Person:Thomas Richards (15)

Thomas Richard's Will

In his will, dated 17 December 1650 and proved 28 January 1650[/1], Thomas Richards "of the town of Waymouth in New England being at this present [illegible] the 17 December 1650 in the town of Hull in New England aforesaid in the house of Tho: Loringe, being weak and sick in body" bequeathed that "when my son John come home my whole estate shall be cast up what it comes to and my sons John and James and Samuell and Joseph and Benjamine shall have all of them alike, double portions to my daughters out of it, my son John shall have no more than one of the rest because I have been at greater charge with him than with any of the other[s]"; "my daughter[s] Mary and Ann and Alce and Hannah shall have half so much as my sons all alike, only my daughter Mary shall have £10 more than any of the other"; "my wife shall have a competent and sufficient maintenance allowed her out of my estate, that is to say £35 a year ... during her life"; "I do give to brother Thom. Loring £5 for the charge and trouble they have been at with me"; to "Thomas Prosser £20"; "my son John shall have my sons Joseph's and Benjamine's portions in his hands until they be twenty and one years of age"; overseers "my son John and Thomas Loringe and Nicolas Baker both of Hull [sic]" [ SPR NS 1:64; see also MD 9:90].^[1]

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Thomas Richards, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995)
   3:1575-79.

   ORIGIN: Pitminster, Somersetshire.
   RETURN TRIPS: To England about 1640, again 1646, again about 1649 (and perhaps on other occasions)
   CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to Weymouth church prior to 13 May 1640 implied by freemanship.
   FREEMAN: 13 May 1640 [MBCR 1:377].
   BIRTH: Baptized 15 April 1596, Pitminster, Somersetshire, son of Thomas Richards [UGM 24:93].
   DEATH: Between 17 December 1650 (date of will) and 18 January 1650/1 (date of first inventory).
   MARRIAGE: By 1620 Welthian _____. Perhaps she was sister to Thomas Loring, whom Thomas called "brother" in his will. She died between 3 July 1679 (date of will) and 4 November 1679 (probate of will).

2. ↑ Stott, Clifford L. Humphrey Blake (1494?-1558) and his Descendants in New England and South Carolina: Richards, Selleck, Torrey, and Wolcott. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Apr, Jul, Oct 2009; Jan 2010)
   163:291.

   Thomas Richards, s/o Richard, bp. Pitminster, Somerset, England 16 Apr 1596, d. Weymouth between 17 Dec 1650 (will) and 18 Jan 1650/51 (probate), m. abt. 1619 Welthean (Loring?), "perhaps" sister of Thomas Loring of Hull, MA.

3.   Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   3:534.

   "THOMAS, Dorchester 1630, perhaps came in the Mary and John, with s. James and John, bef. ment. rem. to Weymouth, freem. 13 May 1640, d. soon aft. 17 Dec 1650. His will made at Hull on that day, pro. 28 Jan. foll. names s. John, James, Samuel, Joseph, and Benjamin, calling the last two minors; and ds. Mary, Ann, Alice, and Hannah. This last ch. d. 10 Nov. foll. His wid. Welthian, mo. of these ch.in her will of July 1679, pro. Nov. foll. ment. only James, John, and Ann, w. of Ephraim Hunt, as then liv.; Mary, m. 7 Dec. 1641, Thomas Hinckley of Barnstable, after Gov. of that Col. and d. 24 June 1659; Alice m. William Bradford, the Dep. Gov. of the same Col., and d. 12 Dec. 1671."

4.   Pope, Charles Henry. Pioneers of Massachusetts (1620-1650): A Descriptive List, Drawn from Records of the Colonies, Towns and Churches. (Boston: The Author, 1900)
   384.