First Maine Arrivals:Fishermen & Family Founders

Founders of Edgecomb and Deering Families Among 1630s Passengers

Aug 12, 2008

Passengers on ships to Maine in the 1630s were not only fishermen who wouldn't remain but also, like Nicholas Edgecomb and George Deering, founders of American families.

The earliest Maine arrivals were unlike other immigrants. They came to work, not settle. Married men's wages were paid to wives in England.

Founders of American Edgecombe and Deering Families

Nicholas Edgecombe and George Deering were exceptions. They founded large branches of their families and, today, have literally more than a million American descendants.

Nicholas Edgecomb arrived on the Hercules in 1637 and Wilmot Randall came on the Samuel in 1638. They met and married in Maine and settled at Scarborough, ME.

George Deering came on the James in 1634. After working at the Richmond Island fisheries, in 1637 he and wife Elizabeth George became founding Scarborough, ME settlers.

The James arrived Aug. 29, 1634 with (Tristram?) Bowes as master, sailed for England in October and was lost at sea. The only known passenger is George Deering.

The Samuel arrived in 1638, with William Perrum, master, and returned to England in 1638. The only known passenger is Wilmot Randall, a servant of John Winter. She later married Nicholas Edgecomb.

The Fortune arrived May 10, 1638, with John Holman, master, and returned to England in June. Passengers were: Jonas Beele, who probably returned to England; Edward Best, at Richmond’s Island and ran away; Henry Edmunds, a fisherman who ran away; John Garland, returned to England; Mark Gaude, a three-year man at Trelawney plantation who ran away; Philip Hingston, who probably returned to England; and, Thomas Lissen, a three-year man at Richmond’s Island who ran away.

Also aboard the Fortune: Paul Mitchell from Sheviock, Cornwall, who was lost at sea in 1654; William Allen and Anthony Clark, at Trelawney plantation and probably returned to England; George Bunt and his unnamed son, Richard Field, Henry Hancock, Pentecost Hayman, William Mellin and Edward Treby, all at Richmond’s Island and probably returned to England; and, Thomas Hammecke/Hammett, William Hearle, Richard Joy and son, William Lucas, and Stephen Sargent and two servants, all at Richmond’s Island and nothing further known.

The Hercules had crossed in 1636 and returned the winter of 1638/39 with William Hingston, also master on the return voyage in July of 1639. These are the known passengers: John Burrage of Thorncombe, Devon (now Dorset); Mrs. Gill, wife of Arthur, who had come on the Agnes in 1636; Sampson Jope, who was at Richmond’s Island and probably returned to England; and, Robert Saunders who came from Plymouth, Devon, to Richmond’s Island.

The Margery sailed some time after Nov. 22, 1642 with Hugh Ball as master and returned to England with Ambrose Boaden, master. Passengers: Edmund Andrews, often incorrectly cited as being Sir Edmund Andros, a colonial governor who came much later; John Burrage who had come before on the Hercules and was now returning with his wife; Robert Saunders of Plymouth, Devon, who had come on the Hercules and was returning; and, Benjamin Stevens of Landrake, Cornwall, who was coming to Richmond’s Island. No doubt there were other passengers, but these are the ones known by name.

Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, 1928-1939 by Noyes, Libby and Davis, 2002 reprint (Gateway Press: Baltimore).

Search for the Passengers of the Mary and John: West Country Ships and Passengers, 1620-1643, by Burton Spear (1993: Toledo).

The copyright of the article First Maine Arrivals:Fishermen & Family Founders in Genealogy is owned by Rosemary E. Bachelor. Permission to republish First Maine Arrivals:Fishermen & Family Founders in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.