Phillip Torrey (abt. 1580 - bef. 1621)

Born about 1580 in Combe St. Nicholas, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Husband of Alice (Richards) Torrey — married 27 Nov 1604 in Pitminster, Somerset, England

Descendants

Died before 27 Jun 1621 before about age 41 in Combe St Nicholas, Somerset, England

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Julia Howard [send private message], Kim Myers [send private message], and Dillon Kepner [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Torrey Name Study.

Phillip Torrey was born in 1580 in the village of Combe St. Nicholas in Somerset, England. He was the son Captain William Torrey and Thomasyne Cookney (?) [To be researched asap Moyer-780].

Philip Torrey lived all his life in Combe St. Nicholas in Somerset, and was listed in the records there as a husbandman, although evidence leans toward him raising sheep, not crops. Not much is known about him or his wife, but both their wills have survived and show them to be people of considerable means. He left specific bequests amounting to 173 pounds and his wife left hundreds of pounds more.

Marriage and Family

Phillip Torrey married Alice Richards, the daughter of James Richards, 27 Nov 1604, at Pitminster, Somerset. He was 24 and she was 20. These ages fit the average ages for first marriages at that place and time. It is unlikely that Phillip would have been married and widowed prior to his marriage to Alice.

Their children were:

1. Anne (Torrey) Dunster m Henry Dunster 8 May 1627 [1]

2. Mary Torrey

3. Capt. William Torrey of Weymouth Massachusetts

Jane Haviland Profile Pending on the Magna Carta Trail and Ancestor of Botanist John Torrey (see above)

Elizabeth Frye who was responsible for almost 2/3 of the Torreys in the Americas.

4. Sarah Torrey

5. Lieutenant James Torrey and Anne Hatch Plymouth Bay Massachusettes

6. Phillip Torrey and Mary Smith Roxbury, Sulfolk, Massachusetts

7. Joseph Torrey and unknown wife New Port Rhode Island

Death

Phillip died at about the age of 41, sometime between 16 Apr and 27 Jun 1621 at Combe St. Nicholas, and was buried in the churchyard of St Nicholas Church, Combe St Nicholas‎.

In his will of April 1621, Phillip mentions three daughters (Anne, Mary, and Sarah) and four sons (William, James, Philip, and Joseph), all of whom were under age 16.

Will of Philip Torrey:

Philip Torrey of Combe St. Nicholas, Somerset, husbandman, 16 April 1621, proved 27 June 1621. To be buried in the church yard of Combe.

To the relief of the poor of Combe three shillings four pence.

Anne Torrey mine eldest daughter shall have threescore pounds when she shall accomplish the age of sixteen years, to be paid my overseers who shall take the government of it until she shall accomplish the age of one and twenty years. To her the biggest brass pan to be delivered unto her at the time of her marriage and not before.

To Mary Torrey my daughter twenty pounds at sixteen to be held (as before) until she is twenty one, and the second brass pan.

To Sarah Torrey my daughter three and thirty pounds six shillings eight pence at sixteen (as before), and the second best brazen pot.

To James Torrey my son thirty pounds at 116 (as before), and one silver spoon when he is one and twenty.

To Philip Torrey my son twenty pounds, at 16 (as before) and he shall be put an apprentice unto some trade so soon as he is able, and also I do give him one silver spoon to be delivered unto him when he is one and twenty years old.

I do give unto William Torrey my son the biggest brazen pot, the furnace kettle, the best table board the cupboard with this condition that his mother shall have the use of it so long as she doth keep herself widow and dwelling in the house.

To Joseph my son ten pounds.

All the rest to my wife whom I make sole executrix.

My father William Torrey

my cousin John Fry,

John Richards, Robert Sellecke and Thomas Lumbert to be overseers, and I give them five shillings apiece.

Proved by Alice Torrey the widow.

Legacy

The four sons of Philip all emigrated to America in 1640, and located within a few miles of Boston, Mass., and seem to have been the ancestors of the great majority of the early Torreys in America. William located in Weymouth; James in Scituate; Philip in Roxbury; and Joseph in Newport and Westerly, Rhode Island.

Research Notes

Of interest is the relationship between the Torreys, Frys and Combes. 1) Phillip names his "cousin" John Fry as an overseer of his Will. 2) Phillip's oldest son, William, married Elizabeth Fry whose father is "George", according to church records, married Mary Combe. (Will be added very soon Amanda 25 March 2021) 3) William's 1st wife is Agnes Combe.

Sources

• The New England Historical and Genealogical Register - Volume LXXI, 9 Ashburton Place, Boston, Ma; 1917.

• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families, Vol. 3, Capt. William Torrey (Genealogical Publishing Company: Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013) p. 278.

• Stott, Clifford L., Humphrey Blake (1494?–1558) and His Descendants in New England and South Carolina: Blake, Richards, Selleck, Torrey, and Wolcott, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2009) Vol. 163, WN 652, Page 278.

• Torrey, David. Memoir of Major Jason Torrey, of Bethany, Wayne County, PA. (Scanton, PA: James S. Horton, 1885)

• Torrey, Dolphus. A contribution toward a genealogy of all Torreys in America being genealogical notes showing the paternal line of descent from William Torrey of Combe St. Nicholas, Somerset County, England, A.D. 1557, to Abner Torrey, of Weymouth, Massachusetts with all descendants of Abner Torrey. (Detroit: John F. Eby & Co., 1890).

• Torrey, Frederic C. The Torrey Families and their Children in America' (Lakehurst, NJ, 1924). https://archive.org/details/torreyfamiliesth01torr/page/8/mode/2up

• Geni: Phillip Torrey This site has considerable discussion related to the Torreys of Combe St. Nicholas, a well as numerous references.