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AMBROSE FISH (c. 1650–1691), son of NATHANIEL FISH
HANNAH SWIFT (1651–1721), daughter of WILLIAM SWIFT and RUTH UNKNOWN
Ambrose Fish, the son of Nathaniel Fish and his unknown first wife, was born about 1650.1 He died in 1691 in Sandwich. He married Hannah Swift.2
Hannah, the daugher of William Swift, was born on 11 March 1651 in Sandwich.3 She died between 2 March and 6 April 1721. She married second Thomas Tobey about 1692.1
On 31 (3) 1669 Richard Handy complained that Hannah's mare was on the Town Neck. Hannah and her father were ordered to appear before the selectman. The town found for the plaintiff and Hannah and her father were charged five shillings.4
Ambrose was a townsman of Sandwich on 28 (2) 1675.5 He took the oath of fidelity in 1681.5
The Plymouth Court records for 30 October 1677 say:6
Att this Court, Ambrose Fish was inditied by the name of Ambrose Fish, for that hee, haueing not the feare of God before his eyes, did wickedly, and contrary to the order of nature, on the tweluth day of July last past before the date heerof, in his owne house in Sandwich, in this collonie of New Plymouth, by force carnally know and rauish [his half-sister] Lydia Fish, the daughter of Mr Nathaniell Fish, of Sandwich aforsaid, and against her will, shee being then in the peace of God and of the Kinge.
The grand jury found billa vera. The verdict of the jury of life and death was as followeth: Namely, if one euidence with concurring cercomstances be good in law, wee find him guilty. But if one euidence, with conccurring cercomstances, be not good in law, wee find him not quilty.
Vpon consideration of the verdict, the Court centance him, the said Ambrose Fish, to suffer corporall punishment by being publickly whipt att the post, which accordingly was inflicted, and the prisoner released.
Inventory of the estate of Ambrose Fish of Sandwich was taken on 11 September 1691 by Thomas Tupper and William Bassett. Hannah Fish, relict, testified to it on 21 October 1691. The estate included a house and land worth 100 pounds. Hannah received one-third of the real estate for her lifetime and one-third of the personal estate. The children received the rest, with the son [Seth] getting a double share.7
In a deposition, Hannah's son Seth Fish testified that Thomas Tobey was his father-in-law. It is known that Seth had only one wife, Mary Turner, so he was not referring to his wife's father. He must have meant his step-father.2 "Father-in-law" was a common way of referring to a step-father.
Hannah made her will on 3 March 1721 and administration was granted to her son Seth Fish on 6 April 1721. She named her son Seth Fish; her son Samuel Tobey and her daughter Abiah, his wife; her son Gershom Tobey and her daughter Mehitable, his wife; her son Eliakim Tupper, and her daughter Joanna, his wife.1
Children of Ambrose Fish and Hannah Swift:
i. Ephraim Fish was born on 16 December 1676 in Sandwich and died there on 17 October 1679.3
ii. Abiah Fish was born on 2 September 1678 in Sandwich.3 She married her stepbrother Samuel Tobey about 1695/6.1
iii. Mehitable Fish was born on 19 May 1680 in Sandwich.3 She married her stepbrother Gershom Tobey on 29 Alpril 1697.1
iv. Seth Fish was born about 1682. He died between 10 February 1750 and 20 February 1758. He married Mary Turner.
v. Joanna Fish was born on 20 May 1689 in Sandwich.3 She married Eliakim Tupper about 1706.1 Eliakim was the son of Thomas Tupper.
References:
1. Mrs. John E. Barclay, "Hannah (Swift) Tobey, daughter of William2 Swift, and the Family of Ambrose2 Fish, of Sandwich, Mass.," The American Genealogist 35 (1959): 40–43.
2. Lydia B. (Phinney) Brownson and Maclean W. McLean, "Michael Blackwell of Sandwich, Mass. (c. 1620–1710)," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 117 (1963): 180–94, specifically 190.
3. Caroline Lewis Cardell and Russell A. Lovell, Vital Records of Sandwich, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, 2 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996), vol. 1: 14–15.
4. Sandwich and Bourne Colony and Town Records, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy (Yarmouthport: C.W. Swift, 1912), no page numbers.
5. Frederick Freeman, The History of Cape Cod: The Annals of 13 Towns of Barnstable County, vol. 2 (Boston: George C. Rand & Avery, 1862), 68, 74.
6. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, Court Orders, vol. 5, 1668–1678 (Boston: William White, 1856): 245–6.
7. "Abstracts of Barnstable County Probate Records," Mayflower Descendant 12 (1910): 88–90, specifically 89–90.
Last revised: 23-May-2021