Thomas Coytemore (abt. 1612 - abt. 1644)

Born about 1612 in Prittlewell, Essex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Rainsborough) Coggan — married 14 Jun 1635 (to 27 Dec 1644) in Wapping, Stepney, MIddlesex

Died about 27 Dec 1644 at about age 32 in At Sea

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Magna Carta Gateway Ancestor Descendant of Surety Barons Robert de Vere, John de Lacy, and possibly others (see text). Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

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

Biography

Thomas was the son of Rowland Coytemore and Katherine Myles. He was born at Prittlewell, Essex in about 1611/2 (he was 16 when he matriculated at Cambridge University in 1628).^[1][2][3]

Thomas went to school at Charlwood, Surrey and matriculated at Christ's College, Cambridge on 2 April 1628.^[3] He was apprenticed on 26 February 1629/30 to Increase Nowell. (Thomas was half-brother in Increase Nowell's wife.)^[4]

Thomas was left 50 shillings in the 1626 Will (proved 1627) of his half-brother Thomas Gray.^[5]

On 14 June 1635 Thomas married Martha Rainsborough at Wapping, Middlesex.^[1][2] They had two sons, Thomas and William, and one daughter, Katherine, all of whom died in infancy:^[1][2]

• Katherine,^[1][2] baptised at Wapping, Middlesex on 13 April 1636 and buried there on 19 April 1636^[6]
• Thomas,^[1][2] baptised at Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay on 26 December 1641^[7]
• William,^[1][2] born on 6 December 1643 at Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay^[8][9]

Thomas was a merchant and sea captain.^[1][2] He is recorded as Master of the Elizabeth Bonaventure in March 1634.^[10]

In 1636 Thomas and his wife moved to New England, settling at Charlestown, Massachusetts.^[1][2]

He became a Freeman of the Military Company of Massachusetts in 1640. That year he was chosen as a selectman (member of the governing body) of Charlestown. He was a representative in the General Court of Massachusetts in 1640 and 1641.^[11]

In 1642 Thomas was Master of the Trial, the first ship to be built in Boston, Massachusetts.^[11] In 1644, his name was put forward to be commander of a fort on Castle Island, Massachusetts.^[11][12]

On 27 December 1644 or 1645 - see Research Notes (below) - Thomas drowned^[13][14] in a shipwreck on a voyage to Malaga, Spain.^[1][2][15] His Will, dated 25, 6th month, 1642, appointed his wife sole executor and left his estate (valued at some £1265, quite a substantial sum for the time) to her and his son Thomas.^[16] His wife survived him, subsequently marrying Governor John Winthrop and John Coggan.^[14][17]

Research Notes

Death

There is disagreement about Thomas's death details.

• Douglas Richardson says Thomas died in a shipwreck off Spain on 27 December 1644.^[1][2]
• Charles Pope's The Pioneers of Massachusetts says he was "drowned in the wreck of Cape. Hawkins' ship 27 (10) 1644".^[13]
• An article in a 1954 issue of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register gives his death date as 27 December 1644, with no further information.^[14]
• Oliver Ayer Roberts' History of the Military company of the Massachusetts gives the date of his death as 27 December 1645.^[11]
• Henry Whittemore's Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America says Thomas died on 27 December 1645 on a voyage to Malaga.^[15]
• The Ancestry.com database "Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988" says that he died on 27, 10th month (December) 1645 off Wales.^[18]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. I, p. 562, COYTEMORE 16.i, Google Books
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. II, p. 347, COYTEMORE 20.i
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} J A Venn. Alumni Cantabrigienses, Part I, Vol. I, Cambridge University Press, 1922, p. 410, Internet Archive
4. ↑ London Apprenticeship Abstracts, 1442-1850 consulted at FindMyPast
5. ↑ Henry F Waters. Genealogical Gleanings in England, Vol. I, 1902, p. 404, Internet Archive
6. ↑ Adrian Tinniswood, The Rainborowes, Jonathan Cape, 2013 (paperback, Vintage Books, 2014), p. 59
7. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCPP-TZQ : 15 January 2020), Thomas Coytmore, 1641
8. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F465-QVJ : 15 January 2020), William Coitmore, 1643 and accompanying image, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G97M-59V7-3?i=7&cc=2061550
9. ↑ Adrian Tinniswood, The Rainborowes, p. 188
10. ↑ Winthrop Papers, Vil. III, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1943, pp. 155-156, Internet Archive
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3} Oliver Ayer Roberts. History of the Military company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and honorable artillery company of Massachusetts 1637-1888, Vol. I, Alfred Muddle & Sion, 1895, p. 87, Internet Archive
12. ↑ Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff (ed.). Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, Vol. II, William White for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1853, p. 74, Internet Archive
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Charles Henry Pope. The Pioneers of Massachusetts, Charles H Pope, 1900, p. 121, Internet Archive
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2} Additional Royal Descents in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 108, 1954, pp. 173-174, American Ancestors website ($)
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Henry Whittemore. Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America, Vol. I, 1898, pp. 110-111, Internet Archive
16. ↑ Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff (ed.), Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, Vol. II, pp. 232-234, Internet Archive
17. ↑ Susan Hardman Moore. Abandoning America.Life Stories from early New England, The Boydell Press, 2013, p. 260
18. ↑ Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Vital and Town Records, Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook), Ancestry.co.uk

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

Thomas had no descendants (his children died in infancy).

This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 7 February 2023.

Thomas Coytemore is listed in Magna Carta Ancestry as a Gateway Ancestor (vol. I, pages xxiii-xxix) in a Richardson-documented trail to Magna Carta Surety Baron Saher de Quincy (vol. I, pages 559-562 COYTEMORE) that was badged in 2015 by a Magna Carta Project member. Other trails were identified and badged in 2015 between this Gateway and several other surety barons, including: Roger le Bigod, Hugh le Bigod, Saher de Quincy, Robert de Vere, Richard de Clare, Gilbert de Clare and John de Lacy. A trail to Henry de Bohun was identified and badged later, in 2019. All of these trails are outlined in the Magna Carta Trails section of his father's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".