John Duke Of Colchester, 1629 Submitted By: Barbara Petty From: "Winthropo Papers" Vol II, 1623-1630, Published at the charge of the Robert Winthkrop Fund, by the Massachusetts Historical Society. 1931, p. 85
I John Duke of Colchester, desirous to performe the dutie of a Christian man to
leaue myne estate in such a certaintieas that there maie be noe difference about
the same after my death, doe make my will in forme following. And first I
bequeath my soule to my good god, from whom I certainely expect everlastinge
happines by the all sufficient sacrificeof my lord Jesus Christ. And for
my bodie my will is that without pompe it be comitted to the earth. I togeather
withmy beloved wief, Anna Duke, haue already ioyned
in the settlinge of my landes, beinge freehould, in Essex and Suffolke, vpon our
three children, Mary, Elizabeth, and
Judith. Anne my wief shall haue my coppihould
landes and tenements in Bildeston and Nedginge in the county of Suffolk and in little
Bromley in the countie of Essex, duringe the terme of her naturall lief, and after
her decease the same shall remayne to the vse of my daughter
Judith Duke, and fordefault of yssue to the vse of Mary
Wright wief of Lawrence Wright, Doctor of Physicke,
and Elizabeth Duke, my daughters, their heires and
assignes for ever. To the said Anna Duke my wief
my coppihould wood called Froste grove in Langham in the countie of Essex, and after
her decease to Elizabeth Duke my daughter. All
the lands and tenements lying in Norfolke, which I purchased of
Mr. Fountaine, vnto the aforesaid Anne my wief,
vpon condicion that the saide Anne be bound for the
true payment vnto my three daughters Marie, Elizabeth,
and Judith of all legacies. Vnto my daughter
Marie one hundreth and fiftie pounds; and to each of my
daughters, Elizabeth and Judith
fortie pounds per annum vntill their severall ages of twentie yeares and
one or marriage daies, and paying also vnto each, at their severall ages of twentie
yeares and one, the somme of seaven-hundreth pounds a peece, in full satisfaccion of
the last will of John Snelling their grandfather.
I giue and bequeath to my lovinge sonne Lawrence Wright
all my bookes except my English books, which I giue to my wife to dispose of to her
children. To my welbeloued cosens Mr. John Winthrop
and William Armitage, to either of them three poundes to
make them rings; whom I make supervisors.
To the two children of Prudence Thorne my sisters
daughters deceased, to either of them thirtie shillings. To
Anna Humffrey five poundes. To the poore of
Colchester twentie poundes. All my goodes, Jewells, and househould stuffe,
to my well beloued wief, Anna Duke, for life:
after her diceaseto my three daughters or their posteritie, as my said wief shall
dispose vnto them by her last will. I ordaine said wief sole executrix to
see my children brought vpp in good nurture and the feare of the lord vntill they
be married. This my will I haue written with myne owne hand and published
the thirtie daie of Aprill 1629. There is due to the executors of
Macillis Greenerice, fower score ster[ling]of lawfull
money of England: my will is that that somme shall be paid by myne executrix.
I giue to Marie Wright my daughter all my
coppihould land in Lexden neere Colchester. To Judith
Duke my coppi-hould land in little Bently, and for want of yssue, to the
right heires of me the said John Duke. And
whereas my will was dated before the last of Aprill, this was thus perfected the
first daie of May. In footnotes the following:
Letter from Lawrence Wright to
John Winthrop, July 1629.... Thus with my loue to your selfe and yours. I rest Your loueing Kinsman In footnotes: First footnote refers to Vol.I p. 413 of Winthrop's Journal. On that page I
find (it starts on p. 412) and is John Winthrop's
Experiencia, 1628 in which he describes a "dangerous hote malignant feaver, wherein
the Lord shewed me exceedinge much mercye." Apparently this is the illness
which Lawrence Wright saw him through the year prior
to the other letter. He continues "It pleased him (the Lord) to reveale his
favour and goodnesse abundantly towards me, so as I never had more sweet Communion
with him, then in that affliction; and when in my selfe and the judgment of others
I was under the sentence of deathe, it pleased him to restore me to life, by
providinge me fitt meanes, an honest and able phisician, Doctor
Wright, (whose care of me, and kindnesse in refusinge any rewarde etc, I may
not forgett), and in blessinge the meanes to their desired ende." (He goes on to say
that he had begun the use of tobacco and has given it up!)
In footnotes: Also from the same book (Vol.II), p. 299:
Emanuael Downing To John Winthrop,
Jr. To his loving Cosen mr. John Winthrop at Groton
in Suffolke Footnotes: Lawrence Wright, the physician; Vol.I.413; supra,
pages 85 and 102. The manor of Foulton Hall, in Ramsey, co. Essex. Wright's connection with it was
through his wife Mary, daughter of
Dr. John Duke of Colchester and Anne (Snelling) Duke,
first cousin of John Winthrop.
John Duke held this estate from the death of his father,
Edward, in 1572 until his own in June, 1629.
In his inquisition, March 13, 1630, the manoris described as containing 60 acres
of arable, 20 of meadow,20 of pasture, and 20 of marsh, held of
Sir Thomas Wroth, knight, and Wm. Couch, as their
honor of Rayleigh. Morant, Essex, I. 496. (The rest doesn't mention Wright.)
FOOTPRINTS NOTE: Lawrence Wright and his wife
Mary Duke are in the Footprints database. This adds
to Mary's lineage (by giving info about her mother).
I don't know if this information helps anyone or not, but definitely draws a
connection between the Wrights of Essex in England with
John Winthrop. In addition to that, there is a
letter which I won't copy on pp.177-179 of Vol.II of this work which is from
Isaac Johnson to John Winthrop.
: Isaac Johnsonwas married to
Lady Arabella or Arbella the daughter of the
earl of Lincoln and came in the fleet with
Winthrop and he and his wife died almost immediately
supposedly leaving no children. This letter has to do with getting things
in order (as do also the others) for the departure of the fleet as it's dated latter
part of 1629. In this letter he mentions William Pynchon
, an early member and assistant of the Company, founder of Springfield,
Massachusetts, and also mentions Nathaniel Wright (which
paragraph I will copy along with footnote about N. Wright):
"Touching mr. Peters [Hugh Peter minister at Salem
Mass] your caution is good, but I hope wee shall give you content, that his place
will not be unsupplyed, nor his coming over offensive, nor dangerous. I shall
(God willing) speake to mr. Goffe [Thomas Goffe of
London, merchant, named dep. governor of the Company in the Charter] about the cowes,
and mr. Wright about the caske and provisions to supply
vs etc. For my modesty (as you call it) it is such as I finde needfull to
write oft, that you may pray for mee the more, and expect the less; yet what am I
a(m) Notes in brackets are mine; in parenthesis in the book.
Footnote: Nathaniel Wright, merchant, active in the
early affairs of the Company. Haven, "Transactions," American Antiquarian Soc.,
lxix-lxx.
Also of interest, the following:
"We have writt a lettre to Sir N: Rich [Sir Nathaniel
Rich, M.P. organizer of the Puritan colony of Old Providnece in the Caribbean]
to gett a lettre from him to Capt: Gosnall, that your
sonn may by his meanes take a veiw and plott of Harwich fort for us; for which I
pray you lett him haue Tyme, and the Company will bee thanckfull; and lett him come
up agayne as sonne as may bee; I received notice from Leicester that diverse
Christians are thinckinge to come from thence, and about Manchester one
mr. Roote a Godly minister and able (if hee had a Call)
and 40 with him; Leicester men desire him for their minister. I haue wrote word
that if those 2 places can make a Congragacion they mayhaue him. They sent up a
dozen or 13 Queres which haue beene answered."
This would have been Henry Roote (1590-1669), curate
or preacher at Gorton, co. Lancaster, 1623-34. He did not come to New England.
BUT I wonder if any of his sons did?
That's about it except for a letter from John Humphrey
to John Winthrop mentioning that
Richard Wright was his servant and if he needed 5 li. for Winthrop to please
allow it to him in his own absence.
Barbara Petty
Editor's Note: We are very appreciative of the work that Barbara has done in
researching those involved in the Winthrop Fleet. This article has added many
names to the database. This along with previous articles submitted by Barbara
(and no doubt more to come) will eventually tie a large majority those responsible
for the Winthrop Fleet and it group, together in such a way that we will be able
visualize a picture of the entire operation and who all were involved. In
[Footprins] Vol 2, No 3, page 33, we had the history of Doctor
Laurence Wright who is mentioned in this article.
We must also remember that there were others besides those mentioned above that
have had dealings in one way or another with the Winthrop Fleet. One example
is that there are also dealings with Thomas Skidmore.
All of these items will hopefully surface in the near future. If you
the reader find that any of your ancestors should be included in this group and you
have some form of documentation or an article of some type, we would be grateful if
we could use that information.
{WPFILE: Duke, John - WILl.wpd}
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