patterns of migration and settlement. It is important to understand that many people in 17th Century England could not write, and could read only minimally, including our Edmond. The various spellings of surnames were the result of different scribes recording the names according to the scribes understanding of the spelling, not from that of the surname carrier, who may have had no idea whatsoever how his or her own name was spelled.

The “Lewes” spelling is most common in Sussex, Essex and Suffolk west of Ipswich. The earliest spelling of this names derives from historical records of one “Ludovic John” who came to London in 1450, and was also known as Lewes John or Lewes ap John, in the Welsh style, meaning Lewes son of John. Descendants of Lewes John took the surname Fitzlewes, substituting for ap Lewes, and in eastern Essex and Suffolk, this surname became “Lewes” when the “Fitz” prefix fell out of favor. There were also “de Lewes” surnames in Sussex and Essex in the 15th and 16th Centuries, the Norman appellation taken by residents of the town of Lewes, Sussex.

The “Lewis” spelling occurs later, in the late 17th and 18th Centuries with an influx of Lewises from Wales after the March wars and consolidation of the border lands with England. When Henry XIII closed the monasteries and decreed that all Welshmen would have surnames “as good Englishmen,” Lewis was adopted as a surname of Anglicized “Llewellyn,” while the practice of using “ap” to designate “son of” was also largely discontinued. Thus, John ap Llewellyn became John Lewis. The “Lewis” spelling of the surname became so ubiquitous in eastern England that it almost completely overwhelmed the other spelling variations.

Two clusters of the “Lewys” families existed in eastern Lincolnshire and Bedfordshire but had largely been replaced by the more common spellings by the 19th century.

In the 17th Century Ipswich, Suffolk area, the Lewes surname is legion, occurring from Stoke-by-Nayland on the western border on into Norfolk in the north. The Lewes families of Stoke-by-Nayland and Hadleigh to the north and west of Ipswich are especially noted for the occurrence of Edmond as a given name, beginning with the senior Edmond Lewes born in 1519. Isaac Newton Lewis claimed, without documentation, “Edmund Lewis, cousin of William, with his wife and son John took passage on the ‘Elizabeth’ of Ipswich, the nearest home port and arrived in Watertown, Mass., in 1634 and the next year moved to Lynn.”^[3] While he missed the infant Thomas and erred in the families move to Lynn, the entry is an interesting connection to the Stoke-by-Nayland Lewes line.

Early Documentation

The earliest record that can be associated with this Edmond Lewes occurs in the will for Richard Lewes merchant of Ipswich, 1625, that names Edmond Lewes as Richard’s son, indicating he was apprenticed to Luke Fisher as ropemaker in Ipswich. This would make Edmond 24 or 25 years old at the time, not an unlikely time for a young man to be completing his apprenticeship in 17th-century England. ^[6]

The Parish Records of St. Mary le Tower Church in Ipswich, Suffolk, England note: John Lewes sunne to Edmond Lewes was baptized July 18, 1630.^[7] This date is consistent with our John Lewes’s age of 3 in May of 1634.

The Parish Records of St. Mary at the Elms in Ipswich notes Thomas Lewes's christening: May 27, 1633 Lewes, Tho to Edm. and Mary.^[8]

Finally, The Freemen of the Borough of Ipswich 1320-1996 lists: Edmond Lewes 1632 Ipswich.^[9]

This suggests that Edmond Lewes lived in Ipswich at least four years and perhaps as much as 9 years before departing for the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634.

The question then is: Was Edmond Lewes, who boarded the Elizabeth in 1634 to travel to Massachusetts Bay Colony, with his wife, Mary, and two sons, from Llys Talybont, Glamorgan, Wales, or was he from the area around Ipswich?

Since we have found no primary sources documenting Edmond Lewes's origins, we must examine the existing documentation regarding his passage to North America, and those in his company on the voyage

1634 4 February Henry Dade writes from Ipswich to the Archbishop of Canterbury that the Frances and the Elizabeth with 60 men in each intend to sail for New England on about 10 March and he supposes they are debtors or persons disaffected with the established church. About 600 such men will go over shortly and he questions the effects of allowing such swarms to go. Mr. Ward of Ipswich has preached against the Book of Common Prayer thus causing this giddiness and desire to go to New England. Note: These ships and nine others bound for New England were stayed but on 28 February allowed to proceed on condition that the passengers took the oath of allegiance.

1635 21 January John Cuttinge, Master of the "Frances" and William Andrews, Master of the "Elizabeth", both of Ipswich, have brought a list of all the passengers that went on their ships to New England in April 1634 with certificates of their having taken the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance.^[10]

The phrase “persons disaffected with the established church” refers to nonconformists, that is, those who rejected the practices of the established Church of England. “Mr. Ward” is undoubtedly Samuel Ward who was the preacher at St Mary le Tower in Ipswich, Suffolk from 1603 to 1635. He was suspended in 1635 for preaching nonconformism and for encouraging emigration to North America. 8 It is likely not a coincidence that “John Lewes sonne of Edmond” was christened in St. Mary le Tower Church in 1630, probably by Samuel Ward.

We can assume from this, then, that Edmond Lewes and family were in the company of nonconformists and followers of Samuel Ward’s call to form a nonconformist colony in the New World.

In evaluating Edmond’s origins and reasons for being aboard the ship Elizabeth in company with so many passengers from the area around Ipswich, it is important to note the order of signing of the ship’s passenger list, and the names, origins and destinations of those who signed before and after Edmond Lewes. The majority of those traveling on the Elizabeth were from the area north and west of Ipswich, Suffolk. This makes it more likely that Edmund Lewis was from this area and was traveling in company with friends and family.

April 10, 1634 The Elizabeth of Ipswich departed Ipswich, England, for New England. (No arrival date specified in these sources.) (As copied from original, with notes about later lists.)9 10 An accompanying petition from the Masters of the Francis and the Elizabeth, following their return to Ipswich, gives the date of departure as "the Tenth daye of Aprill laste paste" (last past).

"A Note of the names and ages of all the Passengers which tooke shipping In the Elizabeth of Ipswich, Mr Willia(m) Andrews bound for new England the last of Aprill, 1634." - Ipswich Customhouse, November 12, 1634.

William Andrew(e)s, Master

Passengers:

These took the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy.

Lewis, Edmond . . . . . . . 33 bound for Watertown

• (wife) Mary . . . . . . . . . 32 (Mrs. Mary Lewis)

"A Note of all the names and ages of all those which did not take the Oath of Allegiance or Supremacy being vnder age shipped in or Port. In the Elizabeth of Ipswich Mr Willia(m) Andrewes bound for new England the last of Aprill 1634." - Ipswich Customhouse, November 12, 1634.

Lewis, John . . . . . . . . 3 with Edmond Lewis (in above list)
Lewis, Thomas . . . . . . 3/4 with Edmond Lewis

On 25 May, 1636, Edmund was granted status as Freeman in Watertown, the first in a sequence of eight Watertown men^[11][5]

He was elected as Watertown selectman, 30 December, 1637 appointed to the Committee to lay out farms, 14 October, 1638, to the Essex Grand Jury, 29 December 1648 and Lynn constable, 27 June, 16492.

Edmond was granted thirty acres in the Great Dividend in Watertown, Lot 26 in the First Division, 25 July, 1636; granted five acres in the Beaverbrook Plowlands, Lot 82, 28 February, 1636/7’ granted five acres in the Remote Meadows, Lot 61, 26 June, 1637; granted six acres in the Town Plot, 9 April, 16383.

In the Watertown Inventory of Grants, “Edmond Lewis” held six parcels: “an homestall of six acres”; “one acre of meadow ... in Rock Meadow”; “thirty acres of upland . . . being a Great Dividend in the first division & the twenty-five lot”; “five acres of Plowland . . . in the Further Plain”; five acres of Remote Meadow . . . & the sixty-one lot”; and “one acre of Remote Meadow.”

In the Watertown Composite Inventory, “Edmond Lewis” held six parcels: “an homestall of six acres”; one acre of meadow in Rock meadow”; “thirty acres of upland being a Great Dividend in the 1 Division & the 25 lot”; fives acres of Plowland in the Further Plain & the 91 lot”; five acres in the Remote Meadows & the 61 lot”; and “a Farm of one hundred acres of upland.”

On October 16, 1644, “John Sanders of Hampton” sold to “Henry Dow & Edmund Lewis of Watertowne . . . all the ground that I bought of William Wakefield of Newbury which is to say one houselot containing ten acres . . . with ten acres added to the same adjoining to the north end thereof and twelve acres of planting ground granted in the east field and ten acres of meadow ground adjoining to the springs and seventeen acres of salt marsh near adjoining to it together with the commenage & appurtenances to the same belonging.”14 On 22 October, 1649, “whereas we Edmond Lewis & Henry Dow as joint purchasers in a bargain of land which we bought of John Sanders of Hampton, the land lying in the bounds of Hampton,” now “Edmond lewis of Linn” sells to Henry Dow his entire right in the said lands.

“Edmond Lewes and Henry Doue bought John Sanders of Hampton land in Hampton and Edmond Lewes of Linn for £15 now conveys to Henry Doue his interest in the same 22: 8: 1649 Wit Jn Lewis Ack before Rob Bridges 30: 8: 1650.”

Children

1. John Lewes sunne to Edmond Lewes was baptized July 18, 1630 ^[7]
2. Thomas Lewes - May 27, 1633 - Lewes, Tho - Edm. and Mary^[8]
3. James Lewes - James Lewes sonn of Edmund and mary Lewes Borne ye 15d - 11m, 1631^[12]
4. Nathanell Lewes - Nathanell Lewes son of Edward & Mary Lewes born 25d - 6 m, 1639^[12]
5. Child Lewes - The child of Edmund & Mary Lewis buried 6 (9) 10 dayes ould, 1642^[12]
6. Joseph Lewes ~1645 - Disputed, see below
7. Benjamin Lewes ~1648 - Disputed, see below

Note on Edmond's children by Michael Lewis Jan 2021

Disputed children of Edmond and Mary Lewes

I have removed Mary Lewes as a daughter of Edmond and Mary, since there is no documentation of her birth in Lynn in 1644.

There is no documentation of the birth of Benjamin Lewes and his connection to Edmond and Mary. The research of Helen Shatvet Ullman suggests that Benjamin is a likley descendant of Edmond, based primarily on the names of Benjamin's children, that coincide largely with those of Edmond.^[13][5] George Harlan Lewis does not include Benjamin as a son of Edmond "for want of absolute proof."^[5]

There is no documentation of the birth of Joseph Lewis.

George Harlan Lewis argues for him as a son of Edmond Lewes of Lynn, based on Swansea town records that link Thomas, Nathaniel and Joseph in Swansea. ^[5]

Samuel Deane finds that Thomas, Nathaniel and Joseph were sons of George Lewes of Scituate and Barnstable.^[14]

Amos Otis finds that Deane is in error, based on Barnstable vital records, and that Thomas, Joseph and Nathaniel of Swansea are all sons of Edmund Lewes of Lynn.^[15]

---------------------------------------------------------

Death

1650/1651 - assumed from will, Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony

COURT HELD AT SALEM, 25: 12: 1650. Present: Governor, Deputy Governor, Capt. Bridgis and Mr. Sam Simonds.

Mary, widow of Edmund Lewis, late deceased brought in his will* and it was proved by Edward Burcham and John Deacon. Inventory of the estate, 1221li 7s 6d.

Will

The will of Edmund Lewis of Lynn, dated 13: 11: 1650, was proved by Edward Burcham, 25: 12: 1650.

"Line the 13th of the 11thmo 1650 memorandum that I Edmund Lewis beinge Sick & Weake, but of perfect remembrance, doe make & confirme this my last Will and testymente as followeth first my will Is that my land att watertowen shall be sould & thatt my eldeste sone John Lewis shall have A double portyon & yt the reste of my Children namly the fiue youngeste to haue euery one of them A licke portyon of my estate secondly my deare & Louinge wife to have the thirds of All my whole estate 3 I desier that my wife may have A cow over & aboue towards the bringine vpe of my youngeste Children 4 my desires Is my wife to be my whole Executor to dispose of my body & goods ackordinge to my will 5 my requeste to my sone John Is to giue his mother a Cow to hellpe her towards the bringine vpe of my youngeste Children 6 my requeste to my soné Thomas Lewis Is to giue his mother halfe of his sheepe to helpe her as Aforesaide 7 my desire & meninge is that the Cow I aske of John & the sheepe I aske of Thomas Is of them that they now have In theare possesion Aliso my requeste is to Thomas Austines to be my supervisor to assiste my Lovinge wife. Edmund Lewes* Wit John Deakin *Edward Burchum*^[16]

Notes on Edmund Lewes will: The will is dated the 11th month of 1650, which would be February, 1650 in the Julian calendar, February 1651 in Gregorian. The will is signed "Edmund Lewes," with the Suffolk, England surname spelling, and it appears that this was his signature (designated as autograph) not his mark. The reference to Thomas Austines is a transcription error. Edmund was referring to Deacon Thomas Hastings, a fellow passenger on the Elizabeth who settled and stayed in Watertown.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Edward Simmons Lewis, 1926, The Lewis Family of Wales and America. The Journal of American History, Volume XXII, Third Quarter, Number 3.
2. ↑ Parish Records of Stoke by Nayland, Suffolk, Endgland
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Isaac Newton Lewis, 1932, 1602-William Lewis-1671 of Stoke-by-Nayland, England and Some of his Ancestors and Descendants, Plimpton Press, Norwood, Massachusetts
4. ↑ The Old County borough of Cardiff Vol III page 313, dated 1653; Local Studies Dept., Cardiff Central Library
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4} Edmund Lewis of Lynn, Massachusetts and some of his Descendants, George Harlan Lewis, Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts,1908
6. ↑ Wills of the Archdeaconry of Suffolk, 1625-1626
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} St. Mary le Tower Parish Records, Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich, Suffolk, England
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} St. Mary at the Elms Parish Records, Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich, Suffolk, England
9. ↑ Freemen of the Borough of Ipswich 1320-1996
10. ↑ Hotten, John Camden, The Original List of Emigrants, Published originally London, 1874. Reprinted by Geneological Publishing Co. of Baltimore 1974.
11. ↑ Lucius R. Paige, List of Freemen of Massachusetts, 1849, Page 14, originally published in NEHGR.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} Watertown Records. Comprising The First and Second Books of Town Proceedings with the Lands Grants and Possessions, Also The Proprietor's Book and The First Book and Supplement of Births Deaths and Marriages, Prepared for Publication for the Historical Society, Watertown Mass, Press of Fred G. Barker, 1894
13. ↑ Ullman, Helen Schatvet, Edmund Lewis of Stratford, Connecticut, his father Benjamin, of Wallingford and Stratford, and his possible ancestry, 2001 https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/991020
14. ↑ History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from its first Settlement to 1831, Samuel Deane, Boston: James Loring, 132 Washington Street, 1831
15. ↑ Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, Being a Report of the Amos Otis Papers, Originally Published in The Barnstable Patriot. Revised and compiled by C. F. Swift, Largely from Notes Made by the Author. Vol. II. Barnstable Mass.: F. B. & F. P. Goss, Publishers and Printers, [The "Patriot Press" Press.] 1890. pp. 115-147
16. ↑ Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County Massachusetts, Volume I, 1636-1656, Salem Mass, Published by the Essex Institute, 1911 https://books.google.com/books?id=cSgQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA206 Page 206-7

Other Sources

• Lewis, Delbert Franklin, Twelve Generations of Lewises in America, 1634-1997, Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc. 1999.
• Anderson, Robert C. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635 Vol. IV I-L (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Great Migration Study Project, Boston, 2005) Featured name: Edmond Lewis. Pages 278-281. View with NEHGS Membership On Ancestry.com page 388 of 492 (280) Ancestry Record GreatMigration #1345

Information about Edmond Lewes's surname, origin and descendants is from the genealogical research of Michael A. Lewis, 11th generation lineal male descendant of Edmond Lewes of Lynn, Massachusetts, detailed in Descendants of Edmond Lewes of Lynn, Massachusetts, Arana Gulch Press, 2011.