Edward Hutchinson

Life

Edward Hutchinson was born about 1564 in the parish of St Mary le Wigford in Lincoln in the county of Lincolnshire, England. While the baptismal records for the parish are now lost for that timeframe, Hutchinson's birth year has been determined with a fair amount of accuracy from his apprenticeship records. He was the youngest son, and only son of the second marriage, of John Hutchinson (1515–1565) who had been Sheriff, Alderman, and Mayor of the town of Lincoln, dying in office during his second term as mayor. Edward Hutchinson's mother was Anne, the second wife of his father John, whose maiden name is unknown. Anne had been married earlier, because in her will she mentioned her "son William Clinte," her "son Edward Kirkebie," and her "son Thomas Pinder," though the last two are presumed to be sons-in-law. Anne bore two Hutchinson children, and both her son Edward and the husband of her daughter Mary Freeston were appointed as executors to her will.

As a young man, Edward was apprenticed to Edmund Knyght, Alderman and mercer of Lincoln, for a period of eight years. By 1592 Hutchinson had become a mercer in his own right, and was living in Alford, Lincolnshire. Here he left behind almost no records, other than the baptisms of his children. His wife was Susan (or Susanna), as named in the will of his cousin, Margery Neale, who left a legacy to their daughter, Hester. He acquired a good estate, and Chester finds it astonishing that there is neither a will nor administration of his estate to be found in either London or Lincolnshire, noting, "it seems almost impossible, from his business, and the character of the matches made by his children, that he was not a man of considerable position and estate." Edward Hutchinson was buried in Alford on 14 February 1631/2 (and not September 1631 as stated by Whitmore).

Probably the most remarkable aspect of Edward Hutchinson's life is what happened after he died: five of his nine adult children and his widow immigrated to New England, and all six of them were exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a result of the events of the Antinomian Controversy. During the controversy, the two most prominent antagonists of the established magistrates and clergy of the colony were Anne Hutchinson and John Wheelwright, both of them married to children of Edward. His other three children in New England, and his widow, were involved in the controversy as supporters or family members of supporters. Therefore, when Anne Hutchinson and John Wheelwright were banished from the colony, their family members went with them. Anne Hutchinson, her husband William, and many of their supporters established the first government in what would become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; William's brother, Edward ("Sr.") became a part of this group. John Wheelwright, with many of his supporters, established the settlement of Exeter in the Province of New Hampshire; his wife Mary Hutchinson and her siblings Samuel Hutchinson and Susanna (Hutchinson) Storre were all a part of this group, which also included Edward Hutchinson's elderly widow, Susanna. In this manner, the Hutchinsons, children of Edward Hutchinson, as a family, had a disproportionately large impact on the establishment of two new settlements in New England.

Family

Edward and Susanna Hutchinson had 11 known children whose baptisms were recorded in the Alford parish register. The oldest, William, was baptised 14 August 1586, married Anne Marbury, the daughter of Reverend Francis Marbury, and went to New England. Theophilus was baptised 8 September 1588, and because he is not heard of again, he likely died as a youngster while his parents were travelling, and was buried away from Alford. Samuel was baptised 1 November 1590 and went to New England and Esther (or Hester) was baptised 22 July 1593, and married in 1613 Reverend Thomas Rishworth of Laceby. John was baptised 18 May 1595, being buried in Alford on 20 June 1644 and Richard, baptised 3 January 1597/8 died in London with his will proved 11 April 1670. Susanna was baptised 25 November 1599 and buried in Alford on 5 August 1601; four days later a second Susanna was baptised on 9 August 1601, and she married Augustine Storre and immigrated to New England. The next child, Anne, was baptised 12 June 1603 and may have married a Levitt; Maria or Mary was baptised on 22 December 1605, married John Wheelwright, and immigrated to New England. The youngest child, Edward, was baptised 20 December 1607 and immigrated to New England, though he returned to England.

Susanna Hutchinson

Edward Hutchinson's wife, Susanna, was born in 1564 by some accounts. Her first child was baptised in 1586. After becoming widowed, she left four grown children behind in England, and in 1636, at the age of around 70 years, arrived in New England with the family of her daughter Mary Wheelwright. The Wheelwrights lived in Boston proper upon their arrival in the colonies, but soon had property in Mount Wollaston, an area south of Boston that became the town of Quincy where Wheelwright preached. Almost immediately upon their arrival, Wheelwright became embroiled in the events of the Antinomian Controversy and was banished from the colony in November 1637. While Wheelwright headed north to New Hampshire that winter, his family, including his mother-in-law Susanna, stayed at Mount Wollaston, waiting for spring before joining him. After living in Exeter for three or four years, Wheelwright was compelled to move again, and established a community at Wells, Maine by 1642, where he and his family lived until early 1647. Susanna died in Wells, and historians Noyes, Libby and Davis offer that she "may be the earliest born emigrant to die in Maine."

His children who went to New England

Of Edward Hutchinson's nine children who reached maturity, five of them immigrated to New England, though one of the five, Edward, eventually returned to England to live.

William, baptised 14 August 1586, grew up in Alford and became a merchant in the cloth trade, moving to London as a young man. Here he became close to an old acquaintance from Alford, Anne Marbury, the daughter of Francis Marbury and Bridget Dryden, and the couple was married on 9 August 1612 at the Church of Saint Mary Woolnoth on Lombard Street in London. He and his wife raised a large family in Alford, as he prospered in his business. The couple had 14 children in England, one of whom died in infancy, and two of whom died from the plague. In 1633, the Hutchinsons sent their oldest son, 20-year-old Edward (called Edward, Jr.) to New England with William's youngest brother, Edward (called Edward, Sr.), who was 25 at the time, and his wife. A year later William and his remaining family made the trip to New England aboard the ship Griffin. William became a Boston merchant, became a member of the Boston church in 1634, and took the freeman's oath in 1635. He was also a Deputy to the General Court and a selectman.

Hutchinson's wife was described by historian Thomas W. Bicknell as "a pure and excellent woman, to whose person and conduct there attaches no stain." Governor John Winthrop called her "a woman of ready wit and bold spirit," who had brought with her two dangerous theological errors, elaborating upon them in his journal. She held private meetings at her home, drawing many people from Boston as well as other towns, including many prominent citizens, and treated them to a religious view that was antithetical to the rigid orthodoxy of the Puritan church. As the situation worsened, Mrs. Hutchinson was put on trial in November 1637, convicted, and banished from the colony along with some of her supporters, then detained until the following March, pending a church trial.

On 7 March 1638, before leaving Boston, William Hutchinson and other supporters of his wife signed an instrument, sometimes called the Portsmouth Compact, agreeing to form a non-sectarian government that was Christian in character. The group of signers considered going to New Netherland, but Roger Williams suggested they purchase some land on the Narragansett Bay from the Indians, which they did. They settled on the island of Aquidneck (an island called Rhode Island, whose name was later given to the entire colony and state), and formed the settlement of Pocasset, renamed Portsmouth in 1639. Hutchinson became the judge (governor) of the Portsmouth settlement from 1639 until 12 March 1640, when Portsmouth united with Newport to become the Colony of Rhode Island, with William Coddington elected as governor of the two-town colony, and Hutchinson becoming one of his assistants.

His children who remained in England

Of Edward Hutchinson's nine grown children, four of them remained in England, but two of the four had ties with New England, and a third one may have as well. His daughter Esther married Reverend Thomas Rishworth, and though they remained in England, their son Edward went to New England with his Hutchinson and Wheelwright kin, and followed his Uncle John Wheelwright from Boston to Exeter where he signed the Exeter compact in 1639. Young Rishworth followed Wheelwright to Wells and then Hampton, before moving to York, Maine where he became the recorder for the Maine province, a position he held for nearly 35 years.

Edward Hutchinson's son Richard also remained in England, but four of his sons emigrated, and it is through them that Richard had numerous business ties with the colonies. The sons who came to New England were Edward, Eliakim, Samuel, and William, and they all had land and business interests in Maine. Richard was an "opulent ironmonger in London" who was a partner in Beex and Company, represented in New England by his sons. Richard wrote his will on 4 November 1669, in which he left sizeable bequests to his many children, and also left ten pounds to his "brother Edward Hutchinson and his wife."

Hutchinson's daughter Anne may have had ties to New England, but this is not known definitively. She may have been the "sister Levitt" mentioned in the will of her brother John Hutchinson in 1644. A theory has been presented that her husband was Thomas Leavitt who was baptised at Melton in County York on 8 July 1594, the nephew of Reverend Ralph Leavitt of Grainsby, Lincolnshire, but none of this has been substantiated. If true, however, then Thomas and Anne Leavitt are likely the parents of Thomas Leavitt who signed the compact in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1639, then moved to Hampton.

Only Hutchinson's son John had no established or suspected relationship with New England. John was a woollen draper in Alford, and likely did not marry Elizabeth Woodthorpe, as stated in several accounts. He is certainly the John Hutchinson who married on 5 October 1626 Bridget, the daughter of William Bury. He died before his 50th birthday, leaving a detailed will, and his wife lived as his widow for nearly 45 years thereafter. The couple had ten children, all baptised at Alford.