I was going to do Anne Marbury Hutchinson as “Line 2” in my ancestor’s faith stories but when I started to write her story I discovered that setting the stage for New England was going to take up as much space as Anne’s story in Massachusetts. The story of her remarkable and fearless father sets the stage for Anne’s story but is also an intriguing story in itself.
Francis Marbury was born about 1555 probably in London, Middlesex, England, baptized 27 October 1555 at St. Pancras, Soper Lane, London, England the youngest son of William Marbury and his wife Agnes Lenton, daughter of John Lenton, Esquire.
Francis married first Elizabeth Moore who died sometime after the birth of her youngest daughter Susan in September 1585
He married second Bridget Dryden, the daughter of John Dryden and his wife Elizabeth Cope.
Died January 1610/11 in Lincoln, County Lincoln, England
Children by his first wife, Elizabeth Moore:
1. Mary Marbury who died young
2. Elizabeth Marbury who died age about 18
3. Susan Marbury who died young
By is second wife:
4. Mary Marbury born 1588 and died 18 April 1643 in St Mary Woolnoth, London, England. She married Bartholomew Layton
5. John Marbury born 1589 in Alford, Lincoln, England
6. Anne Marbury born 1591 in Alford, Lincoln, England and died August 1643 in Pelham Bay, NY. She married William Hutchinson
7. Bridget Marbury born 1593 and died 1598 in Alford, Lincoln, England
8. Francis Marbury born October 1594 in Alford, Lincoln, England. He married and left children.
9. Emme Marbury born Dec. 1595 in Alford, Lincoln, England and married John Saunders.
10. Erasmus Marbury born February 1595/96 Alford, Lincoln, England and died 1627.
11. Anthony Marbury born 1598 and died April 1601 in Alford, Lincoln, England
12. Bridget Marbury Nov. 1599 in Alford, Lincoln, England
13. Jeremuth Marbury born 1601 Alford, Lincoln, England and died 1623
14. Daniel Marbury born Nov. 1602 in Alford, Lincoln, England and died 1611 in London, England
15. Elizabeth Marbury born January 1604/05 in Alford, Lincoln, England and died 09 March 1613/14 in London, England
16. Anthony Marbury born 1608 in London, Middlesex, England. He married and had at least three children.
17. Katherine Marbury born about 1610 and died 02 May 1687 in Providence, Providence, RI. She married Richard Scott.
Francis Marbury was the son of William Marbury and his wife Agnes Lenton, daughter of John Lenton. Freshmen nobility with a rough edge, William Marbury's father and grandfather rubbed elbows with the likes of King Henry the Seventh and his henchmen. Francis was the youngest son and while he didn’t inherit much wealth from his father, he was given a good education and married, as his second wife, Bridget Dryden who not only had royal connections; she was actually descended from English kings. Francis’ first wife by whom he had three daughters, who all died before they were old enough to marry, seems to have been of simpler stuff but was probably from a well to do family as well.
Bridget Dryden was the great-aunt of John Dryden the poet and descended through several noble English lines. Her parents were John Dryden and Elizabeth Cope, large estate owners in central England. Elizabeth’s ancestral line included King Edward the First and his wife Eleanor of Castile as well as many of the important English families of the Middle Ages. By the time Bridget Dryden was born, many of her family had become Puritans and at least one relative had been imprisoned in the Tower of London because he advocated religious reforms.
Francis Marbury attended Christ College, Cambridge and although he didn’t receive a degree he began his pastoral career at the church in Northampton near the Dryden estate. Anglican clergymen were not appointed to their churches because of education or even skills of preaching and teaching, but rather by appointment from the ruling bishops who used these posts for political reasons. Whatever political reason Francis’ bishops may have had in placing Francis in Northampton, it was soon waylaid as Francis radical preaching landed him in prison three times before his 23rd birthday. Marbury was a passionate Puritan preacher, outspoken and highly intelligent. Francis complained and spoke out again the incompetence of English ministers, hired not for their love of God or for their study of the Bible, but for political reasons and family connections. In 1579 he wrote an allegorical play called “The Contract of Marriage between Wit and Wisdom” which once more landed him in prison. However, Marbury didn’t seem to lack for pastoral positions. By 1585 he was a curate and schoolmaster in Aford, co., Lincoln. But by 1590 he was in trouble once again with the Anglican Church and went to trail again. He won the trail but was forbidden to preach for several years. With a large family to support, Francis gave up trying to reform the church and in 1605 became the pastor of St. Martin Vintry, then St. Pancras, Soper Lane and finally St. Margaret, New Fish Street, in London while he was still pastor of St. Martin Vintry.
The Marbury household must have been a lively one. It is evident from the well-educated and thoughtful testimonies of his daughters Anne Marbury Hutchinson and Katherine Marbury Scott that the children, even the daughters, were all well educated and encouraged to express their intellectual side. Of the four sons who reached college age, three of them, Erusmus, Jeremuth and Anthony received degrees from Brasenose College at Oxford. Their father’s attraction to church reform certainly influenced Anne and it can be imagine that many theology discussions must have occurred in the Marbury’s household. Add to that the fact that Bridget Dryden’s family was steeped in Puritan leanings, even after Francis gave up trying to reform the Church of England, the Marbury’s must have engaged in many vigorous theological debate.
A note needs to be made here of Francis’ daughter, Katharine. She married Richard Scott and became a Quaker while living in Massachusetts. She, as well as her sister, Anne were friends of Mary Dyer who probably influenced Katherine’s decision to become a Quaker. (See Mary Barrett Dyer). In 1658 Katherine Scott was imprisoned in Boston and whipped with "Ten cruel Stripes with a three-fold-corded knotted Whip" for denouncing the Massachusetts’ government of cruelty and intolerance toward Quakers. If Francis gave up church reform, he only stopped at the door of his house for his daughters seemed to have carried on his determination of reform into the New World.
Francis died between June 25, 1610 when his will was written and February 14, 1611 when it was proved. His twelve living children were left 200 pounds each and his daughters were to stay with their mother until they married. Francis’ greatest legacy was the education and the strong love of God that he passed onto his children.
My Marbury line:
John Marbury died 1640 married Eleanor
William Marbury who died about 1512 married Anne Blount who died 20 November 1537 in
Lincoln Co., England, the daughter of Thomas Blount and Agnes Hawley
Robert Marbury who died 07 August 1545 who married Katherine Williamson the daughter of John Williamson and his wife Jane Angevine, daughter of Michael Angevine
William Marbury who died 1581 in Lincolnshire who married Agnes Lenton of
Aldwinkle, Northampton, England, the daughter of John Lenton, Esq.
Francis Marbury who married Bridget Dryden
Anne Marbury who married William Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson who married Samuel Dyer
Samuel Dyer II who married Mary Cotta
Samuel Dyer III whose wife is unknown
John Dyer who married Mary Hickey
James Dyer who married Mary Marcy
James Dyer whose wife is unknown
Sarah Dyer who married Joel Chubb
James Harvey Chubb who married Martha Braman
***SOURCES****
1. "The Hutchinson Family of England and New England, and its Connections wit the Marburys and Drydens" by Joseph Lemuel Chester, NEHGR
2. The Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants by Gary Boyd Roberts, page 351 & 233
3. The Heraldic Journal Recording the Armorical Bearings and Genealogies of American Families Vol I Pub. by J. K. Wiggins 1865
4. "Family History, the Marbury Family" http://www.plix.com/~users/ncallahn
5. Internet http://www.genweb.net/~samcasey/Marbury.html "Register Report - Marbury" by Sam Behling
6. Plantagenent Ancetry by David Faris
7. "Anne Hutchinson" http://www.annehutchinson.com/anne_hutchinson_biography_001.htm
8. Sam Behling, www.homepages.rootweb.ancestry.com/~Sam/Marbury/francis.html
9. The American Genealogist, October 1992 "The Well Beloved Mother-in-law of Robert Marbury" by F. N. Craig
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