William Berry (pioneer)

William Berry (1610 – June 28, 1654) was the first settler at Sandy Beach, Rye, New Hampshire.

For other people named William Berry, see William Berry (disambiguation).

Early life

William Berry was born 1605 in Norfolk, England, the son of Johan and Susannah Berry. He was in service to Captain John Mason in 1631, when Mason sent 58 men and 22 women to the Piscataqua River in North America. Among them were William Berry, William Seavey, Francis Rand, and William or Anthony Brackett.[1]

The following were returned as belonging to Sandy Beach in 1688: William Berry, John Berry, John Marden, John Foss 1st, John Foss Jr., John Odiorne, Anthony Brackett, Francis Rand, Thomas Rand, William Wallis, James Randall, William Seavie, James Berry, Samuel Ran, John Seavie, Anthony Libbie, and Joseph Berry.

Adult life

William Berry married Jane Hermins (1614-1687) in 1636 in the town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

He became a freeman on 18 May 1642 in Newbury, Massachusetts, and is on the list of the first settlers of Newbury.

William Berry by wife Jane had John Berry (1637-1716) and Elizabeth Berry (born 1634)) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States.

Signer of Glebe Conveyance

Berry signed the Glebe Conveyance in 1640.

He received a lot "upon the neck of land on the south side of the Little River at Sandy Beach on January 31, 1648, that included the area where 'Locke's Neck' is located."

Political life

Berry served as a Selectman of Strawbery Banke (which is now Portsmouth, New Hampshire) in 1646.

References
  1. Palmer, Ansell W., ed. Piscataqua Pioneers: Selected Biographies of Early Settlers in Northern New England, pp. 385-6, Piscataqua Pioneers, Portsmouth, NH, 2000. ISBN 0-9676579-0-3.
  • Savage, James A., A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, 1860-1862., (Boston 1860-1862; rpt Baltimore 1955), [Savage], 1:171
  • The Berrys by the beach : one of New Hampshire's first families / by Sylvia Fitts Getchell.
  • New England Marriages Prior to 1700,Charles Torrey,New England Historic and Genealogy Society, Boston
  • Parsons, Langdon B., History of the Town of Rye, NH From Its Discovery and Settlement to December 31, 1903, (1905; repr. Bowie, MD: Heritage Press 1992), [RyeHist], 269.
  • Brewster, Charles W., The Selling of the Land, ~1860
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