Humphrey Turner

HUMPHREY TURNER (c. 1594–1673)

LYDIA GAYMER (bp. 1602–1669/70)

According to his gravestone in the First Parish Cemetery in Scituate Harbor, Humphrey was born in 1594 in co. Kent, England and died in 1673, age 79, and was the husband of Lydia Gamer. [1] He married Lydia Gaymer on 24 October 1618 in Sandon, co. Essex. [2]

Lydia's English Ancestry (from Turner (1997)) [2]

Richard Gaymer died between 8 October 1613, when he wrote his will, and 10 October 1613, when he was buried in Terling, co. Essex. He married first Margaret Mason on 23 July 1590 in Terling. She was buried on 2 July 1602 in Terling. Richard married second Joan Robinson on 19 February 1602/3 in nearby Fairstead, Essex. She married second Hierome Neale on 31 July 1614 in Terling.

Richard was literate and "an apparently prosperous miller and landowner." In his will he mentions his wife Joane, eldest son John, second son Andrew, third son James, fourth son Richard, fifth son Frances and daughters Judith, Sarah, Elizabeth and Lydia.

Children of Richard Gaymer and Margaret Mason, all but the first baptized in Terling and all living in 1613.:

i. John Gaymer was born in 1593.

ii. Sarah Gaymer was baptized on 20 January 1593/4.

iii. Elizabeth Gaymer was baptized on 31 October 1596.

iv. Andrew Gaymer was baptized on 2 April 1600.

v. Lydia Gaymer was baptized on 18 May 1602.

Children of Richard Gamer and Joan Robinson, all baptisms and burials in Terling:

vi. James Gaymer was baptized on 8 January 1603/4. He was buried on 19 November 1616.

vii. Richard Gaymer was baptized on 31 October 1605. He was living in 1613.

viii. Judith Gaymer was baptized on 21 May 1607. She was buried on 15 November 1616.

ix. Bridget Gaymer was baptized on 30 March 1609. She was buried on 20 April 1614.

x. Frances Gaymer was baptized on 20 January 1610. He was buried on 21 January 1612/3.

xi. Francis Gaymer was baptized on 7 February 1612/3.

Sandon was noted as a place to get a quick wedding in the seventeenth century. [2] Lydia's father left her part of a tenement called Angel in Ockendon Fee, one of the five manors of Terling. [2]

Humphrey was clearly of middling social class. He is consistently referred to in the vital and court records solely by name, with no honorific. He is called Goodman Turner in the Scituate church records. However, the number of times he served as constable and on the committee for the town, as well as the relatively large land grants that he received, suggest that he was a member of the early Scituate oligarchy.

Humphrey refers to himself as a tanner in his will and he is referred to as such in land records. The minutes of the 18 January 1643 court refer to James Till being sent to Scituate with two hides for Humphrey to tan. [3, 2:68]

Humphrey probably came to New England in 1631.

He is on a 2 January 7 Charles [1631/2] Plymouth Colony tax list. The taxes, payable in corn, ranged from nine shillings for most of the households, including Humphrey's, to three pounds and 11 shillings for Isaac Allerton. [3, 1:9–11]

He was a freeman in Plymouth in 1633. [3, 1:3–4] He was on a 24 March 1633/4 Plymouth tax list. [3, 1:27–29]

Humphrey obtained the right to land by a pond in Plymouth on the western side of the fort; he enclosed it with a palisade and on 18 May 1633 the court noted that he sold it to Josias Winslow the elder for eight pounds on 8 April 1633. [3, 1:13] About then he moved to Scituate.

Humphrey was one of those dismissed from the church in Plymouth on the condition that they form a church in Scituate. [4, 19]

Humphrey was on a 7 March 1636/7 list of freemen in Plymouth. [3, 1:52–54]

Scituate's first street—the highway or Kents Street—was laid out in 1633 and lots were laid out to Edward Foster, Humphrey Turner, and Anthony Annable. The second street was Meeting House Lane and lots there were laid out for George Lewis, John Hewes, Walter Woodworth, Richard Foxwell and Isaac Chittenden. North of Satuit Brook was a path to the harbor with lots belonging to James Cudworth, John Lothrop, Eglin Hanford, Gowen White and Timothy Hatherly. [4]

On 14 October 1633 Humphrey was alloted the fourth lot: four acres on the south side of Stoney Brook. He was granted 26 acres of upland on the southwest corner of the Third Cliff on 20 February 1633/4. [4]

When Reverend John Lothrop first arrived as minister in Scituate at the end of September 1634, he described the nine houses there—including Humphrey's—as "small plain pallizadoe Houses." On 8 January 1634/5 Lothrop records a "day of humiliation" with his congregation of 12, including Goodman Turner. He records that Goody Turner joined the church on 10 January 1635/6." Humphrey's daughter Mary was apparently the first child baptized in Scituate. [5]

Humphrey was chosen constable of Scituate on 5 January 1635/6, 5 March 1638/9 and 2 June 1640. [3, 1: 36, 116–7, 154–6] He was a deputy from Scituate on 1 June 1641, 7 June 1642, 5 June 1644, 20 August 1644, 3 March 1645, 7 July 1646, 1 June 1647, 4 June 1650, 5 June 1651, 3 June 1652 and 7 June 1653. [3, 2: 16, 40, 72, 74, 95, 104, 117, 154, 167; 3: 8, 32] He was on the grand inquest jury on 7 June 1642 and 2 May 1643. [3, 2: 41, 56] He was chosen a supervisor of highways in Scituate on 1 June 1647 and 7 June 1648. [3, 2: 115, 124]

On 7 February 1636/7 he was granted a portion of meadow, 80 acres of upland and a "proportional" quantity of marshland. On 6 February 1643 he received ten acres of upland. [4]

Some of the freemen of Scituate, including Humphrey, complained that they had too little land to subsist on and the court granted them additional land on 1 January 1638/8. [3, 1:72] He was appointed to a committee to grant lots in a piece of land two miles long and one mile wide to residents of Scituate who needed more land in November 1646. [4, 1:56]

On 3 September 1638 Humphrey Turner was on a jury that found Arthur Peach, Thomas Jackson and Richard Stinnings guilt of murdering and robbing and Indian and sentenced them to hang. A fourth man—Daniel Cross—escaped before he could be tried. [3, 1:96–97]

Humphrey, along 15 other men of Scituate, was called three times to the 4 December 1638 General Court, and was fined nine shillings for failing to appear. [3, 1:104]

On 7 March 1639 Humphrey bought one and three-quarters acres of swampland from Thomas Roberts for 40 shillings. On 10 January 1645/5 Humphrey gave his son John, Sr. his 80 acres of upland and 15 acres of marsh. On 27 May 1648 Humphrey sold ten acres by the water mill to Henry Ewell for four pounds. [4]

Humphrey, and two John Turners [presumably his sons] are in the Scituate section of the 1643 list of those able to bear arms in New Plymouth. [6]

Humphrey was on a coroner's inquest into the sudden death of Mary Totman. It was noted at the 5 June 1666 court that Mary had died after eating a poisonous root, after apparently mistaking it for a non-poisonous one. [3, 4:130] Mary was the stepdaughter of Humphrey's daughter Mary and the daughter of William Parker.

On 1 October 1668 Humphrey conveyed upland on the east side of the Taunton River to his sons Joseph and Nathaniel. His wife Lydia consented on 23 July 1669. [7] This is apparently the only original New England record that provides the first name of Humphrey's wife.

Humphrey Turner, tanner of Scituate, conveyed upland in Scituate to his son Thomas on 24 February 1669. Humphrey Turner, tanner of Scituate, sold his house, farm and land in Scituate to his son Nathaniel on 26 February 1669. He conveyed his right in the undivided land in Scituate to his son Joseph on 1 November 1672. [8]

Humphrey Turner, tanner of Scituate, made his will the last day of February 1669/[70]. He left bequest to his eldest son John Turner; his sons Joseph, Young John, Daniel, Nathaniel and Thomas Turner; his daughters Mary Parker and Lydia Doughty; his grandchildren Humphrey Turner and Mary Doughterty; his grandchildren Jonathan, Joseph and Ezekiel Turner, the sons of his eldest son; and his grandchild Abigail Turner, the daughter of his son Nathaniel. [9]

On 20 November 1673 ten acres were allotted to the heirs of Humphrey Turner. [4]

Children of Humphrey Turner and Lydia Garner:

i. John Turner was born say 1620. He died between 4 March 1695 and 22 January 1697. He married Mary Brewster.

ii. John Turner, Jr. was born say 1623. He married Ann James on 5 April 1649 in Scituate. [1] He died between 28 October 1686 and 8 June 1687.

Anne was "almost certainly" the daughter of Philip James. [10] She was born about 1629 and probably died before 28 October 1868.

John Turner, Jr. of Scituate, the son of Humphrey Turner, late of Scituate, deceased, made his will on 28 October 1687. He did not mention his wife. His will was proved on 8 June 1687. [10]

It is a curiosity that Humphrey had two children named John. The older John was referred to as John, Sr.; the younger was referred to as John, Jr. or Young John. In England at that time, a couple sometimes gave two children the same name, but it is also possible that they were by different wives. The circumstantial evidence is strong that Humphrey married Lydia Gamer in 1618 and it is known (from the land record noted above) that Humphrey's wife was named Lydia. Thus, it is likely that Lydia Gamer is the mother of all Humphrey's children. The only other possibilities are that Humphrey married a second Lydia in England between the the births of his two eldest sons or that, despite the circumstantial evidence, a different Humphrey married Lydia Gamer.

iii. Thomas Turner was born say 1626. He died in November 1688 in Scituate. [1] He married Sarah Hyland on 6 January 1652 in Scituate. [1] Sarah, the wife of Thomas, died in November 1688 in Scituate. [1]

iv. Lydia Turner was born say 1629. [7] Lydia, the daughter of Humphrey Turner, was baptized on 17 February 1629/30 in Little Baddow Essex, not far from Terling. [2][7] Lydia, the daughter of Humphrey, married James Doughty on 15 April 1649 in Scituate. [1]

v. Mary Turner was baptized on 25 January 1634 in Scituate. She died between 1 March 1703/4 and 2 March 1705/6. She married William Parker.

vi. Joseph Turner, the son of Humphrey, was baptized on 1 January 1636 in Scituate. He was the first child baptized in the new meeting house. [1][4, 3:518]

Joseph's baptism was recorded by Reverend John Lothrop as "ye first in o[u]r new meeting house." [4]

vii. Nathaniel Turner was baptized on 10 March 1638/[9?] in Scituate. He died on 31 January 1715 in Scituate. He married first Mehitable Rigby. He married second the widow Abigail Stockbridge.

viii. Daniel Turner was born say 1641. He married Hannah Randall.

References

1. Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, 2 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1909), vol. 1: 369–83 (births); vol. 2: 299–308 (marriages), 454–58 (deaths).

2. Vernon Dow Turner, "Lydia Gaymer, the Wife of Humphrey Turner of Scituate," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 151 (1997): 286–90.

3. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640, vol. 2, 1641–1651, vol. 3, 1651–1661, vol. 4, 1661–1668 (Boston: William White, 1855).

4. Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, The Seventeenth-Century Town Records of Scituate, Massachusetts, 3 vols. (Boston: New England Historical Genealogical Society, 1997, 1999, 2001).

5. "Scituate and Barnstable Church Records," New England Historic and Genealogical Register 9 (1855): 2l79–87; 10 (1856): 37–43.

6. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, "List of Those Able to Bear Arms in the Colony of New Plymouth in 1643," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 4 (1850): 257.

7. ""The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally Published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 1843–6.

8. "Plymouth County, MA: Plymouth Colony Deeds, 1671–1673," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, vol. 3, part 2: 4–6, 25–26, 131–2, 201, 231–3.

9. "Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories," Mayflower Descendant 24 (1922): 42–33.

10. Marya Myers and Donald W. James, "A New Look at the Family of Francis and Philip James of Hingham: Immigrant Ancestors," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 151 (1997): 61–86, specifically 69–70.

last revised 17-Feb-2024