Richard Austin II (abt. 1598 - aft. 1638)

Born about 1598 in Titchfield, Hampshire, England

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Austin — married 1626 in England

Descendants

Died after 1638 after about age 40 in Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Richard Austin II migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Birth

Richard Austin was born in Hampshire County, England (the passenger list shows him as a tailor in Bishopstoke, about 12 miles north, northwest of Titchfield) about 1598 (at the time of sailing in 1638 his age was listed as 40).^[1] His parents were Richard Austin (abt.1553-Feb 1622/3) and Annis (UNKNOWN) Austin (abt.1575-abt.1623).^[2]

Marriage & Children

Torrey, in New England Marriages, says that Richard married "?Elizabeth _____" by at least 1638 and possibly as early as 1632.^[3] The reason for the two dates is that Richard was married with two children before he set sail in 1638,^[4] so he was married no later than that. However, his assumed oldest child, Richard, was born about 1632.^[5] Assuming Richard married only once, his marriage most likely occurred by the birth of Richard.

Warner, et al, claimed (citing Maude C. Baker) that Richard and his wife had three children, all born in England:^[6] (Warner, et al also cited "Austin Family, -Peter T Austin, 1911" but that source was not found.)

1. Richard, b. ~1632, d. 15 Aug 1703; m. Abigail Batchelder 11 Oct 1659, "Richard Austin, b. 1632. He was probably the son of Richard Austin, who came over in the Bevis...Richard , Jr., was also a tailor."^[7][8]
2. Robert, b. ~1634 [no records; if he existed he died in Hampshire before the rest of the family sailed in 1638]
3. Anthony, b. ~1636, d. 22 Aug 1708^[9]

Immigration

In April 1638, Richard set sail from Southampton, England aboard the ship Bevis for America. The ship manifest listed him as a tailor from "Bishopstocke" (Bishopstoke, Hampshire, England), traveling with his wife & 2 children & a servant Robert Knight (he was listed as a carpenter). On 16 May 1638 they landed in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts.^[10][11]

Death & Burial

Baker stated that "Richard Austin died the same year of his arrival in America 1838, and there is no further mention of him."^[12]

Research Notes

The Will of Richard Austin, ~1622/3)

The will of Richard Austin (abt.1553-Feb 1622/3) contains valuable information that helps tie the family together, if not with direct evidence, then with circumstantial evidence.

There seems to be two "transcripts" of the will floating around, one that is more of a summary version^[13] as it contains more shortened information and a longer version that seems to be an actual transcript^[14] of the handwritten will.

A photocopy of the will can currently be found on FamilySearch as an uploaded document.^[15]

The will of Richard Austin (abt.1553-Feb 1622/3) lists the following as children, in this order: Daniel, Peter, Richard, Joan, Emlen, Elizabeth, and Anes. He gives bequests to his grandchildren: Daniel's two son's (Richard and Francis), Peter's two children, Joan's child, and Anes' three children. He also gives a bequest to "my son in law Edmond Littlefield [sic]," who is the husband of Anes (Annis/Agnes) Richard's daughter. Richard (Sr) does not name any children for Richard (Jr)), and so he most likely was not yet married.

In 1638 the ship Bevis sailed for America, and aboard was Richard Austin with his wife and two children. Accompanying Richard was his servant Robert Knight, carpenter. Richard's sister, Annis (Austin) Littlefield, was also on the ship and traveling with her family was John Knight, carpenter.^[16]

Francis Littlefield, Edmund Littlefield's father, names Thomas Knight of Droxford an overseer.^[17] Peeter Knight married Grace Littlefield in 1639.^[18] And as was mentioned, Robert Knight and John Knight sailed on the Bevis.

Although Richard Austin's (1553-Feb 1622/3) profession is unknown, his will bequeaths nine sheep, six bullocks, one cow and one colt, so possibly a husbandman. However, his son and grandson were both tailors, as well as Edmond Littlefield being a clothier.

Richard Austin of Charlestown

The entry for Richard Austin found in the Great Migration Directory:

Austin, Richard: Bishopstoke, Hampshire; 1638 on Bevis; passenger list only [Drake’s Founders 60]. (Claims that he settled at Charlestown lack supporting evidence [Wyman 28].)^[19]

The two sources used for the Great Migration Directory entry are below:

Drake's Results of Some Researches... gives the record for Richard Austin's immigration:

"Richard Austin, tayler (of Bishopstocke): his wife and two children. [Age] 40" They traveled in the ship Bevis of Hampton on May 2, 1638, Robert Batten, master.^[20]

Wyman's The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown... states:

"A passenger of this name embarked in the ‘“ Bevis” from Southampton with wife and two children (not named) in 1638. His age, 40. Had been a tailor at Bishopstoke, co. Hants. No evidence certainly connects the inhabitant here with that early immigrant."^[21]

The Richard Austin of Bishopstoke, tailor, seems to be easily explained as the son of Richard Austin of Charlestown, the tailor. Both were tailors and both sailed on the ship Bevis.^[22] As Richard Austin the elder seems to never appear in the records in New England, the references to Richard Austin concern Richard Austin the younger. Savage agrees, saying, "Richard, Charlestown, prob. s. of the preced. brot. by him from Eng." (the "preceding" being Richard the elder).^[23]

Sources

1. ↑ Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 14 (1860):336, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1860), [ https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistorv14wate/page/336/mode/1up image of p. 336] at InternetArchive.org.
2. ↑ Elizabeth French, "Genealogical Gleanings in England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 67:345 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1913); image of p. 345 at InternetArchive.org; "To my son Richard..." as found in the will of Richard Austin, written before 15 Feb 1622/3 when Richard was buried, see p. 346.
3. ↑ Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 1:54, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015); image of p. 54 by subscription AmericanAncestors.org.
4. ↑ John Camden Hotten, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality... p. 298 (London: John Camden Hotten, 1874); image of p. at InternetArchive.org.
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Richard Austin Jr. (25 Nov 1632–15 Aug 1703), Find a Grave Memorial ID 27376640, citing Phipps Street Burying Ground, Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by David Bruty (contributor 46939293); image of headstone available; headstone appears to be original, inscription: "Here lyes ye body of Richard Austin aged about 71 years dyed August 15 1703".
6. ↑ Frederick Chester Warner, et al, The Ancestry of Samuel, Freda and John Warner, 1:21 (Boston: F.C. Warner, 1949); borrow book from InternetArchive.org to see image of p. 21.
7. ↑ Frederick Clifton Pierce, Batchelder, Batcheller Genealogy: Descendants of Rev. Stephen Bachiler of England Who Settled the Town of New Hampton, N.H. and Joseph, Henry, Joshua, and John Batcheller, of Essex Co., Mass. (W. B. Conkey, Chicago, 1898); image of p. 40 at InternetArchive.org.
8. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Richard Austin Jr. (25 Nov 1632–15 Aug 1703), Find a Grave Memorial ID 27376640, citing Phipps Street Burying Ground, Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by David Bruty (contributor 46939293); image of headstone available; headstone appears to be original, inscription: "Here lyes ye body of Richard Austin aged about 71 years dyed August 15 1703".
9. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Capt Anthony Austin (1636–22 Aug 1708), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7415317, citing Old Center Cemetery, Suffield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA ; Maintained by David Bruty (contributor 46939293); image of headstone available; headstone appears to be original, inscription: "Capt Anthony Austin died august 22 1708 aged 73".
10. ↑ Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 14 (1860):336, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1860), [ https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistorv14wate/page/336/mode/1up image of p. 336] at InternetArchive.org.
11. ↑ "File:Bevis Passengers 1638.jpg", scan of what appears to be the original manifest, left column, third entry from the top, p. 272 stamped upper right corner available Wikipedia.org.
12. ↑ Maude Conrad Baker, Genealogical Record of Robert Austin and His Lineal Descendents (Newark: Maude C. Baker, 1928), p. 106; [ image of p. 106] at InternetArchive.org.
13. ↑ Elizabeth French, "Genealogical Gleanings in England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 67:345 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1913); image of p. 345 at InternetArchive.org.
14. ↑ Dean and Shirey Harris Park, Austin Genealogy: Some Descendants of Richard Austin, England and America, 1598-2003, (Tulsa: Dean Ross Park and Shirley (Harris) Park, 2003); images 9-10 of 275, pp. viii-ix by subscription FamilySearch.org.
15. ↑ Uploaded copy of will, Contributed By wendycoltrin, 5 July 2020, photocopy of will by subscription.
16. ↑ Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 14 (1860):336, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1860), [ https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistorv14wate/page/336/mode/1up image of p. 336] at InternetArchive.org.
17. ↑ Elizabeth French, "Genealogical Gleanings in England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 67:343 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1913); image of p. 343 at InternetArchive.org.
18. ↑ Elizabeth French, "Genealogical Gleanings in England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 67:346 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1913); image of p. 346 at InternetArchive.org.
19. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640: A Concise Compendium (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015), print, p. 12.
20. ↑ Samuel Gardner Drake., Results of some Researches Among the British Archives for Information Relative to the Founders of New England: Made in the Years 1858, 1858 and 1860; Originally Collected for and Published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, and Now Corrected and Enlarged, Office of the New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Register, Boston (1860).see at archive.org
21. ↑ Thomas Bellows Wyman and Henry Herbert Edes, The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown: in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1629-1818, (Boston: D. Clapp, 1879), p. 28; image of p. 28 available InternetArchive.org.
22. ↑ Frederick Clifton Pierce, Batchelder, Batcheller Genealogy: Descendants of Rev. Stephen Bachiler of England Who Settled the Town of New Hampton, N.H. and Joseph, Henry, Joshua, and John Batcheller, of Essex Co., Mass. (W. B. Conkey, Chicago, 1898); image of p. 40 at InternetArchive.org.
23. ↑ James Savage, et al, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England... (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1860), image of p. 81 at InternetArchive.org.

See also:

• Austin Families Association of America database, Richard Austin, (registration required).
• Carlin, Jim, Liz Austin Carlin, and Edith Austin Moore. 1998. Some descendants of Richard Austin of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1638. Baltimore: Gateway Press.
• Durell, Harol Clarke, "Memoirs of Deceased Members of the New England Historic Genealogical Society," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 86 (1932):97 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1932), image of p. 97 by subscription AmericanAncestors.org.
• Find A Grave Virtual Cemetery memorial#27389561 for Richard Austin, Sr. mentioning that no gravestone could be found. Note: as of 2017/07/31, his wife's Find A Grave memorial has errors on it because her maiden surname was not Littlefield.
• Membership Application #89928 for Richard Austin, Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Microfilm, 508 rolls; images of application by subscription Ancestry.com. Information from the form indicates he was born 1598 in Bishopstoke, England, that his spouse was Elizabeth, and that he had a son named Anthony. The application was accepted, yet the information was unneeded for acceptance and there were no sources backing up the claim.
• Pope, Charles Henry, The Pioneers of Massachusetts, a Descriptive List, Drawn from Records of the Colonies, Towns and Churches and Other Contemporaneous Documents, (Boston: C.H. Pope, 1900); image of p. 24 at InternetArchive.org.
• Austin, J. Willian and Rebecca H.R. Austin, "Related Families of Botetourt County, Virginia", Roanoke, Virginia, 1977. Ancestry Sharing Link (free access); Image ($).