The FISH Family of Sandwich in Massachusetts

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Augustine Fyshe (d. 1579) of Great Bowden
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JOHN FYSHE (d. 1622/3) of Great Bowden m. Margaret Unknown
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THOMAS FYSHE (bp. 1584-1674) of Lubenham, East Farnham and Wedgeneck Park
m.
William Sprigge of Lubenham
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Mary Sprigge (b. 1585)
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NATHANIEL FISH (bp. 1619) of Sandwich
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AMBROSE FISH (d. 1691) of Sandwich m. Hannah Swift
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SETH FISH (b. c. 1682) m. Mary Turner
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HANNAH FISH (b. 1706) m. Samuel Tupper


First Generation

JOHN FYSHE (d. 1622/3) of Market Harborow, Great Bowden Parish, co. Leicester

Parents: Perhaps the Augustine Fyshe who died on 26 Aug 1579 in Great Bowden was his father. [Ref]

John married Margaret Unknown, perhaps Margaret Cradock. [Ref]

In his will, filed in 1622 and proved on 2 Jan 1623/24, John calls himself a yeoman of Bowden Magna, co. Leicester. He mentions his wife Margaret, his eldest son Augustine, his second son William, his fifth son Francis, his youngest son John, his son-in-law Robert Fish of Market Harborough and Robert's wife Alice. [Ref]

Children of John and Margaret, all baptisms recorded in Great Bowden [Ref]:

  1. Augustine Fyshe was baptised on 11 Jun 1578. He died on 29 April 1646. [Ref] He married Christian Unknown. [Ref] His father left him "one tazletre and a squared piece of my myle" of his timber and the "mylln post"; he was to pay his mother 40 shillings. [Ref] His son William went to Windsor, CT in 1642; his father left him a bequest in his will, were he to return. [Ref]
  2. William Fyshe was baptised on 9 Mar 1580/1. He died on 13 Sep 1658. [Ref] He married Anne Parsons in 1620. [Ref] His father left him one old cottage with two cow pastures and ten sheep and the commons adjoining unto his dwelling house. [Ref]
  3. Kathryn Fyshe was baptised on 15 Apr 1582.
  4. Thomas Fyshe was baptised on 8 May 1584. He died on 12 Jan 1673/4. He married Mary Sprigge.
  5. Sara Fyshe was baptised on 11 Apr 1585. She married John Johnson in 1604. [Ref]
  6. Ambrose Fyshe was baptised on 6 Jul 1588. He died in 1628. [Ref] He received his B.A. at Christ College, Cambridge in 1608 and his M.A. in 1612. [Ref] In 1616 he was ordained in London. [Ref] On 16 Jun 1619 he became rector of the parish of Raunds in Northamptonshire. [Ref]
  7. May Fyshe was baptised on 20 Dec 1589.
  8. Elizabeth Fyshe was baptised on 15 Nov 1591. She married Edward Marston in 1616. [Ref]
  9. Francis Fyshe was baptised on 29 Oct 1593. His father left him a cottage with a close and orchard. [Ref]
  10. Anne Fyshe was baptised on 2 Jun 1596.
  11. Alice Fyshe was baptised on 6 Nov 1597. She married Robert Fyshe on 24 Feb 1617/8. [Ref] His father-in-law left Robert a piece of meadow in little Bowden field, called Stony Holme. [Ref] Robert, the son of Thomas Fish, was baptised on 12 Aug 1593. [Ref] He was a mercer of Market Harborough in Great Bowden. [Ref]
  12. Mary Fyshe was baptised on 8 Dec 1599.
  13. John Fyshe was baptised on 26 Jan 1601/2. His father left him three closes and a small amount of money and the rights to some wood. [Ref] He lived in Wroxhall near his brother Thomas. [Ref] John Fyshe of Wroxhall had money transactions with Thomas Dexter, an early settler in Lynn and Sandwich, MA, which were settled in 1637. [Ref] He loaned money to Rev. Ephraim Huit of the Wroxhall Church, who was persecuted for non-conformity and went to Hartford, CT. [Ref]

Second Generation

THOMAS FYSHE (bp. 1584 - 1674) of Lubenham, East Farndon, Great Bowden and Wedgenock Park

Parents: John Fyshe and Margaret Unknown

Thomas Fysh was baptised on 8 May 1584 in Great Bowden. [Ref] He died on 12 Jan 1673/4 in Warwick. [Ref] He married Mary Sprigge in 1609 in Leicester. [Ref] Mary was the daughter of William Sprigge of Lubenham, Leicestershire. [Ref] She was born on 24 Jan 1585 in Lubenham. [Ref]

Thomas appears to have lived in three nearby towns: first Lubenham, then East Farndon, and finally in Great Bowden. [Ref] He then moved to Wedgenock Park in Warwickshire, where he was a tenant of the Earl of Warwick. [Ref] In 1643 he was living in Good Rest House within the the Park. [Ref]

Children of Thomas Fish and Mary Sprigge:

  1. Cradock Fyshe was baptised on 9 Aug 1612 in Lubenham. [Ref] He married Elizabeth Unknown. [Ref]
  2. Ambrose Fyshe was baptised on 18 Oct 1613 in East Farndon. [Ref]
  3. Jonathan Fish was born in 1616. [Ref] He was baptised on 16 Feb 1615/6 in East Farndon. [Ref] He died in 1663. He married Mary Unknown. [Ref] Mary married second Gershom Moore. [Ref]
    Jonathan was an early inhabitant of Sandwich. [Ref] He is in the Sandwich section of the 1643 list of those between 16 and 60 able to bear arms in Plymouth Colony. [Ref] At the court held on 20 Aug 1644, Jonathan and his wife Mary were among those for whom a warrant was set forth to testify against John Ellis, accused of fornication with his later wife Elizabeth Freeman, daughter of Edmund Freeman. John was publicly whipped. [Ref] Jonathan settled in Long Island in the 1650s. [Ref]
  4. John Fish was baptised on 20 Jun 1619 in East Farndon. [Ref] He died in 1663. Inventory of John Fish's estate was taken on the oath of Mrs. Cecilia Fish by Richard Bourn and Nathaniel Fish on 18 Nov 1663. [Ref][Ref] The estate consisted of a house, land and meadow worth £30 and debts. [Ref] It is frequently claimed (without sources) that Cecilia Fish, was Cecilia Freeman, presumably the daughter of Edmund Freeman.
    John was an early inhabitant of Sandwich. [Ref] John Fish was allocated 1-1/2 acres of meadow on 16 Apr 1640 in Sandwich. He is in the Sandwich section of the 1643 list of those between 16 and 60 able to bear arms in Plymouth Colony. [Ref] On 20 May 1655 John Fish pledged ten shillings for the building of a meeting house in Sandwich. [Ref] On 5 Nov 1657 he was one of five people appointed to make a rate of £24 14 shillings to pay Plymouth for the purchase of 'Manounscate' and to pay for catching wolves. [Ref] On 18 May 1659 he was a grandjuryman. [Ref] On 13 (10) 1659 the town paid John for his services. [Ref] On 15 May 1663 he was appointed constable. [Ref]
  5. Nathaniel Fish was baptised on 20 Jun 1619 in East Farndon. He died in 1694. He had an unknown first wife. He married second Lydia Miller.
  6. Esther Fyshe was baptised on 21 Dec 1622 in Great Bowden. [Ref]
  7. Hannah Fyshe was baptised on 5 Oct 1625 in Great Bowden. [Ref]

Third Generation

NATHANIEL FISH (bp. 1619 - 1694) of Sandwich

Parents: Thomas Fyshe and Mary Sprigge

Nathaniel Fish was baptised on 20 Jun 1619 in East Farndon. [Ref] He died in 1694. [Ref] He had an unknown first wife. [Ref] He married second Lydia Miller. [Ref]

Nathaniel and his brothers John and Jonathan Fish were early inhabitants of Sandwich. [Ref] Nathaniel and John Fish were each allocated 1-1/2 acres of meadow on 16 Apr 1640 in Sandwich. [Ref] John, Jonathan and Nathaniel Fish are in the Sandwich section of the 1643 list of those between 16 and 60 able to bear arms in Plymouth Colony. [Ref]

Nathaniel was allocated 2 acres of meadow on 16 Apr 1640 in Sandwich. [Ref]

At the court held on 20 Aug 1644 Nathaniel was among those for whom a warrant was set forth to testify against John Ellis, accused of fornication with his later wife Elizabeth Freeman. John was publicly whipped. [Ref] Servant Robert Ransom complained that he was badly treated by his master Thomas Dexter, Jr. The Court said that this could not be proved and Thomas Clarke of Plymouth bought out his time. On 4 Aug 1654, the Court warned Robert to improve his behaviour and it fined Nathaniel Fish of Sandwich 20 shillings for entertaining Robert and abetting him in his stubborness toward his master. [Ref]

In 1655 Thomas Tupper, Thomas Tobey, William Swift, Edmund Freeman and Nathaniel Fish were among the 19 Sandwich residents who signed a letter entreating Mr Leveridge to continue at Sandwich. [Ref] On 18 May 1658 Nathaniel was a grandjuryman for Sandwich. [Ref] On 10 Mar 1669 [?] the town granted Nathaniel five acres. [Ref] On Mar 1681 that town chose Joseph Burge to lay out five acres for Mr Nathaniel Fish. [Ref]

On 16 Jan 1682 the town proposed aiding Nathaniel, who had fallen into difficulty, saying, 'For as much as it is judged of absolute necessity that something be contributed for the relief of Mr Nathaniel Fish in respect to his present want, especially for his wife's present sickness... '. [Ref]

Inventory was taken on Nathaniel's estate on 14 Mar 1693/4. [Ref]

Children of Nathaniel Fish:

  1. Thomas Fish was born about 1646. He was killed on 19 Aug 1664 when about 18 years old. He was helping to build a dam and there was a sudden collapse of earth from where the construction material was being taken. [Ref]
  2. Nathaniel Fish was born 27 Nov 1648. [Ref] He probably married Deborah Barrows. [Ref] She was probably the daughter of John and Deborah Barrows of Plymouth. [Ref]
    some descendants of Nathaniel Fish
  3. John Fish was born on 13 Apr 1651 in Sandwich. [Ref]
  4. Ambrose Fish died in 1691. He married Hannah Swift.
  5. Samuel Fish was born on 10 Aug 1668 in Sandwich. [Ref] He signed his will on 2 Feb 1691/2 and left eight pounds to his father. [Ref][Ref] He left his land, a meadow in Sandwich worth eight pounds, to his brother Jonathan; the rest of his estate was to be divided among his brothers and sisters. [Ref]
  6. Jonathan Fish

Children of Nathaniel Fish and Lydia Miller

  1. Nathan Fish (probably son) was probably born in the early 1660s. [Ref] He married Deborah Burges. [Ref]
  2. Lydia Fish

Fourth Generation

AMBROSE FISH (d. 1691) of Sandwich

Parents: Nathaniel Fish and his unknown first wife [Ref]

Ambrose Fish died in 1691. [Ref] He married Hannah Swift. [Ref]

The Plymouth Court records (PCR 5:245-46): for 30 Oct 1677 say:

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 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. [Ref]

Inventory was taken on Ambrose's estate on 11 Sep 1691. [Ref]

Children of Ambrose Fish and Hannah Swift:

  1. Ephraim Fish was born on 1 Dec 1676 in Sandwich. [Ref][Ref] He died there on 17 Oct 1677. [Ref]
  2. Abiah Fish was born on 2 Sep 1678 in Sandwich. [Ref] She married Samuel Tobey about 1695/6. [Ref] Samuel was her stepbrother, the son of Thomas Tobey and Martha Knott. Children of Samuel and Abiah: Joanna, Cornelius, Tabitha, Zaccheus, Ruth, Jonathan, Eliakim, Samuel, Thomas, Elisha. [Ref]
  3. Mehitable Fish was born on 19 May 1680 in Sandwich. [Ref][Ref] She married Gershom Tobey on 29 Apr 1697. [Ref][Ref] Gershom was her stepbrother, the son of Thomas Tobey and Martha Knott. Children of Gershom and Mehitable: Jerusha, Temperance, Silas, Barnabas, Ephraim, Mehitable. [Ref]
  4. Seth Fish was born about 1682. He married Mary Turner.
  5. Johanna Fish was born on 20 May 1689 in Sandwich. [Ref][Ref] She married Eliakim Tupper about 1706. [Ref]

Fifth Generation

SETH FISH (b. c. 1682) of Sandwich

Parents: Ambrose Fish and Hannah Swift [Ref]

Seth Fish was born about 1682. [Ref] He married Mary Turner of Sandwich on 30 Dec 1702 in Sandwich. [Ref][Ref][Ref]

Seth Fish was head of family in Sandwich on 12 Sep 1722 and in Mar 1730. [Ref] Seth helped cart stones for Rev. Fessenden on 7 Jul 1729 in Sandwich. [Ref]

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. "Father-in-law" was a common way of referring to a step-father. [Ref]

Children of Seth Fish and Mary Turner, all recorded in Sandwich [Ref]:

  1. Peleg Fish was born on 16 Apr 1703. He married Anne Unknown and had children in Sandwich. [Ref] Peleg Fish helped put up the frame of Rev. Fessenden's house on 25 Jun 1729 in Sandwich. [Ref]
  2. Ambrose Fish was born on 23 Jul 1704. He died without issue. [Ref]
  3. Hannah Fish was born on 5 Jun 1706. She married Samuel Tupper.
  4. Mary Fish was born on 28 Feb 1707/8. She married first Nathaniel Ellis of Sandwich on 25 Dec 1728 in Sandwich. [Ref] Nathaniel, the son of John and Sarah Ellis, was born on 23 Dec 1703 and baptised on 20 Jun 1708. [Ref] Mrs. Mary Ellis of Sandwich married second Mr. Elijah Holmes after 7 Jul 1739 (int.) in Plymouth. [Ref] Her brother Ambrose left land to Mary Holmes, wife of Elijah. [Ref]
  5. Seth Fish was born on 29 May 1709. He died on 30 Aug 1710 in Sandwich and was buried on 1 Sep 1710 in Sandwich. [Ref]
  6. Ephraim Fish was born on 30 Dec 1720. He died on 2 Feb 1720[/1] in Sandwich. [Ref]
  7. Jirah Fish was born on 2 Mar 1712/3. He married Hannah Phinney of Plymouth on 28 Jul 1745 at Plymouth. [Ref]
  8. Abiah Fish was born on 31 May 1715. She married Josiah Ellis, Jr. of Sandwich on 24 Oct 1739 in Sandwich. [Ref] Josiah, the first cousin of her sister Mary's husband Nathaniel Ellis, was the son of Josiah and Sarah (Blackwell) Ellis. [Ref] Abiah was baptised on 22 Aug 1736 in Sandwich as Abiah Fish (now Ellis). [Ref]
  9. Mehitable Fish was born on 13 Mar 1716/7. She may be the Mehitable Fish who married Thomas Sears as his second wife after 1752 (int.) [Ref, p. 82]
  10. William Fish was born on 17 Feb 1718. He married Mary Bowdoin of Sandwich on 26 July 1761. [Ref]
    some descendants of William Fish
  11. Ephraim Fish was born on 30 Dec 1720. He died on 2 Feb 1720 in Sandwich. [Ref]
  12. Benjamin Fish was born on 14 Nov 1722. He married Mehitable Pope of Sandwich on 24 June 1744 in Sandwich. [Ref]

Sixth Generation

HANNAH FISH (b. 1706)

Parents: Seth Fish and Mary Turner

Hannah Fish was born on 5 Jun 1706 in Sandwich. She married Samuel Tupper of Sandwich on 14 Oct 1726 in Sandwich. [Ref][Ref][Ref]

In their marriage record, Samuel and Hannah are described as of Sandwich. Hannah was probably born by 1706, given her marriage date, and she was probably not born earlier than 1701, given that her last child was born in 1746. Apparently, the only Hannah Fish in the Sandwich records who fits this description is the daughter of Seth and Mary Fish. I conjecture that this is her.

Another Fish

Another John Fish

Another, more colourful, John Fish was of Lynn, Stratford, New London and maybe Sandwich. [Ref] John Fish, perhaps a distant cousin of our Fishes, appears to have married first Martha Eland in about 1650/5. [Ref] He married second Martha Stark, who eloped with Samuel Culver. They were divorced on the grounds of her adultery 1680. [Ref] He appears to be the John Fish who then married Hannah (Palmer) (Hewitt) Sterry on 15 Aug 1681.

References

Barclay, Mrs. John E., "Hannah (Swift) Tobey, Daughter of William2 Swift and the Family of Ambrose Fish2 of Sandwich, Mass.," The American Genealogist 35, 1959, 40-43.

Bowman, George, Ernest, "Abstracts of Barnstable County, Mass. Probate Records," Mayflower Descendant 16, 1914, 77-80.

Brownson, Lydia B. (Phinney) and Maclean W. McLean, "Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis of Sandwich, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 119, 1965, 161-73, 260-275; 120, 1966, 26-38, 97-122, 187-202. Errata 125, 1971, p. 140.

Brownson, Lydia B. (Phinney) and MacLean W. McLean, "Michael Blackwell of Sandwich, Mass. (c. 1620 - 1710)," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 117, 1963, 180-194.

Brownson, Lydia B. (Phinney) and Maclean W. McLean, "Richard Handy of Sandwich, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 125, 1971, 124-137.

Editors, "Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories," Mayflower Descendant 16, 1914, 21-26.

Fish, Lester Warren, Fish Family in England and America, Rutland, VT, Tuttle Publishing Co., 1948.

Freeman, Frederick, The History of Cape Cod : Annals of Thirteen Towns of Barnstable County, Boston: W.H. Piper & Co., 1869, c1862.

Kardell, Caroline Lewis, and Lovell, Russell A. Jr., Vital Records of Sandwich Massachusetts to 1885, Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996.

Locke, John G., "Extracts from Benjamin Fessenden's Manuscript," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 13, 1859, 30 - 33.

Locke, John, G., trans., "Records of Marriages, Baptisms and Deaths," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 12, 1858, p. 311 - 312.

Martin, David Kendall, "The Wife of Nathan Fish of Falmouth," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 138, 1984, 130-133.

May, Samuel Pearce, The Descendants of Richard Sares (Sears) of Yarmouth, Mass., 1638-1888: With an appendix containing some notices of other families by the name of Sears, Albany, J. Munsell, 1890.

No Author, "Sandwich and Bourne Colony and Town Records," 1912, C.W. Swift, Yarmouthport, reprinted in Leonard H. Smith, ed., Cape Cod Library of Local History and Genealogy, v. 2, 1992, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore.

Plymouth Colony Archive Project, http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/users/deetz, Court Records Laws and 17th Century Texts.

Pope, Charles Henry, Pioneers of Massachusetts, Boston, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1900.

Shurtleff, Nathaniel B., "List of Those Able to Bear Arms in the Colony of New Plymouth 1643," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 4, 1850, 255-259.

Tobey, Rufus Babcock, Tobey (Tobie, Toby) Genealogy: Thomas, of Sandwich and James, of Kittery and their descendants, Boston, Charles H. Pope, 1905.

Torry, Clarence A, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004. Online: Ancestry.com

Tupper, Franklin Whittlesey, Thomas Tupper and his Descendants, Boston, Tupper Family Association of America, Inc., 1945.

Winsor, Justin, "Abstract of the Earliest Wills in the Probate Office, Plymouth," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 6, 1852, 185