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Thomas Prence

Thomas Prence

Male 1599 - 1673  (73 years)


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  • Name Thomas Prence  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] 
    Birth 6 Aug 1599  Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13] 
    Gender Male 
    FSID 9MWV-FM6 
    Burial 1673  Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death 29 Mar 1673  Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28] 
    Person ID I7092  footsteps | Child, Van Loan, Lady Godiva, Charlamagne, Conqueor, Robert Capet II
    Last Modified 21 Apr 2025 

    Father Thomas Prence, IV,   b. 29 Jan 1574, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 14 Aug 1630, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 56 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother Elizabeth Todlerby,   b. 1577, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 14 Aug 1630, Berkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 53 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Marriage Jan 1597  Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F1568  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Patience Brewster,   b. Abt 1600, Nottinghamshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 12 Dec 1634, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 34 years) 
    Marriage 5 Aug 1624  Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Mercy Prence,   b. 1631, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 28 Sep 1711, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 80 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
    Family ID F30  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 21 Apr 2025 

    Family 2   
    Marriage 1 Apr 1635  Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F7159  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 21 Apr 2025 

    Family 3 Apphia Quicke,   b. 1604, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Bef 1 Aug 1668, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age < 64 years) 
    Family ID F13275  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 21 Apr 2025 

    Family 4 Mary Collier,   b. 18 Feb 1612, Surrey, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown 
    Marriage 1 Apr 1635  Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Jane Prence,   b. 1 Nov 1637, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Bef 28 Jun 1712 (Age < 74 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
    Family ID F13285  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 21 Apr 2025 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 6 Aug 1599 - Gloucestershire, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 5 Aug 1624 - Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 1 Apr 1635 - Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 1 Apr 1635 - Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - 1673 - Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 29 Mar 1673 - Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    Thomas Prence b1600    		Thomas Prence b1600

  • Notes 


    • Thomas Prence, governor of Massachusetts, whose name is also written Pr i n c e , b ut not by himself, was born in 1600 at Lechlade in Gloucestershi r e , w h e re his family had been settled for some generations. His father w a s a p u r i tan, and emigrated to Leyden while Thomas was still young. In N o v e m b er 1621 Thomas arrived at New Plymouth, with several distinquished c o l o n i sts, in either the Fortune or the Anne. He brought a considerable f o r t u n e with him, and rapidly became a prominent citizen, though he alwa y s h a d a d i staste for public office.

      Having become a member of the court of assistants, Prence was elected t o s u c c e ed Winslow as governor of Massachusetts in 1634, but resigned th e f o l l o wing year on removing his residence to Duxbury. In 1637 he did g o o d s e r vice to the state in raising a corps to assist Connecticute agai n s t t h e P ecquot Indians, and in 1638 was urged to become governor again ; h e r e l u ctantly consented, making it a condition that the law requiri ng r e s i d ence at New Plymouth should be relaxed in his favour. At the e nd o f t h e y e ar he retired, but devoted himself to promoting the welfare o f t h e c o l ony. In 1641 he and others obtained a grant and founded a new s e t t l e ment at Nansett or Easthams. In 1650 he establed the Cape Cod fish e r i e s . In 1654 he was authorized by the court of assistants to constit u t e a n e w g overnment in the settlement at Kennebec.

      In 1657, on the death of Bradford, Prence was again chosen governor, an d s o r e m a ined until his death, through a period troubled by wars with t he I n d i a ns and internal quarrels with the quakers. Besides being gover nor , h e w a s a t one time treasurer, and on various occasions a commissio ne r, f o r t h e united colonies. But his great work was the appropriation , d e s p i te much opposition, of public revenue to the support of grammar s c h o o l s. He governed the colony with firmness and prudence, evincing en e r g y , j udgement, integrity and religious zeal.
      Thomas Prence, governor of Massachusetts, whose name is also written Pr i n c e , b ut not by himself, was born in 1600 at Lechlade in Gloucestershi r e , w h e re his family had been settled for some generations. His father w a s a p u r i tan, and emigrated to Leyden while Thomas was still young. In N o v e m b er 1621 Thomas arrived at New Plymouth, with several distinquished c o l o n i sts, in either the Fortune or the Anne. He brought a considerable f o r t u n e with him, and rapidly became a prominent citizen, though he alwa y s h a d a d i staste for public office.

      Having become a member of the court of assistants, Prence was elected t o s u c c e ed Winslow as governor of Massachusetts in 1634, but resigned th e f o l l o wing year on removing his residence to Duxbury. In 1637 he did g o o d s e r vice to the state in raising a corps to assist Connecticute agai n s t t h e P ecquot Indians, and in 1638 was urged to become governor again ; h e r e l u ctantly consented, making it a condition that the law requiri ng r e s i d ence at New Plymouth should be relaxed in his favour. At the e nd o f t h e y e ar he retired, but devoted himself to promoting the welfare o f t h e c o l ony. In 1641 he and others obtained a grant and founded a new s e t t l e ment at Nansett or Easthams. In 1650 he establed the Cape Cod fish e r i e s . In 1654 he was authorized by the court of assistants to constit u t e a n e w g overnment in the settlement at Kennebec.

      In 1657, on the death of Bradford, Prence was again chosen governor, an d s o r e m a ined until his death, through a period troubled by wars with t he I n d i a ns and internal quarrels with the quakers. Besides being gover nor , h e w a s a t one time treasurer, and on various occasions a commissio ne r, f o r t h e united colonies. But his great work was the appropriation , d e s p i te much opposition, of public revenue to the support of grammar s c h o o l s. He governed the colony with firmness and prudence, evincing en e r g y , j udgement, integrity and religious zeal.

  • Sources 
    1. [S55] The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, 1847- 2011.
      Record for Rebecca Davenport

    2. [S61] U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, Place: Plymouth, Massachusetts; Year: 1621; Page Number: 26.

    3. [S78] Pennsylvania, Society of Mayflower Descendants Applications, 1911-1929, Volume: III, Wills from 1703 to 1713.

    4. [S78] Pennsylvania, Society of Mayflower Descendants Applications, 1911-1929, Volume: I, Wills from 1635 (Earliest Probated) to 1685.

    5. [S78] Pennsylvania, Society of Mayflower Descendants Applications, 1911-1929, Year: 1840; Census Place: Green, Kentucky; Roll: 112; Page: 211;Image: 427; Family History Library Film: 0007826.

    6. [S78] Pennsylvania, Society of Mayflower Descendants Applications, 1911-1929.

    7. [S758] Ancestry.com, New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2013;).
      Record for Francis Cooke

    8. [S435] U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, United States; Volume Title: Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700.
      Record for John Crow

    9. [S435] U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, United States; Volume Title: New England Marriages Prior to 1700.

    10. [S279] Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22.
      Record for Eustace Fitzjohn

    11. [S279] Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22.

    12. [S279] Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22, London, England: Oxford University Press; Volume: Vol 09; Page: 671.

    13. [S61] U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, Place: Plymouth, Massachusetts; Year: 1621; Page Number: 191.

    14. [S61] U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, Place: Boston, Massachusetts; Year: 1636; Page Number: 151.

    15. [S76] Kent, England, Tyler Index to Parish Registers, 1538-1874, The Tyler Collection, The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies; Kent, England, Tyler Index to Parish Registers, 1538-1874.

    16. [S88] 1881 Census of Canada, Year: 1881; Census Place: Lot 4, Prince, Prince Edward Island; Roll: C_13162; Page: 47; Family No: 194.

    17. [S442] North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000.
      Book Title: A genealogical memoir of the Lo-Lathrop family in this coun t r y : e m b racing the descendants, as far as known, of The Rev. John Loth r o pp , o f S cituate and Barnstable, Mass., and Mark Lothrop, of Salem and B r i d g e water, Mass., and the first

    18. [S442] North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, Book Title: Autobiography of William Seymour Tyler, D D , LL D and related papers : with a genealogy of the anc.

    19. [S8] 1910 United States Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Berkely, Alameda, California; Roll: T624_72;Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1374085.

    20. [S153] Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.

    21. [S153] Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.
      Record for Olive May Stewart

    22. [S240] Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908, Year: 1891; Census Place: Lot 33, Queens, Prince Edward Island; Roll:T-6384; Family No: 57.

    23. [S434] U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989, Database online.
      Record for Richard Woodward

    24. [S285] Norm Wilson Geneology: n.wilson@worldnet.att.net.
      QUAY

    25. [S408] Tennessee, Early Land Registers, 1778-1927, Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Early Tennessee/North Carolina Land Records; Series Number: 03; Series Title: Plats and Surveys.

    26. [S27] Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.
      Record for Carin Nilsdr

    27. [S439] Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Year: 1860; Census Place: Bourbon, Kansas Territory; Roll: M653_346; Page: 382; Image: 382; Family History Library Film: 803346.

    28. [S442] North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, Book Title: The Damon family : listing some of the Ohio descendants of Amos Damon of Chesterfield, Mass , and t.


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