Family register

Peter Browne

1594–1633confirmed

Mayflower passenger

Peter Browne (1594 – 1633) was born in Dorking, Surrey, England to William Browne. He married Martha (Ford) Browne and Mary Browne. His children were Mary Browne, Priscilla Browne and Rebecca Browne. He died in 1633, in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony.

Early life

Peter Browne was baptised at Dorking, Surrey, on 26 January 1594/5, the son of William Browne.^[6][40][56] His father died in or about 1605, when Peter was about ten, and the children may have been sent to family members and friends as apprentices, a local weaver probably taking the three youngest sons.^[3] Browne was a weaver by trade, as were his brothers.^[9][16] A hypothesis published in 2012 that the wife of a fellow Mayflower passenger was his mother or aunt has been described as matching all the known facts but as by no means proven.^[41]

Mayflower voyage

Browne travelled alone on the Mayflower in 1620 at about twenty-five years of age.^[17] He boarded in the company of a family from Dorking with whom his own family had close associations.^[38] He signed the Mayflower Compact at Cape Cod on 11 November 1620, named in the list as "Peter Brown".^[12] He was a single man when he sailed and remained a bachelor at least until the 1623 division of land.^[5] He appears in the 1620 list of meersteads and garden plots laid out on the north side at Plymouth as "Peeter Brown".^[33] On 12 January 1620/21 Browne and another colonist, having spent the morning cutting thatch for house roofing, went for a short walk and became lost in the woods near Plymouth, spending a freezing night out before returning.^[8]

Plymouth Colony

In the 1623 Division of Land Browne, then a single man, received one acre on the south side of the brook toward the bay, recorded as "Peter Browen".^[10] In 1626 he was one of the twenty-seven Purchasers of the colony's joint-stock company, signing the agreement dated 26 October 1626.^[14] The colony records separately list fifty-eight Purchasers of the joint stock, including him.^[30] In the 1627 Division of Cattle the eighth lot, that of another colonist's company, listed Peter Browne with his wife Martha, his daughter Mary, and Martha's two children by her earlier marriage.^[13] He was listed among the freemen of Plymouth in the list labelled 1633.^[44] He was assessed in the Plymouth Colony tax list dated 25 March 1633.^[31] In January 1632/3 Browne was fined three shillings by the Plymouth Colony Court for failing to appear, and was fined the same amount a second time for the same reason.^[2][21] When he appeared on 7 January he was sued by a fellow colonist over accounts in which the two differed, and the court referred the dispute to two men for arbitration.^[2][29]

Marriage and family

The children of Peter and Martha Browne were Mary, born about 1626, and Priscilla, born about 1628.^[50] Martha died in 1630.^[52] Browne remarried a woman named Mary, whose maiden name has not been discovered, about 1630 or 1631.^[49][54] Their daughter Rebecca was born about 1631.^[51][54]

Death and burial

Browne died in 1633, between 25 March, when he was taxed, and 28 October of that year.^[15] One account states that he probably died in the epidemic of 1633 that also carried off others at Plymouth.^[20] He died without a will.^[11] His estate inventory was taken on 10 October 1633 by two appraisers and presented upon oath at the Plymouth court held on 28 October 1633.^[19] The inventory was left untotalled.^[47] Wikipedia states that he died in 1633 shortly before his inventory of 10 October 1633.^[1] At a Court of Assistants held on 11 November 1633 it was ordered, Browne having died without a will with children by more than one wife and an estate of about £100, that his widow Mary be allowed administratrix.^[28] He was buried at Burial Hill in Plymouth, where no gravestone of his survives and the oldest surviving stone dates to 1681.^[1][26] Another account states that he was buried on Cole's Hill in Plymouth.^[18]

Estate

The inventory included 130 bushels of corn valued at £32 16s.^[34] It listed six milch goats, one cow, eight sheep and a number of pigs among his livestock.^[4] Individual valuations in the inventory include six milch goats at £18, five young lambs at £7 10s., four barrow hogs at £9 15s., three sows at £2 10s. and one heifer at £16.^[36] He owned more sheep than anyone else in early Plymouth, which one account connects to his trade as a weaver.^[9][16] The inventory included one Bible valued at 3s. and recorded debts owing to him by several Plymouth colonists.^[23] Household goods listed include a flock bed in a featherbed tick, a cradle, a bedstead, a chest, a featherbed with bolster and pillows, and two pairs of Irish stockings.^[24] Also listed were a fowling piece at £1 10s., a mortar and pestle at 15s., wedges, axes, a handsaw, augers and a chisel, hoes, and one suit of clothes and a cloak.^[25] At his death the estate owed eleven bushels of corn and a peck, and further sums of £1, £8 and 2s. 8d., among other debts.^[22] The court allowed the residue of the estate to the widow for bringing up her children, she having two children by Peter and three of her own.^[32] The same court ordered the widow to pay £15 for the use of daughter Mary, placed with a Plymouth settler for nine years, and £15 for the use of daughter Priscilla, placed with another settler for twelve years.^[35]

Written by research agents from the sources listed below; every sentence cites them.

Life and records

Son of William Browne of Dorking. Spelled 'Peter Browen' in the 1623 land division.

Peter Browne

Early life

Mayflower voyage

Plymouth Colony

Marriage and family

Death and burial

Estate

Life and records

Family

Parents

Spouses

Children

Sources