Person:Prudence Brewster (1)

Biography

Prudence Brewster born say 1572 probably in Scrooby and probably died before 1609 in Everton, Nottinghamshire, England when two of her children were wards to William Brewster (see below). She married Robert Pecke whose will was dated 1598 in Everton, Nottinghamshire, England. He possibly had a second wife named Jun Jenyver if he was the man of the same name who married in 15 Jun 1589 in Loude, three miles from Scrooby. It is unclear which children were from which wife but in his will he names: Robert the eldest, Ann, Prudence, William, Thomas and George. His children Robert Peck and Prudence Pecke were wards of their supposed uncle William Brewster at Ledyen.^[2]

The will of Robert Pecke of Everton, Nottinghamshire, England (2 miles north of Loude) dated and proved in 1598 states:

• "I Robert Pecke of Everton, husbandman,... my body to buried in the churchyard of Everton... I give the poor of Everton 3/4. I give William Pecke my son 7/6/8. I give George Pecke, my son , the same. I give Ann Pecke my daughter the same. I give Thomas Hodgson 10/- bequeathed to my mother. I give Thomas Sympson half a rood of Rye. I give Hercules Moore 12d. I give Robert Pecke my eldest son a couple of black stears. I give Prudence my wife and Robert my son all residue and make them executors. I make Richard Perkin guardian of my son Robert during his minority.
• Witness Anthony Phan, clerke, Richard Harrison, and William Fletcher".^[2]

Prudence (Brester) Pecke was obviously still living in 1598. However, she must have died by 1609 for Elder William Brewster, aged about forty-two years, came before the aldermen at Leiden, Holland on 12 June 1609, as guardian of Ann PECK, native of Launde, when they granted to Thomas Simkinson, merchant of Hull (son of John Simkinson and Mary Smythe and half-brother of Elder William BREWSTER), Power of Attorney to receive seven pounds sterling that Ann Pecke had left with Rev. William Watkin, pastor of Clarborough when she left England.^[2] The register of St. Pancras church, Leyden, records the burial on Saturday, 20 June 1609, of a child of William BREWSTER. The age and sex of the child are not specified. It might be reasonable to assume that the "child of William BREWSTER" who was buried, 20 June 1609, was Prudence (Brewster) Pecke, daughter of William Brewster and wife of Robert Pecke, since her brother, Elder William Brewster appeared in court eight days earlier as guardian of Prudence's minor daughter, Ann Pecke. That would suggest the widow Prudence (Brewster) Peck accompanied her surviving children, Robert & Ann, to Leyden; that she was taken ill, so William arranged for the transfer of Ann Peck's inheritance. In 1610 William Brewster's wife Mary was living in Leiden with two wards Anne and Robert Pecke.^[2][3] The Pilgrim Records in the Archives of the City of Leiden, The Netherlands contain the following entry "9 Dec 1616 Jan Spoenaert, lintier, nit Engelant, wedr. van Sussanna Benijt verger, van Samuel Leee met Anna Peck, jd. nit Engelant, verges. met Lisbeth." which apparently translates to: "9 Dec 1616. John Spooner, linen-worker from England, widower of Susanna Bennet, accompanied by Samuel Lee, [is married] with Anna Peck, young woman from England, accompanied by Elizabeth Spalding her acquaintance." Some have interpreted linen-worker as ribbon maker which is a line of work Jonathan Brewster was in for a period in Leiden.^[4][5] John Spooner was at the time residing at the Douver House, a local house for bachelors in Leiden (the Douver House still exists today). John Spooner died 6 Jul 1628 in Leiden.^[5] In 22 Jan 1630 Ann Peck of Leyden was witness to the marriage of Henry Parkgus and Margaret Woodwek. In 1637 an Ann Spooner joined the Salem Church with a Thomas Spooner. Thomas Spooner had a wife Elizabeth.^[6] Savage lists Ann as a first wife of Thomas but the original records give no evidence that she was his wife. It is possibly that Ann Spooner was Ann (Brewster) Spooner widow of John Spooner of Leyden and step-mother or mother of Thomas Spooner. A William Spooner also arrived in 1637 in Plymouth as an indentured servent. This may imply that he was still a minor and possibly a second child of this family.^[7] However, the identity of Ann Spooner of Salem is not yet conclusive.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth year estimated based on estimated birth years of her brothers and half-brother, and on the fact that her known children were under age in 1609 (needing a guardian in 1609) and thus likely born in the 1590's.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} John G Hunt "The identity of Robert and Ann Pack, Wards of Elder William Brewster in Leyden in 1610" in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1957) Volume 111 p 319-320 link to article at AmericanAncestors
3. ↑ Geoge F Willison, Saints & Strangers: Lives of the Pilgrim Fathers and Their Families (New York: Reynal and Hitchcok, 1945)
4. ↑ H.M. Dexter, Mourt's Relation.
5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 Pilgrim Records in the Archives of the City of Leiden, The Netherlands link
6. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson. The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1640 (Boston, Massachusetts. New England Historic and Genealogical Society. 2015) p 315 (William Spooner: Unknown; 1637; Plymouth; [PCR 12:19, MD 15:27, 16:238; NEHGR 23:407-8; Thomas Spooner, Records of William Spooner of Plymouth, Mass., and His Descendants (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1883)]. Thomas Spooner: Unknown; 1637; Salem; STR 1:51; SChR 7; MBCR 1:374; EIHC 28:124; Perley 1:433; NEHGR 23:348
7. ↑ T.S., "Ann Spooner" in New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1970) Vol 23 p 348 link