the entire probate record and will in this biography make it too long and facts are then hard to confirm - the probate details may interest others so shall be retained here on this free space page for now
Probate
Estate of Richard Swan of Rowley: Will: 25 April 1768, Proved 23 May 1678 [Essex Probate Docket # 26893]
"The Last will & Testament of Richard Swan of Rowley In the County of Essex in New England I Richard Swan being weak of body, but of perfect Memory & understanding doe make & appoynt this my Last will as followeth:
"Imprs. my Soul I Comitt Into the hands of the Almighty God my Maker in & through the Lord Jesus Christ whome I trust hath redeemed it, & my body to decent Burial in hope of a comfortable Resurection, through the death & Resurection of the Lord Jeses Christ. As to my outward Estate that God of his goodness hath graciously Lent, & bestowed upon mee, I leaue Give & bestow it as Followeth:
"Imprs. To my dearly Beloved wife Ann Swan I give, and freely Bestow upon her dureing her Natural Life: what I Contracted wth her to have upon our agreement before mariage vizt. my now dwelling house, orchard, Barne, & out houses & yards wth the pviledges thereof upon the Comon: & plow ground behind the Barne; and the English pasture Ground Joyneing upon the house Lott, and the pasture Ground lying betweene the English Grass pasture, & pollipod Lotts: & Three Acers of Salt Marsh, Joyneing upon the Ox pasture at the East end of the Towne: Further not exprest in our contract before mariage, I bestow upon her dureing her naturall Life, prouided she live in the house: The Rest of my Meadow joyneing to that which is before exprest: & the pviledg of keeping two cows yearly in the East end Ox pasture. Further I acknowledg the Twenty five pounds to be her due according to our Contract before mariage, & hereby confirme it to her, to be paid in in houshold stuff, & in what she shal desire of my other estate except lands. Further I Give my wife Ten Bushl of Indian & English corne that may be for her use, till she Can provide Corne for her self after my decease & a Third part of what other provission I Leave, vizt, pork, Beff, & Bacon, &c.
"Item. I give to my Son Robert Swan as Followeth: Imprs. I hereby Confirme to him my Village Lands which is about Two hundred Acers: and my Right in an Acer & half Lott that was Thomas Lilfords Joyneing upon my owne Land in Rowley, & the pviledges that belonged to my Right in that Lott: also I give him my now dwelling house Barne Orchard, yards, & house Lott. & pasture ground Joyneing thereto all but Two Acers: which I have added after in my will to what I have given Joseph Boynton my Son in Law already from of yt pasture Land: This will all the pviledges thereto belonging I give him the sd Robert, to be at his dispose, & for his vse after the decease of Ann my wife, provided he pay or cause to be payed, vnto the Three Children of my Son in Law & daughter Stickney namely, Elizabeth, Samuell, & Sarah Each five pounds when they shall come to be of the age of Twenty one years: and Fifteene pounds to my Grandchild Richard Sutton at the Age of Twenty one yeares:
"Item. I Give vnto my Grandchild Son of Robert swan. Richard Swan. Three Acers of meadow after my wives decease, and the pviledg of two Cow Gates in the East end ox pasture after her decease which she hath given for the Tearme of her Life If she dwell her life time in the House: also I five to my sd Grad child, a sorrel mare colt one year old: & If my son Robert doe bestow upon the sd Richard my Gradchild (as sometime he told me he would) what Estate I give to him my son Robert in Rowley Towne which will fall to him after my wives decease then the legacies before given of Thirty pounds to my four Grand children. Samuell, Elizabeth, Sarah & Richard, & to be by him paid out of what I Gave him in thereby & hereby remitted, which then shall be paid by my Executor. If they live to ye age aforesaid: & then I give Richard More Twon Acers; & half of land that lies (of my Land) next the ox pasture Land at Gate.
"Item. I Give vnto my four daughter. vizt Jane Wilson, Francis Quilter, Doprothy Chapman & Mercy Warner Each Ten pounds. Item. I Give unto my Son in Law Joseph Boynton & Sarah his wife with what children of theirs that shall live to the Age of Twenty One years. Two Acers of from that part of pasture Land given to my wife for her life; which shall be layd out Joyneing to his owne I formerly gave him, & pollipod Lotts, & David Ben[net] also I give him & them my Land in the Leild Cled Symons feild: & the Remaynder of that my Land not given to Richard swan in the Littlefeild by the ox pasture Gate in the East end of Rowley: also my salt marsh in the marsh farme Joyneing upon the pond & Cassway: also my Lands in the Ry plaine (soe cald ten acers more or Less. also my meadow Comonly Caled Crane Meadow, also a Comonage in Towne of Rowley that belongs not to my House I live in but fell to mee by Gates wth what devission or devissions may hereafter bee upon Rowley Comon that belongs to Fate Land & Rate Land.
"Item. I Give vnto Joseph Boynton all the Rest of my Lands & moveables, & estate what ever not mentioned before to the parties. And give the Lands mentioned to them & theirs: to him & his wife dureing heir naturall life, wthout they or either of them, that survive the other before their death dispose of it to them before.
"Item I apount & Constitute my Son in Law Joseph Boynton my Executor of this my Last will: who I appoynt hereby to pay all my debts, & legacies & disburstments whatever may be for my Burial; which debts Legacies, & disburstments I apoynt be paid out of what moveable Estate, I have left him, or I shall leave, which sd estate It it reach not to ye value to pay debts &c: I hereby Give him leave to sell any part of what is before given him, & his wife, & children, for to pay withall and hee is hereby Empoowred to Give deed or deeds of Conveyance of the same.
"Further my will is that I any person or persons that I have given Legacies or Legacies vnto (upon the Sight of my will:) will not promise by Executor (or whome he shall after his decease appoynt in his stead) upon theri demaund of what I have given them, to Give him &c. before sufficient wittnesses a full dischardg from any further demaund or any further claime to any part more of my estate, then what I have in this my will given them, then my Executor or any he shall leave in his Roome after decease, shal be at liberty whether he or they will pay any such :legacy or Legacies as I have given in my will to any:
"My desire is & I Intreat my Respected Teacher mr Samuell Phulleps, and my loveing freind Nehemiah Jewet to be Overseers of this my Last Will For full confirmation of the premises,
"I have hereunto set my hand & Seal this Twenty Fifth of Aprill Anno. Dom. one Thousand Sis hundred & Seaventy & eight: the peice of coloth I leave for cloathes for my wife, & Richard & mary
Richard Swan (SEAL) Witness: Abell langlay Nehemiah Jewett
Proved in Ipswich court May 23 1678 by the witnesses, before Samuell Symonds, Esq., dep Gov., and Maj. Gen. Dennison, Esq.
Inventory taken 22 May 1678, by John Johnson, John Pearson, Sr. and Nehemiah Jewett:
Birthplace
Summary History of Gilberdyke by Susan Butler
http://www.howdenshirehistory.co.uk/villages/gilberdyke-history.html Excerpt: Gilbert's dyke
The site of the village of Gilberdyke was originally a marshy waste, part of the manor of Howden, granted to the Bishops of Durham by William the Conqueror. Hugh de Puiset, who was Bishop of Durham from 1154 to 1190, made several land grants to tenants in the area on the understanding that they would improve the land.
Between 1154 and 1160 a grant of land was made to Gilbert Hansard who originated from Walworth Castle in County Durham. In return for a quarterly payment of three marks (£8 a year) Gilbert became the hereditary tenant of "the territory of Blacktoft and the fishery appertaining thereto" apart from the land which already belonged to William de Blacktoft and the bishopric's own fishery. More importantly, Gilbert was granted the right to build a mill on his property and bring water to power it through from the "land in Foulney". [ie near the River Foulness].
Gilbert Hansard constructed a new water-course or dyke which ran from east of Hive (Sandholme probably did not exist then) to the river Ouse at Blacktoft. It was dug by 1191, since it is referred to in a document of that date as "fosse of Gilbert Hansard". By 1399 the dyke was described as 16 feet wide and 8 feet deep. A settlement developed along the banks of the dyke, in particular where it crossed the Howden to Cave road. By 1234 the settlement was known simply as "Dyc". This became extended to "Gilbert's dyke" and was first recorded as Gilberdyke by 1376. The dyke itself was probably navigable by small boats.
It ran - and still does-down the west side of Clementhorpe Road, across the crossroads and alongside Sandholme Road. It continues down Hansardam [Hanserrdam on some road signs] towards the 'Foona' [River Foulness].
Estimated population at the time of Richard Swan's birth approximately 50 households based on the following paragraph from Butler's history: The village grew only slowly. In 1539 there were 52 able-bodied men in "Dyke cum Sandholme". In 1672 there were 58 households in Gilberdyke and by 1801, there were 64 houses and 337 people living there.
In 2014, very few buildings or homes in village appear to older than 150 years, except perhaps some of the pubs like the Rose and Crown.
Map of Gilberdyke http://www.genuki.org.uk/cgi-bin/showmap?CCC=ERY,GR=SE832293,T=SP
Present-day information on Wikipedia, includes 2 photos and map. Note the civil parish and county name change and the area included. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilberdyke
Gilberdyke is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 16 miles (26 km) west of Hull city centre and 5 miles (8 km) east of Howden town centre. It lies a mile south of the M62 motorway on the B1230 road.
The civil parish is formed by the village of Gilberdyke and the hamlets of Bennetland, Hive, Sandholme and Scalby. According to the 2001 UK census, Gilberdyke parish had a population of 3,028.[1]
[1] "2001 Census: Key Statistics: Parish Headcounts: Area: Gilberdyke CP (Parish)". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 May 2008.