Oviatt, Rockwell, Mather, Myers Ancestry:Information about William Beamsley
William Beamsley (b. Abt. 1607, d. 29 September 1658)
Notes for William Beamsley:WILLIAM BEAMSLEYfrom "The Great Migration Begins" by Anderson
ORIGIN: Unknown
MIGRATION: 1632
FIRST RESIDENCE: Boston
OCCUPATION: Laborer, yeoman.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: "William Beamsley labourer" admitted to Boston church 5 April 1635 [BChR 20].
FREEMAN: "Will: Benseley" admitted 25 May 1636 (ninth in a group of twenty Boston men) [MBCR 1:372].
EDUCATION: Signed his will and several deeds. Inventory included books valued at £1 8s. William
Beamsley's second wife, Martha, made her mark to several of his deeds.
OFFICES: Constable for Boston, 13 March 1647/8 [BTR 1:92]. Committee to lay out highways, 11 March
1649/50, 12 April 1650 [BTR 1:99, 100]. Fenceviewer, 23 February 1651/2, 26 April 1652 [BTR 1:108,
110]. Water bailey, 10 March 1655/6 [BTR 1:129]. Highway surveyor, 9 March 1656/7, 29 June 1657 [BTR
1:134, 138]. Admitted to the Artillery Company in 1656/7 [HAHAC 1:179-80], and attained the rank of ensign
[SPR 3:224].
ESTATE: Granted sixteen acres at Muddy River, 8 January 1637/8 (based on order of 14 December 1635)
[BTR 1:23]. In the Boston Book of Possessions, Beamsley held two lots: house and houselot, about half an
acre; and sixteen acres at Muddy River [BBOP 7]. On 6 July 1650 he purchased from William Phillips a lot in
the Mill Field [BBOP 7; SLR 2:242], and on 25 January [1655/6?] he purchased an adjoining parcel from
widow Mary Hawkins [SLR 2:242]; on 25 April 1656 he sold the combined lot to Henry Shrimpton [SLR
2:242-44].
On 20 February 1651 Thomas Marshall of Boston, shoemaker, sold to William Beamsley of Boston a parcel
of marsh, and on 2 May 1657 "Will[iam] Beamsly of Boston aforesaid yeoman" sold to Elias Maverick and
David Kelly for £12 the same parcel of marsh [SLR 3:20-22]. On 1 December 1657 "William Beamsly of
Boston ... yeoman and Martha his wife" sold to Henry Kemble of Boston, blacksmith, for a valuable
consideration a parcel of land twenty-two feet wide at the west end, twenty-one and a half feet wide at the
east end, and ninety-six feet on the north and south sides, bounding William Wenborne on the north and
William Beamsley on the south [SLR 3:153-54; see also SLR 4:142, 163-64].
On 14 September 1658 William Beamsley confirmed a grant he had made to "my daughter Anne
Woodward, now the wife of Ezekiell Woodward, of a certain house and orchard, as it is now fenced wherein
they have lived, seven years, or thereabouts ..." [SLR 3:305-06].
In his will, dated 14 September 1658 and proved 28 October 1658, William Beamsley made "my wife full
executrix and administratrix of all my houses, lands, orchards, goods and chattels whatsoever that she shall
enjoy and possess the same unto her own proper use as long as she shall live provided she shall let Mercy
have that chamber wherein she now lies for her own, and that there shall be with all conveniency made
therein a chimney & she to enjoy it during her widowhood and I desire that my wife may take the charge and
care of her and see that she wants neither meat, drink nor clothing during the time of her widowhood, and
further my will is that after my wife's decease my whole estate shall be then prized and set to sale, the whole
estate that is then left to be equally distributed amongst all my children, namely Anne Woodward, Grace
Graves, Mercy Wilborne, Hannah Beamsley, Edward Bushnell, Elizabeth Page and Mary Robison..." [SPR
1:336].
The inventory of "the estate of the late Ensign William Beamsly (who departed this life the 29th of
September last) taken this 15th of October 1658" totalled £251 14s. 1d., of which £164 was real estate:
house and land at Boston, £140; and land at Muddy River, £24; on 28 October 1658 "Martha Beamesly
deposed this to be a true inventory of Wm. Beamesly her late husband's estate" [SPR 3:224].
On 16 November 1668 "Ann Woodward with Ezekiell Woodward her present husband, Grace Graves with
Samuell Graves her present husband, Mercy Wilborne alias Peterson with Andrew Peterson her present
husband, Hannah Beamsley alias Perkins with Abraham Perkins her present husband, Elizabeth Page with
Edward Page her present husband, Mary Roberson alias Dennis with Thomas Dennis her present husband,
[and] Edward Bushnell all formerly of Boston" sold to Key Alsop of Boston, merchant, for £200 "a certain
houses or houses [sic] with an orchard, yards and gardens" in Boston, and also additional ground to the east
of this lot [SLR 5:519-22; also SLR 5:518-19].
BIRTH: By about 1607 based on birth of eldest child.
DEATH: Boston 29 September 1658 [BVR 66; SPR 3:224].
MARRIAGE: (1) By 1632 Ann _____; d. between December 1643 and early 1645, since she is recorded as
mother of the child born in December 1643.
(2) By 1645 Martha (Hallor) Bushnell, widow of Edward Bushnell [J. Gardner Bartlett, The Ancestry of
Daniel Bushnell (Boston 1918), p. 3]; by her first husband she had five children, of whom three survived to
adulthood and were named in the will of their stepfather; on 12 June 1663 in "answer to the petition of
Martha Beamesly, of Boston, widow, humbly desiring the favor of this Court to grant her license to distill &
retail strong waters, &c., the Court judgeth it meet to grant her request, she giving security to the secretary
for the keeping due order, without offence or prejudice to the law & order of the County Court" [MBCR
4:2:84]; she died before 16 November 1668 when the heirs of William Beamsley sold his houselot in Boston,
land which had been given to her for life in her husband's will [SLR 5:519-22].
CHILDREN (all born Boston):
With first wife
iANN, b. 13 February 1632/3 [BVR 1]; m. by 1651 Ezekiel Woodward [SLR 3:305-06].
iiGRACE, b. 10 September 1635 [BVR 3], bp. 20 September 1635 [BChR 280]; m. by
1658 Samuel Graves of Ipswich (son Samuel b. 5 August 1658).
iiiMERCY, b. 9 December 1637 (erroneously called son in town record) [BVR 4], bp. 10
December 1637 [BChR 282]; m. (1) Boston 17 October 1656 Michael Willborne (she called
"Mary" incorrectly) [BVR 57]; m. (2) by 18 November 1659 Andrew Peters [SLR 3:358-59].
ivSAMUEL (twin), b. 31 December 1640 [sic] [BVR 9], bp. 7 February 1640/1 "being
about 14 days old" [BChR 287]; d. April 1641 [BVR 10].
vHABBAKUK (twin), b. 31 December 1640 [sic] [BVR 9], bp. 7 February 1640/1 "being
about 14 days old" [BChR 287]; d. April 1641 [BVR 10].
viHANNAH, b. December 1643 [BVR 15], bp. 17 December 1643 "being about 4 days old"
[BChR 293]; m. Ipswich 16 October 1661 Abraham Perkins, son of John Perkins and
grandson of JOHN PERKINS.
With second wife
viiABIGAIL, b. 8 February 1645/6 [sic] [BVR 21], bp. 8 February 1645/6 "being about 2
days old" [BChR 302]; not named in father's will, and no further record.
COMMENTS: Pope states that a George Beamsley was noted in a deed of 1643; this is probably an error for
some other surname.
The last three children named in the will of William Beamsley were not his own, but were his stepchildren,
the son and two daughters of Martha (Hallor) (Bushnell) Beamsley by her first husband.
On 26 July 1641 it is "agreed that our brother Beamsly is to be paid for 10 rods of causeway done by him
on the further side of the bridge at Rumney Marsh, at 6s. per rod, together with a small parcel of work on
the hither side of the said bridge, which cometh to 1s. 6d.; in all £3 1s. 6d." [BTR 1:62]. On 27 August 1649
it is "ordered that Wm. Beamsly shall remove away his oyster shells from off the town's highway before his
door by the 1 of the 11th month [i.e., by 1 January 1649/50], on the penalty of 20s. fine" [BTR 1:98]. On 1
March 1650/1 the Boston selectmen gave William Beamsley liberty "to wharf or pier before his property to
low water mark, provided he go no broader there than his ground is at high water mark" [BTR 1:102].
On 28 April 1656 "Wm. Beamsley is fined 10s. for receiving an inhabitant without license" [BTR 1:131]; on
25 January 1657/8 the selectmen stated that "Elizabeth Blesdale hath liberty to reside in the town, and Wm.
Beamsley is bound in a bond of twenty pounds to save the town from any charge that may arise by her
during her said residence ..." [BTR 1:141].
More About William Beamsley and Ann:
Marriage: Bef. 1632350
Children of William Beamsley and Ann are:
- +Mercy Beamsley, b. 09 December 1637, Boston, Suffolk, MA350, d. date unknown.