Notes:

From THE ENGLISH ANCESTRAL HOMES OF THE FOUNDERS OF CAMBRIDGE



BY J. GARDNER BARTLETT


Let us first consider the ten original founders of 1631, beginning with Gov. John Winthrop, who did not actually settle here although he erected a house, which he soon took down and removed to Boston. The Winthrop family probably derived their name from one of two parishes, Winthorpe, co. Nottingham, or Winthorpe, co. Lincoln. Gov. John Winthrop, lord of the manor of Groton in Suffolk, was born 12 Jan. 1587/8, son of Adam Winthrop, a lawyer of distinction, and grandson of another Adam Winthrop, the founder of the family fortunes, who was born in 1498, amassed wealth as a clothmaker in London, and in 1544 bought from the Crown the manor of Groton, where he settled. This manor had been seized by Henry VIII in 1539 from the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds; thousands of mercantile families, like the Winthrops, became landed gentry about this time by purchasing from the Crown the vast estates sequestered all over England at the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. In 1630 John Winthrop emigrated to New England as governor of the Massachusetts Colony, selling the manor of Groton that year.

Groton Church is a small but fine stone structure, part of which was built in the thirteenth century. In the chancel is a memorial brass to the Adam Winthrop who bought the manor and died 9 Nov. 1562; and about forty years ago Gov. Winthrop's distinguished descendant, Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, installed in the chancel a large and beautiful stained glass window in memory of the governor. In the churchyard and against the corner formed by the outside walls of the chancel and south aisle may still be seen an altar tomb over the grave of Adam Winthrop, father of the governor. The Groton manor house occupied by the Winthrops was destroyed by fire soon after it was sold by the governor, but its location near a very ancient mulberry tree is still discernible. I recall with much pleasure the cordial hospitality I received on three visits to Groton from Rev. Mr. Wayman, who has been rector of the parish since 1872. Groton, Mass., and Groton, Conn., were named for the old English parish.


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In early 1629 the Massachusetts Bay Company received a royal charter that allowed the Com­pany to carry on the work, begun earlier in the decade by the Dorchester Company and then the New England Company, of developing per­manent settlements in New England. During 1629 the Massachusetts Bay Company sent set­tlers to Massachusetts Bay, mostly young, single men, servants either of the Company itself or of particular merchants and gentlemen associated with the Company. Included among these 1629 immigrants were three ministers of Puritan lean­ings, reflecting the religious beliefs of the Com­pany’s leaders.

By late 1629 John Winthrop of Groton, Suffolk, had been made Governor of the Company, and planning began in earnest for sending a larger group of settlers to New England. In the spring of 1630 Winthrop led more than a dozen vessels, with about seven hundred passengers, across the Atlantic. This small armada of 1630 has come to be known as the Winthrop Fleet. The somewhat broader settlement activities of 1629 and 1630, of which the Winthrop Fleet was the larger part, have been termed the Winthrop Migration.

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* FROM: https://shop.americanancestors.org/products/the-winthrop-fleet-massachusetts-bay-company-immigrants-to-new-england-1629-1630?pass-through=true
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Died:
Age 11 Months

Gov. Margaret Tyndal 29 Apr 1618Great Maplestead, Essex, England. Margaret 1591 Great Maplestead, Essex, England; 14 Jun 1647Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adam Anne Browne 20 Feb 1579Suffolk, England. Anne (daughter of Henry Browne and Agnes Holton) 15 Jan 1558 Edwardstone, Suffolk, England; 19 Apr 1629Groton, Suffolk, England; 21 Jun 1629St Andrew by Wardrobe, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Age: 64

Adam Agnes Sharpe 20 Jul 1534Lavenham, Suffolk, England. Agnes (daughter of Robert Sharpe and Elizabeth wo Robert) 10 Aug 1510 Islington, Middlesex, England; 13 May 1565St Mary, Harrow, Middlesex, England; 15 Sep 1561St Mary, Harrow, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Age: 51

Henry Agnes Holton. Agnes 1524 Swanhall, Holton, Suffolk, England; 17 Dec 1590Prittlewell, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]