Thomas Besbeech

Thomas Besbeech, also identified in the supplied notes as Thomas Besbeech (Bisbee), lived in Hedcorn and Sandwich, England, before emigrating to Massachusetts Bay in 1635. He lived in Scituate, Duxbury, Sudbury, and Marshfield, served in several civic and church roles, and died on 9 March 1673-74. His will was proved on 2 July 1674.

Thomas Besbeech lived first in Hedcorn and later in Sandwich, England. His wife, Anne, died at Frittenden in 1634. In March 1634, Thomas obtained a certificate of conformity required for emigration. It was certified by Thomas Warren, vicar of Sandwich, and Thomas Harmon, vicar of Hedcorn.

In the spring of 1635, Thomas sailed from Sandwich, England, for New England on the Hercules, a vessel of 200 tons commanded by Master Witherly. He traveled with his daughters Mary and Alice and, according to the notes, seven servants. The servants named were Jane, Sara, and John Egelden or Engleden; Thomas Neuley; Joseph Pacheing; and Agnes Love. The Hercules arrived in Massachusetts Bay in the spring of 1635, and Thomas settled at Scituate.

At Scituate, Thomas was identified as one of the first deacons of the first parish church, with William Gillson and Richard Sealis. A manuscript attributed to John Lathrop records that “Bro. Foster and Brother Besbeech” were invested in the office of deacons on 10 February 1637. Thomas also served on a jury at the Plymouth General Court on 6 March 1637-38.

Thomas bought a house from William Palmer in Duxbury in 1636 and moved there. He and John Willis were sworn as grand jurymen from Duxbury on 1 March 1641-42. The same court record states that Thomas was fined five shillings after being warned to serve on the Grand Jury Inquest and departing without leave. Court proceedings in 1642 and 1642-43 addressed a boundary dispute between Thomas and John Washburn; commissioners were appointed to establish the bounds between their lands. In 1643, Thomas was chosen as Duxbury’s representative to the General Court.

His daughter Mary married William Browne of Sudbury on 15 November 1641, and his daughter Alice married John Bourne of Marshfield on 8 July 1645. Thomas moved to Sudbury in 1645, where Mary Browne lived, and sold his Duxbury land about two years later. In May 1656, he was among the signers of a Sudbury petition asking the court to confirm an agreement intended to prevent future disputes and promote peace.

On 10 May 1662, Thomas granted 30 acres in Rehoboth to his daughter Sarah, wife of Francis Stevens Sr. During 1664 he sold land in Sudbury, moved to Marshfield, and later returned to Sudbury.

Thomas made his will on 25 November 1672. He directed that he be buried at the east end of the church in the Sudbury churchyard. He left his land in Hedcorn and Frittenden, England, to his daughter Mary Browne and her children. He died on 9 March 1673-74. His will, which William Browne stated had been delivered to him, was proved on 2 July 1674.

The supplied notes state that the exact location of Thomas Besbeech’s grave is not known. They observe that a vacant space east of the former Sudbury church site lies near the monument of Mrs. Patience Brown, who died in 1706 and was the wife of Major Thomas Browne, identified in the notes as Thomas Besbeech’s grandson. The suggestion that Thomas Besbeech may be buried nearby is family-history speculation rather than a documented grave identification.

Historical context

Thomas Besbeech’s 1635 migration occurred during the larger Puritan migration from England to New England. The supplied notes, quoting Green’s A Short History of the English People, describe conflicts during the reign of Charles I over royal authority, taxation, Parliament, and religious policy, as well as the resulting departure of thousands of English people for America. The notes also describe Scituate as a settlement founded in 1634 and populated largely by people from Kent, England, including settlers along the “Road of the Men of Kent” and Meeting House Lane.

Sources & research

Frank Jones Bisbee, Genealogy of the Bisbee Family, Descendants of Thomas Besbeech (Bisbee) of Scituate, Duxbury, and Sudbury, Massachusetts, including pp. 12-14 for a transcription of the Hercules manifest.
Green, A Short History of the English People.
Manuscript of Mr. John Lathrop of Scituate.
Plymouth General Court records, including proceedings dated 1 March 1641-42, 3 May 1642, 7 March 1642-43, and 6 March 1637-38.
Records, House of Deputies, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1644-1657, including the Sudbury petition of 15-16 May 1656.