Richard North (1590 - 1667)

Born 1590 in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Johane (Bartram) North — married 29 Nov 1610 in Olney, Buckinghamshire, , England

Descendants

Died 1 Mar 1667 at about age 77 in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Richard North migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 242) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Born about 1590 in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England.^[1]

David Greene (below) makes a case that he was son of John and Annis/Ann (____) North, the latter having left a will 5 Jun 1633 naming a Richard North as one of her sons. Brother of Thomas North who left will 16 May 1640 naming a brother Richard (although does not refer to Richard being in New England).^{[citation needed]}

Married first Joan Bartram ("Johane Bartrame") 29 Nov 1610 Olney, Buckinghamshire, England; married second, Ursula ____ probably in Massachusetts, who, according to a later lawsuit, was a stepmother to his children.

May have first appeared in Salisbury on list of those receiving land in the 1639 first division of land (but not on the early copy in the Massachusetts archives, suggesting it may have been added later). Certainly in Massachusetts by 2 Jun 1641 when made a freeman.

Died 01 MAR 1667 in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts,^[2] survived by his wife, Ursula, who was step-mother to his children. He left a will executed 26 Jan 1648[/9?]; his widow Ursula died 1 Mar 1670[/1?], leaving a will that was challenged in court.

Last Will & Testament^[3]

Left a will dated 26 Jan 1648/9, "the authenticity of which was later questioned, left 5 pounds to daughter Mary jones, wife of Thomas Jones; 5 pounds to grandchild Ann Bates, child of daughter Sarah[a]m, 'pvided shee bee aliue att my decease"' to daughter Susanna Martune, wife of George Martyn, 'twenty shillings & the tenn pound sch hir husband the said George Martyn doth owe unto mee for cattle wch he receiued of mee'; and the residue to 'deare & weleeloued wyfe Vrsula North,' who was made executrix. Overseers were Mr. Tho. Bradbury & Richard Wells of Salisbury, who were each to receive ten shillings. The inventory was taken 16 Mar 1667/8. On 24 July 1669, Thomas Jones of Gloucester acknowledged receipt from Ursula North of a legacy given to his wife Mary in the will of her father Richard North of Salisbury, and Francis Bates and wife Ann, formerly Ann Oldum, acknowledged receipt on 4 Oct. 1669 of a legacy given Ann in the will of her grandfather, Richard North (Provate Records of Essex County 2:125-127). No receipt is recorded from the Martins, but it seems that the Joneses and the Bateses had no immediate qualms about the will, at least none that led them to refuse the legacies granted them in it. We infer that they expected to share in the North Property after Ursula's death."

"Then on 1 March 1670[/1?], apparently three years to the day after her husband's death, ursula North died, leaving a will that outraged her husband's daughter's. The will, which was dated 19 May 1668, before the receipts above were signed, left "my gran child" Mare Winslo [Winsley], wife of Nathanial Winslow, 'my dwelling house and lands and meedo and Commenidge... in Salsbury... and unto her dafter Hephzibah after her mothers decease.' Hepzibah Winslow also received 10 pounds to be improved for her until she came of age, while Mary Jones and Susannah Matin each received only forty shillings. The executrix was grandchild Mary Winslo; the oversees: Richard Wells and William Buswell of Salisbury. After signing this will, Ursula North added on 24 Jun 1669 a bequest of 10 pounds to William Buckly, 'which is dew to me from the Said buckley in that bond of thirti pound.' The inventory was taken 16 March 1670/1, and the will was proved 11 2m (April) 1671 (ibid. 222-4). The impression one receives from readhing this will is that Nathaniel and Mary (Jones) Winsley had treated her stepmother in kindly fashion and we may speculate that Susanna Martin and Mary Jones had not been well disposed to their stepmother. The result was that Richard North's daughters received almost nothing, his granddaughter Ann Bates nothing at all, and Mary Jones's daughter, Mary Winsley, got practically the whole estate. The ensuring squabble was unseemly and very public."...

"A record of the Court's judgment does not survive, but the plaintiffs either lost the suit, or were non-suited, and George Martin was required to pay Nathaniel Winsley's court costs. When George did not do so to Winsley's satisfaction, he had is uncle-in-law arrested..."

Martin took the suit against Ursula North's will to the Hampton Quarterly Court in 1673, which concluded the will was legal.

Both suits were appealed. See Court Files #1334, Suffolk County Courthouse. "Several reasons are adumbrated that the will is a forgery all centering on the fact that it is dated 26 Jan. 1648... calls North's granddaughter Ann Bates, even though she did not marry Bates until 1657; and it leaves Susanna a debt owed by her husband to her father-in-law even though that debt had not been contracted when the will was supposedly executed."

"In March 1673/4, the Court of Assistants... sidestepped the question of forgery by deciding that the [Ursula] North will had not been legally proved and by leaving the disposal of North's estate to the Norfolk Co. Court. (Records of the Court of Assistants of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay 1:5 f.)."

The Norfolk Co. Court responded by affirming that the will had indeed been legally proved. (Probate Records of Essex County 2:127) and the Winsleys were apparently left in possession of the property.

Richard was born in 1590. He died in Salisbury on 1 March 1667.^[4]

Children, the first two of whom may have been through an earlier, unknown wife:

1. Sarah (no bapt record), married an Oldham; no evidence that she emigrate to New England, but she did have a daughter, Ann Oldham, who married Francis Bates of Ipswich, MA July 1657.
2. Martyn (no bapt record); buried 1617 in Olney
3. Mary North, bapt 4 Oct 1612 in Olney, Buckinghamshire; married by 1638, Thomas Jones of Glouceser, MA
4. John bp Olney 28 Mar 1615/6; bur. there 1617.
5. Hester, bpt 12 Apr 1618 (Olney); not mentioned in her father's will.
6. John, bp 16 Jan 1619/20; not mentioned in his father's will.
7. Susan(na), bapt "last of September" 1621 in Olney, Buckinghamshire; executed for witchcraft, Salem, MA 19 Jul 1692; m. in Salisbury, MA 11 Aug 1646 as his second wife, George Martin of Amesbury, MA, who d. by 15 Apr 1686.

Sources

1. ↑ David L. Greene, "The English Origin of Richard(1) North and his Daughter, Susanna(2) (North) Martin executed for Witchcraft in 1692," in The American Genealogist, 68 (1993):65-70
2. ↑ Topsfield Historical Society, Vital records of Salisbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1915), p. 598.

   "North, Rich[ard], Mar. 1, 1667."

3. ↑ David Greene, "Salem Witches III: Susanna Martin," in The American Genealogist, v 58 (1982):196-199
4. ↑ Topsfield Historical Society, Vital records of Salisbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1915), p. 598.

   "North, Rich[ard], Mar. 1, 1667."

• David L. Greene, "The English Origin of Richard(1) North and his Daughter, Susanna(2) (North) Martin executed for Witchcraft in 1692," in The American Genealogist, 68 (1993):65-70
• Paige, Lucius R.. List of Freemen of Massachusetts. Boston, MA, USA: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1849.
• Godbeer, Richard, comp. The Devil's Dominion
• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• Ancestry.com, Massachusetts Applications of Freemen, 1630-91 The Generations Network, Inc.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #137728532

Acknowledgements

• Eric Weaver
• Brian McCullough
• Buck Howe
• Bryan Sypniewski
• Scott Quimby
• Import of Ancestors of PBHowe.ged on Jun 6, 2011 by Buck Howe.

• http://www.macycolbyhouse.org/Susannah-Martin/