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| Richard Thayer Jr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
Contents |
Biography
Birth
Richard Thayer was born at Thornbury, Gloucestershire in 1601.[1][2]
Emigration
Richard settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, by 1641. He was probably the "Taiere" who, about September 1645, sold an acre of land in Braintree to the merchant adventurers who were setting up the iron works in that town.[3]
Marriages
Before his emigration to America, Richard married first, on 5 April 1624, at Thornbury, Gloucestershire, Dorothy Mortimore.[4][5][6]
Richard married second, soon after 15 July 1646, Jane/Joan, the widow of John Parker. [Note there are conflicting theories whether this was Jane (Kember) Parker[7] or Joan (Hellyer) Parker.[8]
By 1660, Richard was married to his third wife, Catherine or Katherine (___), who survived him.[9][10]
Later Life
Massachusetts
"On 5 September 1648, 'Rich[ard] Thaire of Boston' deeded to 'Rich[ard] Thaire of Braintry son of the said Richard of Boston' several parcels of land, including two acres & a half of land lying between the land of Daniell Lovet & James Farce [Farr?], in the field at Monoticott, bought of the said Richard Thaire the elder of John Niles together with the lot upon which he built his house.'"[11][12]
On May 26, 1658 a General Court of Election, held at Boston, confirmed the reduction in the fine imposed on Richard Thayer for "selling strong licquors contrary to lawe" from 19 pounds to 5 pounds. [Note: This record probably relates to Richard's son.][13]
Barbados
By 1660, Richard and several members of his family were living in the Colony of Barbados. On 12 March 1660, he wrote a letter from "Barbadoes" to his sons Zecharias and Richard, who were still in Massachusetts. Richard's wife, his son Nathaniel, and his daughter Katherine were in Barbados when the letter was written.[9]
Death
Richard Tayer died in Barbados and was buried on 8 October 1664 at St. Michael, Barbados.[2][14][15]
Will & Probate
Richard Thawyer of Barbados made his will on 6 October 1664. He named his wife "Catherin Thawyer" executrix and also referred to his "children" but apparently did not identify any by name. This will was proved in Barbados on 12 October 1664.[10]
Research Notes
Confusion Concerning Death Date
"There has been much confusion as to the dates of death of the various Richard Thayers. Richard1 the emigrant was dead before 20th 2d month 1668, as shown in a deed (Suffolk Co. Deeds, V, 446) of his son Richard2., who died 27 August 1695."[16] As noted in the biography above, this Richard died in Barbados and his will was probated there in October 1664.
The Richard Thayer who died in 1695, was age 71 per his gravestone. That means he was born in 1624 and therefore was NOT the immigrant who was born in 1600.
Other Notes
Clifford Stott published in 1998 a serious and critical review of past research done on the Thayer family, and pointed out MANY errors of previous transcriptions. He re-analyzed the original parish records of Thornsbury, and published a new, corrected transcription of them. He also transcribes early probate records.[17]
No support has yet been found for Richard having been made a freeman in either Boston or Braintree in 1640-1. The Massachusetts Bay Colony Records do not show his name among freeman, with any possible spelling of his name, up through 1641.[18]
Richard's son, Richard Thayer, in 1682 "laid claim to all the territory in the town of Braintree, by virtue of a surreptitious Indian deed. He petitioned the King, and obtained a hearing." The town of Braintree asserted that Richard Thayer's complaint was false. In the "Remonstrance of the inhabitants of Braintree against the complaint of Richard Thayer", filed in 1683, among other statements, the town said "...his very poor father with 8 poor children, of which this Richard was one, came into New England two and forty years ago, in the year forty one..."[19] There is much more information than this about the claim and response from the town, and another source has even further information.[20]
In Richard Thayer [Jr.]'s petition to the King, which was sent in 1682, said that he "about 40 years ago went over to New England, and purchased a large Tract of Land of Wampatuck Josias, a great Indian Sachem...".[21]
Sources
- ↑ Faxon, Walter, 1848-1920; Whorf, Edward Henry; Woods, Henry Ernest, 1857- [from old catalog] ed. Tayer (Thayer) family entries in the parish register of Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England. Publisher Boston, 1906. 5 Apr. 1601. Richard Tayer, pg. 4
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Sprague Project Richard Thayer 1601 - 1664 : accessed 17 Jun 2023
- ↑ John Adams Vinton, "The Vinton Memorial Comprising a Genealogy of the Descendants of John Vinton of Lynn, 1648," 1858, p 467
- ↑ Find My Past : Gloucestershire Marriage Registers, Vol 15; Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England Richard Tayer in 1624 : Subscription site, accessed 17 Jun 2023
- ↑ Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1813 for Dorothy Martimore Thornbury free parish register image by ancestry.com
- ↑ Gloucestershire : Thornbury : St Mary : Unknown : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5817e04ee93790eb7fb9a3ca : viewed 31 Jul 2021) marriage Richard Tayer to Dorothy Martimore 5 Apr 1624
- ↑ The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007, p 365. American Ancestors.org (by subscription)
- ↑ Thompson, Neil D., '"The English Origin of John Parker of Boston, Massachusetts" in The American Genealogist, 76 (July 2001), 185-189. (Online database at AmericanAncestors.org link (subscription site.)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 John William Linzee, The History of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles of Roxbury, Mass., and their Ancestors and Descendants, (Boston: s.p., 1918), 531; citing Early Ct. Files Suff. No. 455; images, Hathitrust, (https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005732130 : accessed 18 Jun 2023).
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Joanne McRee Sanders, Barbados Wills and Administrations, 3 vols., (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979-1981), 1:350, Richard Thawyer; image, Ancestry, $ubscription; Ancestry Sharing Link (index record citing Barbados Wills RB6/15 p 351).
- ↑ Suffolk Land Records, v 5 p 455-56. FamilySearch
- ↑ The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007, p 260. American Ancestors.org (by subscription)
- ↑ "Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England," Vol IV - Part I (1650-1660), Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed, p 342
- ↑ Find My Past : Barbados Deaths & Burials 1637-1887; St Michael, Barbados Richd Tayer in 1664 : Subscription site, accessed 17 Jun 2023
- ↑ "Barbados Church Records, 1637-1887", citing Digital film/folder number: 004934429; FHL microfilm: 001157923; Image number: 53, FamilySearch Record: QKDS-VTKR (accessed 10 December 2023), FamilySearch Image: 33S7-9RST-LG6, Richd Tayer burial on 8 Oct 1664 in Saint Michael, Barbados.
- ↑ "Notes and Queries," in NEHGR, 60 (1906) p 93.
- ↑ Clifford L. Stott, "The Gloucester T(h)ayer Ancestry," in TAG, 73 (1998):82-86; 209-219 AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)
- ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel B., editor; Records of the governor and company of the Massachusetts bay in New England., Printed by order of the legislature. Published 1853-4. Reference Volume 1, page 478
- ↑ "Collections" Massachusetts Historical Society, published 1792. Reference Series 4, Volume V, pages 103-4+
- ↑ A history of old Braintree and Quincy, published 1878. Reference pages 40+
- ↑ History of Old Braintree, page 41 footnote
See also:
- Sprague, Waldo Chamberlain. Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, MA. 1640-1850 (2001), pp 1518-9. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscriptions)
- Pope, Charles Henry, Pioneers of Massachusetts, published 1900. Reference page 466
- Thayer, Bezaleel, Memorial of the Thayer name, from the Massachusetts colony of Weymouth and Braintree, embracing genealogical [!] and biographical sketches of Richard & Thomas Thayer, and their descendants from 1636 to 1874, published 1874. Reference page 7 CAUTION: many inaccuracies
- Thayer, Elisha, Family memorial. Part 1. Genealogy of fourteen families of the early settlers of New-England, of the names of Alden, Adams, Arnold, Bass, Billings, Capen, Copeland, French, Hobart, Jackson, Paine, Thayer, Wales and White ... All these families are more or less connected by marriage, and most of them of late generations, the descendants of John Alden. Part II. Genealogy of Ephraim and Sarah Thayer, with their fourteen children .., published 1835. reference page 119 CAUTION: many inaccuracies
- Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/257377366/richard-thayer: accessed January 21, 2025), memorial page for Richard Thayer II (5 Apr 1601–6 Oct 1664), Find A Grave: Memorial #257377366, citing Cathedral Church of St. Michael & All Angels, Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados; Maintained by Michael T. Black (contributor 47894467). NOTE: This is a "memorial" site only; there is no gravestone photo.