Person:Robert Peck (2)

The Pecks of Hingham, Massachusetts NOT Descended from John Peck, Esq., of Wakefield, Yorkshire

"It has been shown … that the Robert Peck who was named in the will of John Leeke of Beccles, co. Suffolk, dated 6 September 1629, as one of the testator's executors, was probably, from the nature of the services required of him and from the responsibility placed upon him under the terms of the will of John Leeke, at least twenty-one years old in 1529 and was therefore born in 1508 or earlier-very likely considerably earlier. It has been shown also that the Robert Peck named as an executor in the will of John Leeke was without doubt identical with the Robert Peck of Beccles whose will was dated 31 October 1556-a man who had two wives (both then deceased), who by his first wife had a daughter who in 1556 was already grown up and married ('all' of whose children were mentioned in a will of 1561), and a man also who had six children by his second wife who were living on 31 October 1556, of whom three were born before 28 May 1547. Now the testator of 31 October 1556, from whom Rev. Robert Peck and his brother Joseph, who came to New England in 1638, are known to have been descended, could not have been a son or a grandson of John Peck, Esq., of Wakefield, the testator of 2 November 1558, for this Robert Peck of Beccles was probably born in 1508 or earlier, while the marriage of John Peck of Wakefield did not take place until 1507 and Richard Peck, his eldest son and heir, was not born until about 1516. Moreover, if the Robert Peck to whom, together with Lancelott Lake, land in Wakefield had been given by John Peck, Esq. (as stated in his will of 2 November 1558), was, as seems likely, a son of one of the younger sons of the said John Peck, he was too young to have been identical with Robert Peck of Beccles, the testator of 31 October 1556"^[2]

The Will of Robert Peck

"The will of Robert Pecke of Beccles, co. Suffolk, England, dated 31 October 1556. My body to be buried in the churchyard of Beccles, near unto the grave of Johan, my wife. To every one of my household servants 12d. To John Pecke, my son, my messuage wherein I dwell and my tenement 'late Mayster Rede' and the two meadows lying next the meadow in the 'teno' [tenure] of Mathew Prynte and my little garden 'late Philippe Doddes,' my close 'sometyme Helyn Churches,' my 'fryttlell as the further Wynde Mill late Richard Tyde,' and three acres of land 'late William Marshes,' upon condition that he shall pay ----- [amount not given] to Thomas Pecke, my son, and to my three daughters Margret, Olyve, and Anne. To Robard Pecke, my son, my other two meadows in Barstun [sic ? Barsham] 'late Churchmans' and the meadows 'date Doct' Rede sometime Baldewyns,' my close at Ingate church, one acre of land 'late Tyde in Ingatefiels,' and the 'three roode acres called Bells acre.' To Thomas Pecke, my son, my two tenements I purchased of John Walter [sic] and my tenter yard. To my daughters Margaret, Olyve, and Anne, to each £6 13s. 4d. To every one of John Waters's and William Waters's children 4d. To every one of my god-children 4d. Executors: Richard Crampton and Thomas Hagas. Supervisors: John Waters and Robert Bradley. My little 'pyctell [pightel] called Caves pyctell' lying in Ingate shall be sold. To Johan Meriman, my daughter, a gown and a petticoat that were her mother's and the 'worser paire of Corall beads.' Witnesses: Sir John Gymbyn, Robert Tower, Robert Grene, Thomas Goodwyn, and John Waters. Proved 20 November 1556. (Archdeaconry Court of Suffolk [Ipswich Probate Registry], Register 17 (1554-1557, fo. 435.)"^[3]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Threlfall, John B. Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England & their Origins. (Madison, Wisconsin: J.B. Threlfall, 1990)
   295-296.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Peck, S. Allyn, and Frederick Stanhope Peck. The English Ancestry of Joseph Peck of Hingham, Mass., in 1638. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Oct 1935; Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct 1936; Jan, Jul, Oct 1937; Jan 1938; Oct 1939; Jan 1940)
   90:372.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Peck, S. Allyn, and Frederick Stanhope Peck. The English Ancestry of Joseph Peck of Hingham, Mass., in 1638. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Oct 1935; Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct 1936; Jan, Jul, Oct 1937; Jan 1938; Oct 1939; Jan 1940)
   89:338.