20 Feb 1759: Bond of Thomas Holman of Sutton Husbandman who is "admitted adm'r on the Estate of his Late wife Mary Holman Late of Sutton aforesaid Housewife Deceased who was formerly and before marriage Mary Rich". [Note: no other papers in file.]
↑ None of the secondary sources covering Thomas Holman seem to give any information about Mary Rich. One would assume she is somehow related to the family of "Nicholas Rich of Salem", many of whose descendants end up in Sutton, but she is not mentioned in the article on this family found in TAG, Vol. 22, p. 94. Neither does she seem to be in the lengthy article in NEHGR on the "Descendants of Richard Rich of Cape Cod", vol. 83, p. 261 with installments later in Vol. 83, and vol. 84. So it is not known if Rich was her maiden name or not. It is only known that Rich was her name at time of marriage to Thomas Holman.
It is very strange for a husband to administrate on the estate of his deceased wife, unless perhaps they had a marriage contract that specifically kept part of her belongings separate. But as the probate file has no distribution or account and no such contract has been found, no further information on this strange arrangement is known.
