Richard Preston, father-in-law of William [Berry], and the Berrys were puritans who had come to Virginia to escape persecution along with many others of this turbulent sect. Their own intolerant desire to regulate affairs soon rendered them obnoxious and Virginia passed laws to exclude them from the Colony.Preston, Berrys and others, knowing of the liberty of conscience extended to all sects in Maryland, sought permission for the puritans to enter the Colony, which was cordially granted. Preston and the Berrys were well-to-do and seem to have been lawyers. All were soon possessed of of large estates of land on both sides of the Chesapeake and their activities, in writing wills and settling estates,a re to be seen in the records of several counties.
