The parents of Richard Pearce of Rhode Island are a big mystery so I acually think that this Richard Pearse b. 1553 is completely made up.
Looking at the son we find the following that I've compiled from various sources over the years.
Richard Pearce
Born 1615 – England
Died 22 April 1677, Portsmouth Rhode Island
Married Susannah Wright.
“In the "Pearce Genealogy," by Col. Frederick C. Pierce, which was published in 1888 and relates chiefly to Richard Pearce of Portsmouth R.I, and his descendants, it is stated that Richard Pearce's father was of Bristol, England, and that Richard himself was born in England in 1615, was at Portsmouth, R. I. as early as 1654, and married in Portsmouth, in 1642, Susannah Wright, who was born in 1620. Susannah Wright is said to have been the daughter of George Wright of Newport, R. L, who was probably at Salem, Mass., 1637, and at Newport in 1648. (Pearce Genealogy, pp. 37, 38.).
“Without considering here the question whether the English home and the date of birth of Richard Pearce are given correctly in the "Pearce Genealogy," there is no doubt that the maiden name of Richard Pearce's wife was Susanna Wright; but she was the daughter not of George Wright of Newport but of John Wright of Waltham Abbey, co. Essex, England, yeoman, as the entry in the "Aspinwall Notarial Records" proves.”
The entry in the Aspinwall Notarial Records, published Boston, 1903, pp. 85-86:
"Richard Pierce of Prudence Island in the Narrowgansett Bay did acknowledge the receite of twenty pounds of Elizabeth Dell Executrix of the last will & Testament of Ralph Dell of Bow in Middlesex due as a Legacie unto his wife Susanna daughter of John Wrighte of Walton [Waltham] Abbey parish in Essex yeoman: & doth acquitt & discharge the said Elisabeth of the said Legacie & every part thereof. Signed & sealed the 14 (7) before me the Not. publ. 1647."
Thus, it appears certain that Richard Peirce/Pierce/Pearce and his wife Susannah, related to the Dells of Middlesex, were in America as early as 1647.
The above from : Benjamin Franklin Wilbour, "Parentage of Susanna Wright, wife of Richard Pearce of Portsmouth, R. I.," New Eng. Hist. Gen. Reg., 84 (1930): 427-433
There are numerous land records for Richard Pearce beginning in 1654, and perhaps earlier, though that is the earliest I have.
He left a will, named children, etc. All pretty much standard. So much for Richard Pearce in America.
Turning to the problem of his origins. The book "Pearce Genealogy," by Col. Frederick C. Pierce, mentioned above, which was published in 1888, has a whole fanciful genealogy that is repeated ad nauseum by endless Pearce/Pierce/Peirce descendants. (My own line comes from one who chose and stuck with the Pearce spelling). Col. Pierce’s fancy takes Richard’s family from Bristol back to “Pearce Hall” in Yorkshire through a string of obvious “placeholder” ancestors to Peter Percy son of Ralph Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland, Bosworth Field and all that.
The problem is: none of it has a shred of evidence and the dates don’t even fit nor has there ever been, as far as I can tell, a “Pearce Hall” in Yorkshire. It’s a load of horse-hockey.
However, with Mr. Wilbour’s information linking Susannah Wright, wife of Richard Pearce, to Ralph and Elizabeth Dell of Bow in Middlesex, we find:
FROM PROBATE RECORDS
(Ralph Dell born 1575):
The Will of RALPH DELL of Bow in Middlesex, citizen and cloth worker [date not given in abstract].
• To Ralph Dell and John Dell, sons of my brother John Dell. To George Dell and Elisabeth Dell, children of my brother John.
• To sister Mary Dell.
• To cousin Ann Barolers, wife of Richard of Harksey.*
• To sisters Ellen, Elisabeth, and Joan.
• To cousin Bull. (1636 Bazzell Bull and Jane Wright 1 September.)
• I give and bequeath unto and among the children of John Wright the sum of 100 pounds.
• To cousin Whitings wife.
• To my wife, Elisabeth Dell.
Proved in 1646. (P.C.C., Twisse, 184.) (71 yrs old)
*Cf. the will of George Dell of Boston mariner, dated 3 Nov. 1653 (Register, Vol 5 p 442), in which the testator names his brother Mr. Richard Barachew, Living at Hackney near London and his brother Ralph Dell. Perhaps Richard Barolers of Harcksey may be identical with Richard Barachew of Hackney, the names in one will or the other having been difficult to decipher. (This George Dell appears to be the nephew of Ralph Dell, brother to Ralph, sons of John Dell.)
Ralph Dell stated "I haueing no child" and the bequest to the Children of John Wright was later in the will than those to his brothers and sisters. However, I looked at "London Marriage Licences", edited by Joseph Foster, London, 1887 which you can access free on Google Books, and found the following:
"John Wright, of Waltham Abbey, co. Essex, yeoman, and Mary Dell, spinster, daughter of John Dell, of same, yeoman - at St. Mary Axe, London, 17 Apr 1624. Bishop of London's Office."
Also, "John Wright, of Waltham Abbey, co. Essex, yeoman, and Mary Dell - at Waltham Abbey, aforesaid, 19 Apr 1624. Bishop of London's Office."
It's difficult to understand why he would leave a bequest to his sister Mary Dell and then leave a bequest to the children of John Wright, if John and Mary Dell were married in 1624 and her name would no longer have been Dell, but Wright.
It is also difficult to understand why he would leave a bequest to the children of John Wright if they were NOT related to him, as in being the children of his sister.
The only solution that makes sense is that the sentence leaving a bequest to his sister was written before she died and the sentence leaving a bequest to her children by John Wright was written after her death. People didn't always completely re-write wills in those days, they just added the changes.
Note his bequest to his wife, Elizabeth Dell who was the one who delivered the bequest to Richard Pearce who received it on behalf of his wife, Susannah Wright Pearce. Here is the will of that Elizabeth Bright Dell:
The Will of ELIZABETH Bright DELL of Stratford-le-Bow, co. Middlesex, widow [date not given in abstract].
• To my brother, Master Henry Bright of New England, £200, to be paid within twelve months after my decease. In case he should die within that time, the money is to be divided amongst his children. To said children £70 to be divided and paid to them at the age of twenty-one years or on the day of their marriage; and their father, Henry, is to give bonds for the payment of the same.
• To cousin Mary Ray of Ipswitch.
• To brother William Forth.
• To my sister, Martha Blowers, and her children.
• To brother Blowers.
• To cousin Robert Forth.
• To nephew Dr. William Forth.
• To my nephew, William Parks.
• To my cousin, _____ [? William] Cawby, esq.
• To my half sister, Mary Barker, daughter of Richard, late of New England. To Mary Barker alias Bright.
• To William Forth of Hadleigh, gentleman.
• To Rev. Mr. Greenhall of Stepney.
• To the poor of Stepney. [To divers, persons legacies of 20s, each, for the purchase of rings.]
Overseers: my brother Blowers and my brother William Forth. Executor: my nephew, Dr. William Forth. Proved at Doctors Commons. London, 6 August 1657. (P.C.C.) **
Note that she makes no bequests to children or grandchildren, to no one named Dell or Wright so she is certainly not the mother of any Mary Dell, daughter of Ralph. So we can eliminate that possibility.
The most logical conclusions is that Mary Dell, sister of Ralph Dell, was initially listed as an inheritor but died between the time the will was first made and the time the Wright children were added. Thus, Mary Dell appears to be the sister of Ralph Dell.
I found the marriage record of Ralph Dell and Elizabeth Bright Dell. Marriage was on 6 Jul 1631 at St. Mary's church, Stratford Bow. I took a digital photo of the entry in the book. She was born in 1598 and was thus 33 years old when she married the 56 yr old Ralph Dell (b. 1575). This goes well with him having written that he had no children as well as the confirmation that Mary Dell who married John Wright was the daughter of John Dell and was Ralph’s sister.
So we know rather firmly that Richard Pearce and Susannah Wright Pearce were the couple from Waltham Abbey. Unfortunately, this doesn't tell us anything about Richard's parents, though we are confident about Susannah's parents: John Wright and Mary Dell.
I studied the parish registers of Waltham Abbey, in particular, that extending from 1563-1650. There are a slew of Wrights and a goodly number of Dells. Regarding the Pearces we find slim pickings:
PIERCE
Births
1655 John son of Robert Pierce 22 January [1655/6].
1659 Charity daughter of Robert Pierce 6 April.
Marriages
1642 Richard Pierce and Susan Write 5 May.
1655 George Wilson and Martha Pierce 22 January [1655/6]
Burials
1661 Robert Pierce, innkeeper, 22 October.
1661 Charles Morgan died at Richard Pierces and was buried 19 November.
**There is a note that "The Wrights of Surestone (Sewardstone), a village near Waltham Abbey, were recorded in the Parish registers under the spelling Write."
It seems obvious that Richard came from outside the parish. One thing that caught my eye particularly was this:
1661 Robert Pierce, innkeeper, 22 October.
1661 Charles Morgan died at Richard Pierces and was buried 19 November.
So, Robert Pierce was an innkeeper and he died in October. The following November, a Charles Morgan died at "Richard Pierces". What does that mean? We know that Richard Pearce and his wife, Susannah, are in Rhode Island because of the record of the bequest being handed over. That is, unless Robert was the father of Richard and Richard returned to claim an inheritance on the death of his father, the innkeeper and this was the "Richard Pierces" (place) in question.
Being alerted to the possibility that this Robert Pierce might be the father of Richard Pearce, I went looking.
From: “Abstract drawn up by Sir Wm. Dugdale, proving Mr. Francis Percy, now of Cambridge, to be of the line and family of the Percys, Earls of Northumberland” (From The House of Percy, p.359)
Sept. 6, 1680. — Roger England of Taunton in Somersetshire, aged 80 years, certifieth that he married Anne daughter of Robert, son of Thomas the Powder Traytor, and has heard the said Robert, his wife's father, say that he was son to Thomas Percy, who was employed in the Powder Plot. "
Oct. n, 1680. — John Swinton, clerk of ye parish Church of Anwick in Northumberland, aged above 80 years, affirmeth that he heard his father say that Mr Thomas Percy and his wife lived in the Castle at Anwick and had children, and after the Powder Plot for which ye said Thomas lost his life, his wife went to London and lived privately there. "
It’s also said that MARTHA WRIGHT PERCY moved to Holborn, London with her children, CHANGED HER NAME, (Pierce? Pearce?) and opened a school.
(“Abstract drawn up by Sir Wm. Dugdale, proving Mr. Francis Percy, now of Cambridge, to be of the line and family of the Percys, Earls of Northumberland” (From The House of Percy, p.359)
Oct. 14, 1680.— Matthew Scott of Gateshead in the Bishoprick of Durham, aged 99 years, certifieth that he knew Thomas Percy, who was afterwards in the Powder Plot, Constable of Anwick Castle, and that he had a son called Robert and two daughters, and that the said Robert was a schoolboy at Anwick. "
February 12, 1680: Richard (sic) Percy, widow of Francis Percy, son of Robert, aforesaid, aged 76 years, sayeth that she knew the said Robert Percy, her late husband’s father, and has often heard him say he was the son of Thomas Percy who was in the Gunpowder Plot: and that above 16 years since, ye said Francis, her late husband, purposing himself to make himself known as Algernon, Earl of Northumberland, went from Bickley in Devonshire, where he then lived, towards London for that end, but on his way falling sick at Oxford, returned home, where he shortly died.”
{Collectanea Topographica Et Genealogica, Volume 2 edited by Frederic Madden, Bulkeley Bandinel, John Gough Nichols verifies that 1641 marriage record to "Rich hord" Parsons. In 1680, she was called Richard, widow of Francis, son of Robert Percy. She was 76 in 1680.)
Bickley, Devon baptismal and marriage records:
Francis Pearsie (groom)
marries 9 July 1640 to Richoard Parsons (sic) at Bickley, near Exeter, Devon.
So, we have a Robert Percy born at Alnwick about 1594, child of Thomas and Martha Wright whose mother took him and his siblings to some area near London where she changed their name and basically went into hiding.
From Brenan we get:
"By a certificate of the 17 September 1680, taken out of the Church Register of Wiveliscomb, Somerset, it appeareth that Robert Percy did marry Emma Meade 22 Oct. 1615. "
"By a certificate of ye 10 May 1680, taken out of ye Church Register of Taunton in Somerset, it appeareth that Francis ye son of Robert Percy was there baptized 15 April 1616. "
That is: he was born six months or less after his parents were married. Francis Percy is also said to have been baptized: April 15, 1616, Bickley, Devon, England. (Is it just another way to say the same place?)
The author and collector of the above data, Dugdale, cited in Brenan’s book writes about Robert: "It is unknown where he died." In other words, the Francis and/or his widow, haven’t a clue about the whereabouts or fate of the alleged father of Francis.
Another researcher found the following items and sent them to me:
[Regi]ster of the names of all ye Passinger which Passed from ye Port of London for one yeare Endinge at Xpmas 1635.
WILLM SAYER 58
ROBERT PERCY 40
EDWARD CLARK 30
Based on age, this could very well be our Robert Percy born in 1594.
Next, in the colonies we find:
1637 - Robert Percy Tax payer in Freeman Township, St. Mary’s County, Maryland.
And then, things get MOST interesting.
***Liberation Theology Along the Potomac: Labor's Golden Rule in Early American Catholicism Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Education, Volume 32, Issue 3, 2011
Out of the regard for their own value came the militant support of Maryland's contract workers for the levelling of Calvert and the local Maryland landlords in the 1640s and 1650s, which will be taken up in the following chapter. Tenants and contract workers were only 20% of the population in this period, but led in the levelling. Catholic tenants like William Lewis, Henry Hooper, and Robert Percy stopped paying the three barrels of corn in annual rent on their 21-year leases.[347]
[347]"Thomas Gerard," "Career Files;" Hughes, Society of Jesus, text, vol. 2, p. 25.
The Marshall was 'Robert Percy, gentleman ;' there are strong grounds for believing that he was the eldest son of Thomas Percy, a chief conspirator of the Gunpowder Plot. ****
St. Mary’s County, MD. Court Records Assembly Proceedings, January— March 1637/8.
Liber Z, p. 15
THE GENERALI, ASSEMBLY HELD AT ST MARIES, AND BEGAN ON THE 25th DAY OF JANUARY 1637
The Acts of the first day
The Leiutent grail taking his place, came and appeared personally: Robert Perry marshall (Robert Percy served as undersheriff from 1638-1639).
January 20, 1637 St Mary’s County, MD. Cecellius Lord Proprietor to Rob Percy, “marshall” asked to apprehend the body of Rose Gilbert, widow and keep her safe.
February 12, 1637 – St. Mary’s County, MD. Robert Percy, one of 24 freemen selected to serve on grand inquest.
17th Aprill 1638 - Memorand that this day mr Sheriff hath appointed Robert Percy to be his bailiff or vndersheriff vntill xtmas next, to exequute for him all writt, & warrants vpon his command, for exequution of iustice or otherwise and hath promised him a salary therefore of 100l of tobacco: and the said Robert Percy hath accepted thereof, & doth covenant and vndertake to performe the same & to save harmelesse mr Sheriff for all neglects or defaults wch may be committed on the part of the said Robert Percy.
August 16, 1638 - Mr. Copley came in person and revoked his attorney to Robt. Percy, p.78 (Note information in the Jesuit Mission article below about Mr. Copley and Robert Percy as attorney.)
August 22, 1638 - A true and perfect inventary of all the goods and debts of Andrew Baker’s., their value praised by Thomas Baldridge and Thomas Percy.
From the Maryland Historical Magazine, p.366: Land Notes 1634-1655
March 28, 1640 Robert Percie, Gent., demandeth land to him for transporting himself at his own charge into the province upon the Merchant –Boneventure in the Year 1635 (Viz) 100 acres of land in ffreehold, and was allowed. Eod. The said Robert Percie assigned over his right and interest in the 100 acres of land unto John Dandie and his heirs
Robert Percy. (signed)
July 21, 1640 The said Robert Percy Gent, demandeth ffive acres of Town Land due to him for transporting himself at his own charge into this province in the year 1635 – and assigned over all his right unto the Said five acres unto Robert Clerk, Gent.
February 1, 1643 Members of Inquest: robt. Percy
A link to the above mentioned documents and a few others:
http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5000/sc5094/003000/0...
Next:
THE JESUIT MISSIONS OF ST. MARY'S COUNTY, MARYLAND by EDWIN WARFIELD BEITZELL
( http://openlibrary.org/books/OL4562439M/The_Jesuit_missions_of_St._... )
In 1645, at the time of the Ingle Invasion, there were (as we have seen) five Jesuit priests in Maryland. Fathers Bernard Hartwell and John Cooper were at St. Inigoes, Father Roger Rigby on the Patuxent, Father Copley at St. Mary's City and Father White at Port Tobacco. For several years, Richard Ingle had been a trader in goods from England and Holland and was well known to the Manor Lords of St. Mary's. In the year 1644, Governor Leonard Calvert had occasion to visit his brother Lord Baltimore in England, and Giles Brent was substituted in his place during his absence. Ingle arrived in the harbor at St. Mary's in January in his ship, the "Reformation", and during his stay was accused of treason for speaking seditiously against the King. He was arrested and placed in the custody of the Sheriff, and the "Reformation" was seized, a proclamation affixed to the mast, and a guard placed aboard. Soon afterward, Ingle made his escape. The Sheriff excused himself, saying that there was no prison in the Province except his own hands, and he supposed everything was all right when he saw Ingle leave the Governor's house in the company of Captain Cornwaleys and Mr. James Neale and he let him go, though against his will. Mr. Neale said he had no charge over Ingle and did not help his escape. Captain Cornwaleys said he thought the Governor had given his consent for the prisoner's release. The Captain of the Guard excused himself, saying that he thought everything was all right when he saw Cornwaleys come aboard with Ingle, and all talking in a very friendly manner together. Thus the "Reformation" slipped out of the Sheriff's hands. On his return to England, Ingle complained that his ship had been seized in Maryland because it was a London ship, and that Maryland was a stronghold of papists and supporters of the King against Parliament. Then Ingle procured letters of marque against all ships opposed to Parliament, and sailed for Maryland to avenge himself against the Government and the Catholics.
Ingle put in at St. Mary's on February 24, 1645, with the avowed purpose of burning or destroying whatever belonged to the Catholics, and to put the Protestants in possession of everything not destroyed. Ingle and his men captured the Fort at St. Inigoes and set out to rob and ravage the countryside. Fathers Hartwell, Rigby, and Cooper (as previously noted) were forced to flee for their lives across the Potomac to Virginia. Fathers Rigby and Cooper are reported to have died of hardship in Virginia in 1646. Father Hartwell died in the same year, although there is some indication that he may have returned to Maryland. Possibly, he did not flee to Virginia but went into hiding in Maryland. It is the writer's considered opinion that Fathers Rigby, Cooper, and possibly Hartwell were all martyrs, hunted down and killed by Ingle and his adherents. Otherwise it is difficult to understand how these three young priests could all have died in so short a period of time. Father Copley was either visiting Father White or had fled to Port Tobacco from St. Inigoes. Both were captured by Ingle and were sent to England in chains, for trial on the charge of treason (the treason being that they were Jesuits). Actually, they were tried on the technical charge that they returned to England after being banished from that Country. The Fathers were able to prove that they had not returned voluntarily but had been brought back much against their will. They were finally acquitted, but were detained in custody for about two years.
Mission property valued at over 2,000 pounds sterling was seized or destroyed. In a schedule filed by Father Copley, together with an affidavit, when he sued Ingle for recovery some years later, he mentioned that a house was burned, some sixty cattle were dispersed, hogs and other animals had disappeared, and twenty indentured servants were missing. All of the church and house furnishings at St. Mary's City, St. Inigoes, and Port Tobacco were stolen. In the same document, mention is made of massive silver plate, jewelry of gold, diamonds, sapphire and ruby, and tapestries embroidered in gold and silver.(57) Very probably the plate, jewelry, and embroidered tapestry mentioned in the schedule were the sacred vessels and the vestments used in the Church service. Father Copley would hardly have dared to identify the stolen articles otherwise to a Court in England. Nor did he mention the destruction of the Chapel House, other than as "a house". Father Joseph Zwinge, S.J., has pointed out that it was the Chapel House that was destroyed, because the residence at St. Inigoes was in possession of a Mrs. Baldridge,(58) a Protestant, when Father Copley finally was able to return to Maryland in 1648, and the "Hill" house in St. Mary's City remained intact, as it was mentioned in a deed of 1667.(59)
Father Copley's former attorney, Robert Percy, seems to have known a great deal about the disappearance of the plate.(60)
** Robert Percy was a prisoner at Pope's Fort,6 and it was rumored that he had hidden the priest's plate. John Hilliard said he would forgive him a debt, hoping that Percy, who was about to leave the country, would tell him where it was hidden. But Percy did not tell him and so Hilliard sued in vain for the debt in Greene's administration. 6) Md. Arch., Prov. Ct., 415, 418, 419. **
The Protest of 1648, New Style.
We, the freemen assembled in this present general Assembly, do hereby declare, under our hands ; and generally, jointly, and unanimously protest, against the laws which are now pretended to be put in force by the last general Assembly ; conceiving that they were not lawfully enacted. For that no summons issued out return, we may suppose, of all the Roman Catholics, who had been expelled or exported from St. Mary's, by Capt. Ingle, and the other enemies of the proprietary.
Witness our hands, this 28th January, 1647.
Robert Yaughan, 24 voices.
Robt. Clarke, proxy,
Geo. Akerick, 8,
Cuthbert Fenwick, 8,
Walter Peake, 22,
Robert Percy,proxy, 1
Robert Percy is not found in any record after December 2, 1649, evidently being ejected or fleeing from Maryland. See above where it says he was “about to leave the country” in 1648.
So, here are the bits of possibly interesting data:
A Robert Percy travels to the Colonies in 1635.
He shows up in Colonial records in St. Mary's County, Maryland in 1637.
Robert Percy has numerous adventures in Maryland.
Richard Peirce/Pierce/Pearce married Susannah Wright in 1642 in Waltham Abbey.
Five years later, they are in America where Susannah receives a legacy in 1647.
Robert Percy is imprisoned in December 1649 but somehow disappears and John Hilliard sued him in vain. He just disappeared.
Then, in 1661, a Robert Pierce, innkeeper, dies in Waltham Abbey with no prior connections recorded there other than the fact that he has the same name as our Richard Pierce/Pearce who married Susannah Wright.
And oddly, a month later, a Charles Morgan dies at “Richard Pierces”. But Richard Pierce who married Susannah is in America unless he returned to claim a legacy.
So, the question is: Was this Richard a son of Robert Percy/Pierce? Did he and Susannah help get Robert Percy out of jail and back to England and did the Wrights of Waltham Abbey assist him there? (He would have been 55 at that time.) Did he have some of the Jesuit plate and use it to open an inn? Did he die (age 67) and leave the inn to his son, Richard? Was it sold to pay his debts?
It is apparently known that Martha Wright Percy re-settled north of London, probably near to her kin, along with her children, and that she changed her name. Well, if she changed her name, she undoubtedly changed the names of her children, too. This is why I have doubts about the Francis Percy even though his widow claimed that his father was Thomas Percy. But the testimonies of the Alnwick people that there were children is helpful.
But it is entirely possible that a Robert Percy, son of Thomas (GPP) resumed his father’s name upon reaching adulthood because he was a zealous Catholic, married, and later, went to America to try his hand at farming and Catholicizing, and failed, ended up in jail. After that, he may have been helped by either his son (or a nephew), Richard Pierce/Pearce and wife Susannah, and persuaded finally to change his name permanently and retire to run an inn.
Obviously, this possibility needs some research and work. I do what I can when I am able.