Person:Elizabeth Unknown (4206)

Elizabeth Unknown
b.Est 1618
m. Bef 1638
  1. Mary LawrenceEst 1638 - 1723
  2. Elizabeth Lawrence1641/42 - 1704
  3. Sarah Lawrence1643/44 - 1713
Facts and Events
Name[3] Elizabeth Unknown
Gender Female
Birth[2] Est 1618 Estimated by approximate date of marriage
Marriage Bef 1638 Before estimate birth date of probable eldest child
to Thomas Lawrence
Death[1] 18 Feb 1679 Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

The Ancestral File and multiple web sources say she was b. 10 Mar 1609 in Limpfield, Surrey, daughter of Family:James Bates and Alice Glover (3). However, no reliable source is ever cited, and neither the James Bates genealogy at NEHGS nor Savage believe Elizabeth is their daughter.

Since almost every secondary source identifies her as the daughter or sister of James Bates who married Alice Glover, "no reliable source" appears to be a tautology (they are not reliable because they show this). The correct question is what evidence is there that suggests this is even possible. It is described in Source:Hitchcock, Russell Snow. Family History : Ancestors of Russell Snow Hitchcock, 1620-1947, p. 85, based on Suffolk Probate Vol. 5, p. 246 which is excepted below with highlighting added.

"29th:2:1675" [29 Apr 1675]: "Edward Bate aged 67 years or thereabout testifieth that Thomas Lawrance of hingham a little before his death being on his death bed as his last act and will with all his estate both in land and goods some smale thing excepted if there were any thing excepted if there weare any to his wife Elizabeth Lawrance and what shee left at hir death should be given to his Children equally devided the deceased of the sd Thomas Lawrance was aboute 17 or 18 yeares agoe; ... "

"The humble petition of Elizabeth Lawrance widdow now living in dorchester that for as much as my husband Thomas Lawrance deceased did upon his death bed a little Before hee dyed very Solumly in the presents of my Brother Elder Edward Bate of waymouth and lef't John Smith of Hingham give as his last will and testam't that smale estate hee was then possest of to mee the s'd Elizabeth Lawrance his then wife desiring my brother Edward Bate to bee my Counseller when he was gone and by whose Counsell I acted in Refferance to the estate my husband left mee and in this following particular in selling a small p'sell of land to Lef't John Smith who then gave to the vallue of itt and unto whome I gave a deed under hand and seale about twenty yeares agoe..."

Since it was generally held that Edward Bates was a brother to James Bates of Dorchester, and since the widow returned to Dorchester, naturally this turned into the assertion seen everywhere that Elizabeth was sister or daughter of James Bates of Dorchester. However, modern research shows that Edward Bates is not the brother of James Bates of Dorchester. Waters' presentation (see the link embedded in the Torrey citation, p. 1302) of the Bates family in Lydd, England shows that that Edward, brother of James, was buried in 1616. Further Source:Bates, Samuel A. Genealogy of the Descendants of Edward Bates of Weymouth, Massachusetts, gives the gravestone inscription of Edward Bates of Weymouth, showing he died i1686 aged 81 born about 1605 (note, also, the age in the above deposition), and is thought to originate near Boston, England (since he appears to have come to New England as a servant or apprentice with Thomas Leverett) which is about 150 miles from Lydd. Then TAG, "The English Origin of Macuth1 (or Matthew) Pratt and Edward1 Bates of Weymouth, Mass." by Frederick J. Nicholson, parish records Vol. 65, pp. 41-43; family summary Vol. 65, p. 94; identifies his parents and wife Susanna Putnam, proving that Elizabeth was not related to James Bates of Dorchester.

The question remains, was Elizabeth the sister, or sister-in-law of Edward Bates. According to the TAG article, p. 65:94, Edward has a sister Elizabeth, bp. 1604, "poss. the Elisabeat Beate who m. Aston Clinton 30 Sep 1629 Walter ["Water"] Warde". Susanna Putnam, p. 65:96, has a sister Elizabeth, bp. 1612, "living 10 Nov. 1625 (father's will)". The latter seems a more likely age for the wife of Thomas Lawrence.

References
  1. Boston (Massachusetts). Record Commissioners. A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston: Containing Dorchester Births, Marriages, and Deaths to the End of 1825. (Boston, Massachusetts: Rockwell and Churchill, city printers, 1890)
    30.

    Elizabeth Laurence Died Feb'r 18th. [16]79.

  2. Lincoln, George; Thomas T. Bouve; Edward T. Bouve; John D. Long; Walter L. Bouve; Francis H. Lincoln; Edmund Hersey; Fearing Burr; Charles W. S Seymour; and Town of Hingham. History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts . (Hingham, Massachusetts: The Town, 1893)
    2:426.
  3. Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. (1963).

    Bates Bulletin, Series 2, p. 96, "Who Was Elizabeth Bates?" "The Hingham History gives her as a daughter of James Bates of Dorchester ... no Elizabeth mentioned amonth the children of James of Dorchester ... In the Lydd records is the birth of Elizabeth Bates, daughter of Andrew Bates, March 11, 1620-21. This Andrew Bates was a brother of James and Clement. ... Where there is no record of her coming to this country, it is easily possible that she did so ... probably the solution to the problem." [Note: this identification appears based on a correspondent giving her birth as 11 Mar 1621, the basis of which is not specified, which suggests a circular reference, namely an assumption that the daughter of Andrew is the right person, creating an assertion this was the birth of the wife of Thomas Lawrence without relaying its dependence on this assumption, and then the assertion being used to prove Thomas Lawrence's wife was the daughter of Andrew. Note that Source:Waters, Henry F. Genealogical Gleanings in England, Vol. 2, p. 1305 shows Andrew Bates' will, proved 1638, names a daughter Elizabeth, but it does not show when the will was written since by 1638 it is probable she was in New England and possibly married.]

    Colcord, p. 14. I see nothing that even appears relevant.

    Bridges Anc., p. 54, says Thomas Lawrence m. 1638 Elizabeth Bate, daughter of James Bate of Dorchester.

    Lawrence (#1), p. 57, says Thomas Lawrence m. Elisabeth Bates, a sister of James Bates, of Dorchester.

    Source given as Moseley Anc. which is listed as Source:Brown, F. W. Some of the Ancestors of Oliver Hazard Perry of Lowell, Mass, in which no reference to Lawrence or Bates is found. Suspected to mean source Mosley which is Source:Moseley, Edward S. Genealogical Sketch of One Branch of the Moseley Family, since one of the listed page numbers, p. 21, is relevant, saying Thomas Moseley married Mary Cooper "the daughter of widow Elizabeth Bates Lawrence, originally of Hingham, and Thomas Lawrence, deceased." The page references to p. 5 and p. 8 represent respectively the dedication and origins of Moseleys in England (so not relevant), and are not understood, but bad references are typical of Torrey.

    Converse, Vol. 2, p. 700, William Smead m. Elizabeth Lawrence, bp. Hingham 6 Mar 1641-2, d/o Thomas Lawrence. Widow was daughter of James Bate of Dorchester, citing Lincoln's History of Hingham. Gives an abstract of Clapp's History of Dorchester about James Bate or Bates of Dorchester, son of James Bate of Hingham, bp. 19 Dec 1624, but nothing showing there was a daughter Elizabeth of either man.

    Coxe Anc, p. 41 (image 41 at Family Search Books) says Thomas Lawrence m. Elizabeth Bates, daughter or sister of James and Alice.

    And of course, Lincoln's History of Hingham, the source Torrey doesn't cite but is cited by several of the sources he does. Source:History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts (since nothing in Source:Lincoln, Solomon. History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts seems relevant), p. 2:426, says the wife of Thomas Lawrence was "Elizabeth, dau. of James Bate of Dor." James Bate of Dor., not being from Hingham is not covered, but on p. 2:38 is identified as the brother of Clement Bates of Hingham.