William Berry "1st settler of Sandy Beach"

William Berry, described as the “1st settler of Sandy Beach,” was associated with Captain John Mason’s New England enterprise and with the early communities of Portsmouth, Sandy Beach, and Newbury. He is said to have been among the people sent to the Piscataqua River about 1631, to have signed the 1640 Glebe Conveyance, served as a selectman of Strawberry Bank in 1646, and received a Sandy Beach lot in 1648.

William Berry is described in family-tree material as the “1st settler of Sandy Beach.” His birth is variously reported as 1610 at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, and as 1619 in Norfolk, England. The notes identify him as a son of Johan Berry.

According to the family-tree notes, Berry was in the service of Captain John Mason and was sent by Mason to New England about 1631. Mason reportedly sent 58 men and 22 women to the Piscataqua River in North America that year; the group is said to have included William Berry, William Seavey, Francis Rand, and William or Anthony Brackett. Berry’s connection with Mason is also described as a long association, during which he was given an opportunity to sail to New England and examine the territory between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers.

Berry is said to have married Jane Locke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1636. Their daughter Elizabeth Berry is reported as having been born in Portsmouth in 1634. These reported dates require further confirmation.

By 1640, Berry was among the principal inhabitants of Portsmouth who made a deed of fifty acres for a glebe, or parsonage. The conveyance included three fourths of the “full tenth part of the fresh marsh lying at the head of Strawberry bank creek,” with adjoining land, and a twelve-acre square lot in Portsmouth.

On 18 May 1642, William Berry became a freeman in Newbury, Massachusetts, and is listed among Newbury’s first settlers. He served as a selectman of Strawberry Bank, now Portsmouth, in 1646.

On 31 January 1648, Berry received a lot “upon the neck of land on the south side of the Little River at Sandy Beach.” The lot included the area later identified as Locke’s Neck. A 1688 return of persons belonging to Sandy Beach included William Berry, John Berry, James Berry, Joseph Berry, and several other early residents.

Berry’s death is reported as 26 June 1654 at Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire, British Colonial America. Another supplied account gives 28 June 1654. The date should be verified against a contemporary or near-contemporary record.

Historical context

Captain John Mason (1586–1635) was a sailor and colonizer born at King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England. He served as proprietary governor of Newfoundland’s Cuper’s Cove colony and published a map and a short discourse concerning Newfoundland. In 1622, Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges received a patent for territory between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers. They divided the grant in 1629 along the Piscataqua River, with Mason receiving the southern portion, later associated with the Province of New Hampshire. Mason died in 1635 while preparing for his first voyage to the new colony.

Sources & research