Person:Richard Swain (2)

Christened Richard Swain on 21 September 1595, Berkshire England , the name Richard Swayne was used until he moved to Natucket from the mainland.

Other spellings of the name in England during the period 1500-1600's show Swaine, Swain, Swain, in addition to Swayne. His children, Francis, Nicholas, Grace, Richard and John are listed in christening records as either Swaine or Swayne. One son, the first Richard, Jr., died as an infant in England.

In most instances the name Swayne or Swain(e) is derived from the Old Norse word sveinn which meant "boy, servant; peasant" depending on its use in the sentence. It came to England with Danes and Norwegians and was altered there to suein, suen, swan, etc. Svein was first used as a descriptive term before becoming a surname. Burke's Armory describes the Coat-Of-Arms for one Swain or Swaine, one Swaine and four Swaynes...each of them different. According to some authorities Richard Swayne of St. Albans, England who came to America aboard the TRUELOVE in 1635, living first at Rowley, Massachusetts Bay in 1635, and then at Hampton in New Hampshire. This was in line with William Swayne of Salisbury, England, who was granted the Coat-of-Arms, 20 June 1444, later confirmed by a descendant of the same name, of London, in 1612. This is the same Coat-of- Arms found in Scotland in 1100, but without the Motto.

A record of the births of four of the children of Richard Swayne are found in Easthampstead County, England: Nicholas, Grace, Richard, and John Swayne. After Richard Swayne took his family to America in 1635, there seems to be no other family of that name living in Easthampstead for nearly 60 years. St. Albans, England is northeast of London.

Richard spent about 20 years in Hampton, NH, where he held several civil positions, including surveyor and selectman. He was paid 18s. for taking the county votes to Boston in 1638. He also appears in court records in several disputes involving his neighbors.

On 2 Jul 1659, Thomas Mayhew sold the rights to the island of Nantucket to a group of men including Richard Swaine, his son John, Tristam Coffin, Thomas Macy, Stephen Greenleaf and others. By 1661, Richard, his wife Jane and his sons Richard and John had moved to Nantucket.

The Massachusetts General Court, on Nov. 12, 1659, enacted the following "That Richard Swayne for his entertaining the Quakers shall pay as a fine the some of three pounds & be disenfranchised." ^S2

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Stott, Clifford L. The English Origin of Richard(1) Swaine of Hampton, New Hampshire, and Nantucket. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (Oct 1999)
   74:244-49.

   Richard¹ Swaine (William^A-B, Robert^C) was baptized at Binfield (Berks) on 26 September 1595 and died on Nantucket Island on 14 April 1682. … It has sometimes been stated that Richard emigrated on the Truelove from London to New England in September 1635. However, the name on this list is actually Richard "Strayne." Moreover, this Richard is listed as 34 years old, making him too young to be the Hampton settler if the age is accurately reported. Ages on these lists are notoriously inaccurate. … Savage states that Richard¹ Swaine settled first at Rowley, but he no doubt confused our Richard with a Richard Swan who settled in that place. The first evidence of Richard Swaine found to date in New England records is on 6 September 1638, when the Massachusetts General Court granted the petition of the Rev. Stephen Bachiler of Newbury and others, including Richard Swaine, to establish a plantation at Winnacunnet (later Hampton).

2.   Richard Swayne, in Dow, Joseph. History of the town of Hampton, New Hampshire: from its settlement in 1638, to the autumn of 1892. (Salem, Massachusetts: L.E. Dow, the Salem Publishing and Printing Co. , 1893)
   2:986.

   Richard Swayne and his wife, Basselle, were residents of Hampton, soon after the town was settled, coming hither from Rowley, Mass. Their sons, William and Francis, preceded the parents in coming to America. "Entered as passengers in the Rebecca, John Hedges, master [6 Apr., 1635], William Swayne, 16, and Francis Swayne, 14" years of age.
   
   Richard Swayne's house-lot of ten acres lay next to Rev. Timothy Dalton's, and was bounded on the north by the road leading to the Falls. He appears to have been a man of considerable property ; was one of the proprietors of Nantucket, to which island he removed soon after 1660. His wife, Basselle, died July 15, 1657. He married, second, Sept. 15, 1658, Jane Barker.