William Brewster [II], b. ?1535, d. 1590, is likely that William Bruister [!] who in 1558 witnessed the will of his supposed uncle, Christopher Man, at Scrooby, the other witnesses being Mr. Thomas Simkinson and John Simkinson, both of whom were of Doncaster.

He was probably that William Brewster who in 1564 was "dwelling in Scrooby" when he was mentioned in the will of Bartholomew Bryan of Scrooby, dated May 6, 1564 (York P & E, 17:389). It is clear that he had at least two wives: the earlier was Mary, daughter of William Smythe of Stainforth, parish of Hatfield, next DoncasterA, and sister of John Smythe, alderman of Hull.C She was the widow of John Simkinson of Doncaster.D

William II Brewster by his first wife, Mary, had issue:

  1. William [III], b. about 1565, d. 20 April 1644, named with Thomas Simkinson as an executor in the lengthly will of their uncle, John Smythe of Hull, 1592,E in which he mentions practically every one of his neices and nephews. The fact that no Brewsters figure therein leads one to suppose that Mary had no other children by Brewster; if this is true, she must have died soon after 1566

Apparantly William Brewster [II] had a second or later wife, Prudence (perhaps born a Perkins or a widow of that name) who survived him.F By her he may have had further issue:

  1. James, b. ?1568, d. 1613, who matriculated at Cambridge in 1582G, succeeded Henry Brewster (?his uncle) as vicar at Sutton on Lound in 1594H; he is known to have been brother to William Brewster [III]I. Details of James’ marriage and issue are known.J
  2. Prudence [? married Robert Peck of Everton, Notts.; they had Robert and Anne, both wards of their supposed uncle William Brewster at LeydenK]
  3. ? John, who in 1595 and 1613 was identified with Myssen, NottsL.
  1. Will of William Smythe, elder, of Stanforth in parish of Hatfield, dated 25 Jan. 1558/9 and proved 2 May 1560 (York P & E court, 16:46): He requested burial in the church of our Lady of Hatfield, and left legacies for the poor of Hatfield, Woodhouse, Stainforth, Thorne, Fishlake, Sykehouse, Barnby, Bramwith, Armthorp, Kirk Sandal and Stristhorp. Naming two servants, he provided that "Cecilie Hunsworth have x s. and the use of the house she lives in so long as she lives, and to have of my son Thomas when he shall forten to come thither every bakyn & brewinge as she hath had affore...to my son Francis Smythe vicar of Crowle [various furniture and] 17 pounds, a cowe, a calfe and a meare...to my sons Thomas and Richard [various property and some money]...to my son John Smythe of Hull...my brother in lawe Symkinson...to every one of the children of my sons and daughters a yew and a lamb...the rest of my goods not bequest, I geve to John Grene and Jenet his wife; John Parke and Agnes his wife; John Symkinson and Marie his wife; and Thomas Saile and Margaret his wife whom I make executors." Note: in addition to the four sons and four daughters before listed, there seems to have been a son, Cuthbert Smythe of Fishlake, whose will was proved 2 Oct. 1551 (York P & E court, 13:767): because he named only two brothers, Francis and Richard, two sisters Marie and Margaret, and left lands at Hatfield and Stanforth, it is believed that Cuthbert may have been a brother of the full blood of the said brothers and sisters, which could indicate that Thomas, John, Janet and Agnes were older children, and indicated that their father, William, the testator of 1559, had two wives, and issue by each.B John Grene made his will in 1559 (proved 1562, York P & E, 17:138); his widow Jenet took for her final spouse Nicolas Cressy; her will (York P & E, 19:840), dated 27 Sept. 1575, proved 6 Oct. following, refers to her son John Grene, and leaves several legacies including an ewe to Dorothy Simkinson, her niece. John Parke’s will, proved 7 June 1582 (York P & E, 22:268), names wife Agnes, and several daughters. Thomas Smythe of Stainforth made his will 24 March 1568 (proved 22 July 1569, York P & E, 18:157), naming brothers John, Richard and Francis Smythe, and sons William and John. The last named William of Stainforth, made his will in 1591, proved the same year (York P & E, 24:738), naming sons John and Robert, and daughters Dorothy and Elizabeth; this Elizabeth died in 1617, testate, of Stainforth (York P & E, 34:598). Wm. Parke of Staynforth in his will, July 24, 1551, proved 1551 (York P & E, 13:768), named brother John Parke, brother in law Thomas Smythe, sister Chapman..."my father & mother...Wm. Smythe, my father in lawe...supervisors, Sir Francis Hastings, Kt., my master; Wm. Smythe, John Parke, and Francis Parke my son...to my wife Johane, lands in Whaith, late of Thomas Recard." The said Sir Francis Hastings ["Haistings"] made his will Oct. 22, 1558, proved in 1566 (York P & E, 17:523); among his executors was John P’ke (i.e. Parke), and a witness to this will was Thomas Smythe, yeoman, seemingly Parke’s brother-in-law. From the foregoing, one might suppose that Wm. Smythe, sr., of Stainforth, had taken for his second wife before 1551 the mother of John and William Parke, aforesaid, and that she may have arranged the marriage of her stepson Thomas Smythe to her daughter by her first husband, Parke; also that her son John Parke married her step-daughter, Agnes Smythe. Was this supposed second wife of Wm. Smythe some connection of Sir Francis Hastings? The appointment of her supposed son as an executor in his (Sir Francis’) will, in company with Francis Frobysher and Martin Anne, was rather important; Frobysher was married to Christian, sister of said Sir Francis; Martin Anne, Esq., was nephew of Alice Anne who was wife of Thomas Grene, brother of John Grene who married the aforesaid Wm. Smythe’s eldest daughter, Jennet.

    The Hastings had long held important holdings in Hatfield & Doncaster (cf. Joseph Foster’s edition of Robert Glover’s Visitation of Yorkshire in 1584/5 and 1612, p. 372-3; Surtees Society Publications, vol. 45, p. 273-278 incl., and the aforesaid will of Sir Francis, in which he left money to the parish of Hatfield).
  2. In Joseph Hunter’s South Yorkshire: The History and Topography of the Deanery of Doncaster (London, 1828-1831), vol. 1, p. 150, there is an account of a perambulation of the Level of Hatfield Chase made by 25 "regarders of the chase." Among these were William Smith and John Parke whose names appear consecutively. On page 190 of the same volume Abraham de la Pryme (1672-1704) is said to have recorded, among other inscriptions, the following as found in Hatfield Church: Orate pro animabus Willielmi Smith et Catherinae et Agnetis uxorum ejus. One of these (? Agnes) would seem to have been a Simkinson, judging from the wills abstracted above.
  3. Thomas Gent, History of Kingston upon Hull (Hull, 1869), p. 121-125, showed that John Smythe was mayor of Hull in 1563, 1572, and 1583. Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 14:199, 202, reports the burial at Hull of Thomas Simkinson and his relict Ann, in 1611 and 1634, respectively, she having been that Ann Wilkinson of Donnington in Lincolnshire who married him at Lincoln 12 Oct. 1598 (Lincoln Marriages; cf. Mayflower Quarterly, vol. 36, p. 55-57).
  4. Her first husband, John Simkinson of Doncaster, was buried there 25 Dec. 1562, as shown by the parish register. By him, Mary was mother of Thomas Simkinson, ?1555-1611, merchant of Hull (see note C above), and of Dorothy Simkinson, b. ?1557 - d. after 1591, doubtless that "Dorothy of Scrowbie" styled niece in the will of John Smythe of Hull, 1592 (see note E below).
  5. York P & E court, 25:1051-1052. John Smythe, alderman of Hull, directed that he be buried in Trinity Church "next where Jane my late wife was buried." The principal legacy was a bond for £300 made by the testator’s deceased son Mr. Edward Smythe, at the time the latter was assigned the testator’s lands, which were to be delivered to said Edward’s daughter, Frances, when she should marry or arrive at the age of 18 years. The testator left his wife Anne £120, and other legacies to his son Thomas Trimingham, naming also "the four children of my late nephew, William Smythe of Stanforth, deceased; the goods late belonging to my brother Thomas Smythe...John Parke, late of Stanforth deceased, and Agnes his wife, my sister...my cozen Thomas Drax of Stanforth...my cozen Master Francis Cresay of Hewell...my neece Jennet Drax and her children...my neece Alice Bladworth of Thorne...my neece Mary Brodryke...to Thomas Levens of Stanforth and Dorothy his sister...my sister Saile of Smeaton...to Dorothy of Scrobie my neece...to my brother Sr. Francis Smythe who saith he hath an obligation of myne...let him render into the hands of the executors of this my will the said bond and desiring of God he maie become obedyant to the lorde’s words...and to obey her Majesty’s views, then I will that my said brother have five marks toward the releving of him...to my cozen Francis Steare x s....to Xopher Durembroke, who now dwells in Holland five pounds to be allowed him upon the clearing of his accompte and debts which he is owing unto me...the balance [uncollected debts] I leave to John Grene, John Smythe, William Brewster and Thomas Simkinson, my nephews, whom I doe make, constitute and ordeyn my full executors."
  6. The American Genealogist, 41:1-5, 63, Jan. 1965; cf. The Register, vol. 111, p. 319-320, Oct. 1957.
  7. John Venn and J. A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses, part I, under the names: Brewster, William; Brewster, James; Grene, John; Smith, Francis; Smith, Edward.
  8. Nottinghamshire Parish Registers, vol. 21, Marriages at "Sutton on Lound," p. 11, 12. See also, will of Richard Ellis, made there in March 1586 (York P & E, 23:227), which was witnessed by Henry Brewster, clerk, and James Brewster, clerk, presumedly his nephew and his successor as vicar.
  9. The American Genealogist, 41:3-4, Jan. 1965.
  10. The Rev. Joseph Hunter, Collections concerning...the founders of New Plymouth... (London, 1854), p. 203-205; cf. Wm. Peck, History of Bawtry and Thorne (1813), p. 19-32.
  11. The Register, vol. 111, p. 319-320, Oct. 1957.
  12. York Fines, IV, p. 31 (Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record series VIII); will of Simon Fowe of Myssen, Notts., dated 1613 (York P & E wills, 30:121).

[John G. Hunt, "The Mother of Elder William Brewster of the Mayflower," NEHGR 124:250-254]

Source Plymouth colony p. 252 [MACALGED.GED]

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