Holbrook line: Henry Kingman 1595-1667, Immigrant

What would we ever do without the "Great Migration" series that Robert Charles Anderson has devoted his life to preparing?  We certainly wouldn't know as much as we do, particularly about this ancestor, Henry Kingman.   With all due respect, however, there are still mysteries about this immigrant, including the minor details of when and where he was born, and who his parents were.  As I understand it, there is a researcher in England working on these questions now.  May he have great success, and may he share them with the many thousands of people who descent from Henry.

The first knowledge we have of the man, at present, is his migration to New England in 1635 on board the Marygould.  This ship sailed from Weymouth, England and almost all the passengers went to Weymouth, Massachusetts, a small village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  This was part of Rev. Hull's company.  (Rev. Hull was an interesting preacher for the time.  He was expelled from the Church of England early in 1635, then was pastor at Weymouth until he was dismissed for his "liberal views", and so on to Hingham and various other places until he returned to England for a decade, then back to the New World to preach in New Hampshire.  He was apparently too Puritan for the Church of England and too Church of England for the Puritans.)  When Henry came to America, he is listed as being 40 years old.  He came with his wife, Joane, and chidren, Edward, Joane, Ann, Thomas, John, and a servant, John or Jonathan Ford. 

Henry and his wife settled in Weymouth, a small village at the time, and stayed there the rest of their lives.  He was a freeman, a member of the church, and a ferryman and innkeeper by trade.  He was granted 42 acres at Weymouth in 1636, apparently in several different parcels, and also acquired land that was "first given to" various other settlers, who apparently moved on or died.  In 1648, he purchased a house and several acres of land belonging to William Richards, so the ferryman/innkeeper business must have been somewhat lucrative. 

He served as the deputy for Wemouth to the Massachusetts Bay General Court in May of 1638 and again in May of 1652, and was a memer of a Massachusetts Bay grand jury in 1637. 

Joan died at Weymouth on April 11, 1659 and Henry died there June 5, 1667.  They had six children, Edward, Joan, Anne, Thomas, Bridget, and John, all born in England. All of the children probably helped in the family business as they grew, so this would likely have been a close family.  Henry's inventory was not totaled, but the land he owned was valued at 288 pounds, and it is noted that his estate included a Bible and one other book. 

This is as much as we currently know about Henry and his wife, Joan or Joanna.  There is much speculation that Joan's maiden name was Drake.  If so, her genealogy may make her a cousin to Sir Francis Drake, but this is not proven.  It would be wonderful to find more answers to more questions!

The line of descent is

Henry Kingman-Joan possibly Drake
Joan or Joanna Kingman-Thomas Holbrook
Peter Holbrook-Alice Godfrey
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Cook
Jesse Holbrook-Abigail Thayer
Amariah Holbrook-Molly Wright (there she is again!)
Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants