Francis Lawes1

b. say 1595, d. 6 November 1665
Francis Lawes|b. s 1595\nd. 6 Nov 1665|p9153.htm|John Lawes|b. 1570|p9270.htm|Elizabeth (—?—) (Lawes)||p9271.htm|John Lawes the elder|d. 1602|p9276.htm||||||||||

8th great-grandfather of Ruth Minerva Fairfield.
10th great-grandfather of Laura Jane Munson.
Family Background:
Fairfield and Allied Families
Appears on charts:
Pedigree for Ruth Minerva Fairfield
     Francis Lawes was born say 1595 in Norwich, Norfolk, England.1 He was the son of John Lawes and Elizabeth (—?—) (Lawes).1 He married Lydia. He died between 6 November 1665 when he made his will, and 28: 4: 1666 (28 June 1666) when it was probated in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.2
     
     Francis Lawes' grandfather, John Lawes the elder of Carleton Forehoe, Norfolk, England, left him by will, upon reaching the age of 21, £20, a bedstead, bolsters, a brass pot, cawyson, frame-table, speete and various other articles.3 On 16 June 1609 Francis Lawes was apprenticed to Reynold Hoath of Norwich. Worsted-weaver, for seven years from the feast of Annunciation last past, his master "to find him compitent meate, drinke and other necessaryes, and in the end of his term to give him double apparrell." He was described as Francis Lawes, son of John Lawes, of Carleton, Norfolk, husbandman. At the end of his apprenticeship, Lawes was admitted to the freedom of the city of Norwich on 24 November 1617.4

     By his father's will dated 28 December 1609 but not admitted to probate until 12 May 1613, Francis received the tenement called Maggitts in Carleton Forehoe, lately bought of John Gibbes, subject to a life estate in Christian Gibbes, and three acres of land in the fields of Carleton, held free of the manor of Barnham Broom.5

     Francis and Lydia Lawes were residents of the parish of St. John Maddermarket, Norwich, Norfolk, between 1623 and 1625, and in 1633/34 of St. Mary Coslany.6 On 8 April 1637, Francis, Lydia, and their household embarked on either the John and Dorothey or the Rose, two ships commanded by a father and son, both named William Andrews, at Ipswich together with many other Norwich families.6 After a voyage of 73 days, they landed in Boston on 20 June 1637. The description of the family on the books of the port of Ipswich is as follows: "--rancis: Lawes: borne in Norwch in Norff and their liuing weauear aged .....nd Liddea: his Wife ageed 40 yeares With one child Marey: and 2 saruants. Samuell: Lincorne: aged 18 yeares [Abraham Lincoln's ancestor] and Anne: Smith, aged 19 yeares ar desirous to passe for New-England to inhabitt."6

     The family must have proceeded to Salem almost immediately after landing in America, for in November 1637, Francis requested from the town officials a further portion of land. By grant and purchase he acquired a large estate. The Lawes house in Salem, which remained the home of his direct descendants until about 1830, faced Broad Street, and the common land on the opposite side of the street was known as Lawes hill.7

     Francis Lawes served on the Grand Jury in 1649 and 1650, and was constable of Salem in 1651. In 1654 he was released from military training on account of age and infirmity. He was again on the Grand Jury in 1661 and 1664.6

     Francis Lawes made a will on 6 November 1665 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, in which he mentioned his son-in-law and daughter, John and Mary Neale, who he named joint executors, and his grandchildren, the children of John and Mary, Jeremiah, Jonathan, Joseph, John and Lydia.8,9,10 Click to view image

Children of Francis Lawes and Lydia (—?—) (Lawes)

Citations

  1. [S858] Walter Goodwin Davis, "Lawes, of Salem," Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1885-1966): A Reprinting in Alphabetical Order by Surname, of the Sixteen Multi-Ancestor Compendia, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996), Vol. 1I, 423, originally published in The Ancestry of Sarah Stone (1930).
  2. [S858] Walter Goodwin Davis, "Lawes, of Salem," Massachusetts and Maine Families, Vol. 1I, 425, originally published in The Ancestry of Sarah Stone (1930).
  3. [S858] Walter Goodwin Davis, "Lawes, of Salem," Massachusetts and Maine Families, Vol. 1I, 422, citing Norfolk Archdeaconary, Reg. 1602-1603, fo. 216, originally published in The Ancestry of Sarah Stone (1930).
  4. [S858] Walter Goodwin Davis, "Lawes, of Salem," Massachusetts and Maine Families, Vol. 1I, 423, 424, citing Freeman's Roll, Norwich, originally published in The Ancestry of Sarah Stone (1930).
  5. [S858] Walter Goodwin Davis, "Lawes, of Salem," Massachusetts and Maine Families, Vol. 1I, 423, citing Norfolk Archdeaconry, Reg. 1612-1613, fo. 348, originally published in The Ancestry of Sarah Stone (1930).
  6. [S858] Walter Goodwin Davis, "Lawes, of Salem," Massachusetts and Maine Families, Vol. 1I, 424, originally published in The Ancestry of Sarah Stone (1930).
  7. [S858] Walter Goodwin Davis, "Lawes, of Salem," Massachusetts and Maine Families, Vol. 1I, 424, citing Essex Antiquarian, Vol. IV, p. 166, originally published in The Ancestry of Sarah Stone (1930).
  8. [S862] Essex Institute, The Probate Records of Essex County Massachusetts (Salem: Newcomb & Gauss, Printers, 1916-1917), 2 vols., 2: 49-51.
  9. [S855] George Francis Dow, ed., Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 9 vols. (Salem: Essex Institute, 1911-1973). Transcribed and Abstracted from the Original Manuscript by Harriet S. Tapley, iii: 340-342.
  10. [S858] Walter Goodwin Davis, "Lawes, of Salem," Massachusetts and Maine Families, Vol. 1I, 425-427, originally published in The Ancestry of Sarah Stone (1930).
  11. [S858] Walter Goodwin Davis, "Lawes, of Salem," Massachusetts and Maine Families, Vol. 1I, 427, originally published in The Ancestry of Sarah Stone (1930).