Born in England
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of
Thomas Roberts Sr.
— married
[date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants 
Mother of
Esther (Roberts) Martin, Jane (Roberts) Philbrick, John Roberts Sr., Anna (Roberts) Marston, Benjamin Roberts, Thomas Roberts Jr, Edward Roberts, Elizabeth (Roberts) Heard, William Roberts, Sarah (Roberts) Rich and Joseph Roberts
Died before
before age 71
in Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire
Profile last modified
| Created 13 Sep 2010
This page has been accessed 7,734 times.
There are disproven, disputed, or competing theories about this person's parents. See the text for details.
| Rebecca (Hilton) Roberts migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
- Note: There remains insufficient evidence to determine the parents and last name at birth, as well as the parents of her husband, Thomas Roberts. See the Research Notes below.
Contents |
Biography
Research Notes
Disputed Identity and Parents
First it must be noted that there is apparently no proof that her first name was actually Rebecca although it is asserted, without source in a variety of places. As a project-managed profile (PGM), an unproven name is sometimes left in place mainly to prevent users from creating a new (and unsourced) profile of that same name in a mistaken belief that the name is a proven fact.
Rebecca's husband Thomas Roberts "probably was married in 1627. The maiden name of his wife is not known, but there is a tradition she was sister of Edward Hilton. Further than that we know not."[1] Pre-merge parents given as: Mark Hilton and Ellen Mainwarring, without sources. If she was sister of Edward, her father would have been called William.
More information from a Roberts researcher: "It is "traditionally given that the wife of Thomas Roberts was Rebecca Hilton, sister of Edward and William Hilton". What does that mean? I cannot find anywhere anything other than that statement when looking for detail on the wife of Thomas Roberts. The baptisms of the children of William Hilton of Witton cum Twamsbrook, Cheshire are recorded in the parish records. His children include Edward, William and Richard who all immigrated to New Hampshire. There is also a son John, and daughters Margaret, Mary and Elizabeth. There is no Rebecca. There is no known date of birth and there is no known date of death. There is no record of their marriage. They did not even name a daughter after her and interestingly only one of her five children named a girl Rebecca. Everything that is written about her is pure conjecture and not fact. I'm not even sure her name was really Rebecca."[2]
Rebecca has briefly been shown on WikiTree as daughter of Mark Hilton and Ellen Mainwaring, both of whose profiles, as at 4 June 2022, lack sourcing. There appears to be no evidence for this.
Insufficient Evidence
The following should be considered as potential leads, but not as evidence.
- Marriage: "U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700", database with images
Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD, USA, Volume Title New England Marriages Prior to 1700
Ancestry Sharing Link (free access)
Ancestry Record 3824 #165152 (Accessed 14 April 2023)
Rebecca Roberts marriage to Thomas Roberts in 1628 in New England, USA. - Land deed: Thomas Roberts, Senr., and wife Rebecca, to John York, certain "land at Durham." — (Underhill, citing "New Hampshire Deeds, Book 3:129-a" records of 1 July 1669)[3][4][5]
- Burial: "U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current", database
Find A Grave: Memorial #102308677
Ancestry Record 60525 #72773725 (subscription required, accessed 14 April 2023)
Rebecca Roberts burial (died on 27 Sep 1673) in Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Rebecca Roberts birthdate is reported by Find a Grave to have been 1602 at Monkwearmouth, Metropolitan Borough of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England.
Sources
- ↑ John Scales, History of Dover, N.H. (1989), pp. 302-303.
- ↑ The Family Connection, http://www.jeaniesgenealogy.com/2013/01/thomas-roberts-of-dover-new-hampshire.html
- ↑ Lora Altine Woodbury Underhill, "Descendants of Edward Small of New England" at 1116, citing New Hampshire Deeds, Book 3:129-a, for 1 July 1669, "Thomas Roberts, Senr., and wife Rebecca, to John York, certain "land at Durham.""
- ↑ Everett S. Stackpole, et al., (Thomas Roberts sold land to John York on 1 July 1669.) p.35. (Accessed 14 Apr 2023) https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t6xw4qw0n?urlappend=%3Bseq=53
- ↑ FamilySearch library access is restricted: Province New Hampshire deeds and probate records from 1623-1772)
- Quint, Alonzo Hall, Historical memoranda concerning persons and places in old Dover, N.H. Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.
- Batchellor, Albert Stillman, ed., Probate Records of the Province of New Hampshire 1635-1740. (Concord, NH, USA: Rumford Printing Co., 1907). New Hampshire Probate Records, 1635-1753 Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2003.
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DNA
No known carriers of Rebecca's DNA have taken a DNA test.
No known carriers of Rebecca's DNA have taken a DNA test.
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Rejected matches › Rebecca Roberts
Rebecca is 16 degrees from Emeril Lagasse, 20 degrees from Nigella Lawson, 20 degrees from Maggie Beer, 41 degrees from Mary Hunnings, 25 degrees from Joop Braakhekke, 24 degrees from Michael Chow, 19 degrees from Ree Drummond, 22 degrees from Paul Hollywood, 19 degrees from Matty Matheson, 21 degrees from Martha Stewart, 27 degrees from Danny Trejo and 21 degrees from Molly Yeh on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
H > Hilton | R > Roberts > Rebecca (Hilton) Roberts
Categories: Dover, New Hampshire | Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Boston, Massachusetts | Puritan Great Migration
We also don't know that she was a Hilton.
The available evidence is insufficient because we have not found her birth record or marriage record, and we have not found birth records for her children that name her.
I plan to revert those changes.
Hope those who feel this action was premature will comment here and provide reliable sources so that we may collaborate further.--Gene
edited by GeneJ X
edited by Bobbie (Madison) Hall
edited by Michael Cayley
Unless you or another WT member can find good evidence for her parents, I would be inclined to remove the unsupported parents when completing the merge, but to add a research note mentioning what I have just said in the preceding paragraph.
An alternative is first to ask a question in G2G to see if anyone has any sourcing to support the tradition.
I am taking your reply as agreement from PGM that I can complete the merge, so I will do so, and add the research note. Please edit the research note as you think appropriate :-)
edited by Michael Cayley
I see the original post from 2015 asking the same question so rather than re-invent the wheel I'll put an updated comment on it. I still don't see anything in the G2G post or in the sources here or on Thomas that provide a primary source for her first or last name.
edited by Brad Stauf
Cheers, Susan