Anne (Humphrey) Myles (bef. 1625 - 1693)

Born before 21 Aug 1625 in Fordington, Dorset, England

Ancestors

Wife of William Palmes — married 1642 in Massachusetts

Wife of John Myles — married before 1663 in England

Descendants

Died 17 Dec 1693 after age 68 in Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts

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Magna Carta Gateway Ancestor Descendant of Surety Barons William de Mowbray, Richard de Clare, and possibly others (see text). Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

NOTE: Son John may not be the child of Anne and John Miles - more research is needed (see research notes)

Biography

Anne Humphrey was the daughter of John Humphrey and his second wife Elizabeth Pelham.^[1][2][3] She was born in England^[4] and baptised at Fordington, Dorset on 21 August 1625 with her father named as 'John Humfry, Gent'.^[5]

The Humphrey family immigrated to Salem, Massachusetts from England in 1634^[6] and settled at Lynn, returning to England in 1641,^[1][7][8] sailing on 26 October 1641.^[9] It is presumed that Anne and her brother John accompanied their father back to England.

Anne Humphrey married first William Palmes, Gent. of Ardfinan, County Tipperary, Ireland^[1] about 1642.^[10] They married in England or Ireland^[7] and had one son and three daughters there.^[11] Their children are as follows:

• Jonathan^[1]
• Susannah, wife of Samuel Avery^[1]
• Elizabeth, wife of Griffin Edwards^[1]
• Anne, wife of Nicholas Lange^[1]

After the death of William Palmes, it appears that Anne returned to America with her four children^[7] about 1662.^[1] Anne married second to the Rev. John Miles of Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales.^[1] It is not known if they married in America or in England/Wales. John had been the elder of the first Baptist church in Wales, founded in 1649. He was ejected from the church for nonconformity in 1662 and fled to America along with his church records and some of his adherants. In 1663, John founded the first Baptist church in Plymouth Colony, at Wannamoiset, Massachusetts, later renamed Swansea.^[4] They had two sons:

• John,^[1] see research note.
• [Rev.] Samuel^[1]

During the Indian Wars that started in July 1675, the town of Swansea was destroyed and the Myles family removed to Boston, returning to Swansea about 1680.^[4] On 15 January 1680/1 "John Miles of Swanzey in the Colony of New Plimouth in New England, Clerk, who married Ann Palmes the relict widdow of William Palmes late of Ardfinan in the County of Tipperary, Ireland, gent. deceased, constitute our well beloved son Griffin Edwards of Boston our attorney" signed by John Myles and Ann Myels.^[7] At court in Salem on 28 June 1681, Griffin Edwards presented a letter of attorney from Anne attesting that she was the only surviving child of John Humphreys, The court granted Griffin Edwards power of administration as attorney for Anne^[7] and Anne sold most of her father's land. Griffin Edwards was the husband of Anne's daughter Elizabeth Palmes.

John Miles died at Swansea, Massachusetts 3 February 1682/3 and his widow, Anne, died there 17 December 1693.^[1][12] The inventory of Anne's estate was taken 1 January 1693/4 by Samuel Luther, Caleb Eddy and Joseph Kent and totalled £5..10..06; Ensign Joseph Kent of Swanzey was granted administration 2 January 1693.^[13][14]

Research Notes

Possible Marriage to William Chambers

In a 2024 article in the The New England Historical and Genealogical Register James Arthur Heffernan suggests that it is likely that, prior to her marriages to William Palmer and John Miles, Anne was married to someone, possibly William, with the last name Chambers.^[15]

The evidence for this, as set out in the article, is not wholly certain, and rests on litigation of the early 1650s, after the death of Anne's father (called John Humphrey Sr in this research note to distinguish him from his son of the same name). The litigation was instigated by the fourth wife, Mary (last name unknown), of John Humphrey Sr, who sought to contest her husband's nuncupative will. An Anne Chambers was one of the defendants. James Arthur Heffernan suggests that Anne Chambers was "very likely" the same as the Anne Humphrey of this profile.

• A group of friends and relations gathered at John Humphrey Sr's deathbed to safeguard his money and goods. They included Captain Benjamin Mason, who stated that the eldest son, another John Humphrey, was absent but among those present were "Hewitt ffynes Esqr, Edward Tyson and Ann Chambers and others of the Children" of John Humphrey Sr. The wording is, in context, ambiguous and the phrase "others of the Children" does not necessarily indicate that Hewitt ffynes Esqr, Edward Tyson and Ann Chambers were children/children-in-law of John Humphrey Sr. The word "others" may be harking back to an earlier reference to John Humphrey Sr's son John. The phrasing may even conceivably mean simply that there were some others present, in addition to Hewitt ffynes Esqr, Edward Tyson and Ann Chambers, and that these others were children of John Humphrey Sr.
  • Benjamin Mason is believed to have been a friend of John Humphrey Sr.
  • Self-evidently, Hewitt Fynes was not a child of John Humphrey Sr. James Arthur Heffernan assumes he was the husband of an unknown daughter of John Humphrey Sr but he may (like Benjamin Mason) just have been a friend.
  • Edward Tyson was husband of Mary, half-sister of the Anne of this profile.
  • This statement by Benjamin Mason suggests that Anne Chambers may have been a daughter of John Humphrey Sr but is not conclusive: even if she was, it does not demonstrate that Anne Chambers was the same as the Anne Humphrey of this profile.
• A 1652 Bill of Complaint by Anne's stepmother Mary alleged that the nuncupative will of Anne's father may have been fabricated and that "Edward Tison, Susan holbrook, and [Will - struck through] Anne Chambers" were involved in the fraud, which was designed to exclude Mary and her son George from a share of the estate of John Humphrey Sr.
  • It is not known who Susan Holbrook was: it is possible she was an otherwise unknown child of John Humphrey Sr by one of his marriages, but, as James Arthur Heffernan acknowledges, this is not clear.
  • This record does not state Anne Chambers was a daughter of John Humphrey Sr.
  • James Arthur Heffernan suggests tentatively that the struck-out incomplete forename "Will" may indicate that Anne Chambers was wife of a William Chambers. This is speculation. One possibility is that the "Will" whose partial name was struck out would have been Anne Chambers' co-defendant William Strong.
• Anne Chambers herself responded to Mary's allegation of fraud. In doing so she refers to herself as a defendant, and named another defendant called William Strong, who was a cleric. She also said that "Mr. Strong Mr. Benjamyn Mason Susan Holbrooke Edward Tyson and some others" were present when the nuncupative will was made. This record says nothing about whether Anne Chambers was a daughter of John Humphrey Sr - and co-defendant William Strong appears to have been unrelated to John Humphrey Sr.

It is Benjamin Mason's statement which presents the strongest case for John Humphrey Sr possibly having a daughter Anne who married someone with the last name Chambers.

Against this background, it must be regarded as uncertain

• whether Anne Chambers was a daughter of John Humphrey Sr, though this is a real possibility
• if she was a daughter, whether she was the same as the Anne Humphrey of this profile - her father may have had two children called Anne, perhaps by different marriages
• whether Anne Chambers was wife of a William Chambers

James Arthur Heffernan concludes his article with a genealogical summary which brushes over the uncertainties relating to Anne Chambers. What is stated in this summary needs to be checked against the evidence he gives in the main part of the article, and other sources.

Marriage to William Palmes

The statement in the biography that Anne married William Palmer in about 1642 would, if correct, suggest that she did not marry William Chambers. But the statement may reflect a misreading of a source which refers to a daughter of John Humfrey Sr who married an Adam Otley of Lynn and was referred to by Winthrop as newly married in 1642.^[7] Research is needed to check this out.

Marriage to John Myles

Torrey's New England Marriages has two entries for John Myles' marriage to Anne Humphrey Palmes:^[16]

1. MYLES, John (-1683) & Anne/Anna (Humphrey) Palmes/[Palmer?] (-1693), w William (below); in Wales?, by 1646; Salem/Swansea [citing: Salem 1:196-7, Reg. 26:337, 31:208; Humphreys 90; Gen. Adv. 4:123; Sibley's Harv. Grad. 3:287]
2. MYLES, John (-1683) & 2/wf Ann (Humphrey) [Palmer] (-1695) (above); by 15 Jan 1680; Swansea [citing MD 19:64; Williams (#4) 32, 33; Lynn Hist 200].

In the article "Pelhams of England and New England" in The American Genealogist (TAG 20:68), the author asserts that John Myles did not marry Anne Humphrey until c1680 and was thus not the mother of any of his children.^[10]

Children

Although Richardson states that John Miles is the son of Anne Humphrey and John Myles, he may be the son of an unknown first wife of John Miles.

Ancestral Roots by Frederick Lewis Weis, 8th Edition on page 204 lists on line 228, #41 Anne Humphrey as only surviving child. Her two marriages are listed, William Palmes, and John Myles. Line 42 lists only Rev. Samuel Myles born about 1684 as son.

MORE RESEARCH NEEDED. From David Leighr, Nov 2020: "Given the approximate time frame for Ann's children's births with William Palmes, ie. Susanna's birth, and the recent information I found in Swansea book about John Jr.'s being town clerk from town's inception and dates of birth of his several children, I can feel confident, John Jr. is a son of Rev. John Myles from a previous wife, unknown. This John was born about 1644." Update: With evidence that all of Anne Humprhrey's children from her first marriage were born between 1657-1662, it appears highly likely that John Miles (whose birthdate is thought to have been c. 1651) must have been born to John Myles and an unknown first wife. Accordingly, he is being removed as a son of Anne's until any evidence can be found to support their relationship. Stevens-17832 23:03, 28 February 2023 (UTC)

The profile for Susannah (Myles) Mason was detached from Anne's profile. Richardson lists only two sons with John Miles. He lists a daughter Susannah by her first husband, William Palmes.^[1]

Numerous sources quote a Court deposition by Rev. Nehemiah Walter, who was born in Ireland and came to America in 1680, that he traveled on the same ship as Anne Humphrey widow of the late William Palmes who had died in Ireland: "Nehemiah Walter aged 38 yeares or thereabouts testifyeth & saith that there came over with him from Ireland in ye same ship of which Capt. Grecian of Boston was Comander in ye yeare 1680 the widow of Mr. Palmes in Ireland, who had with her foure children (viz) Jonathan, Ann, Elizabeth and Susanna Palmes who were her reputed children and acknowledged by her to be her children, and farther saith not. December 29, 1701."^{[17][18][10][19]}
The implication of this information is that John Myles and Anne (Humphrey) Palmes could not have married until 1680, which was well after the births of the children of either of them; and thus all known children were from their previous marriages.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12} 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), volume 4, page 330 WEST 18.
2. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), volume V, pages 341-358 WEST.
3. ↑ Meredith Colket. "The Pelhams of England and New England" in The American Genealogist. (New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1939). Online at AmericanAncestors.org, vol. 16 (1939) page 205.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Frederick Humphreys. The Humphreys Family in America, (New York: Humphreys Print, 1883). Online at Archive.org. page 90.
5. ↑ Baptism entry in parish register of Fordington, Dorset, Dorset Online Parish Clerks and Familysearch, accessed 15 July 2019
6. ↑ Charles Edward Banks. The Planters of the Commonwealth; a Study of the Emigrants and Emigration in Colonial Times, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1930). Online at Archive.org, pp. 109-110.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5} Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Vol. XIV. 1911-1913, (Boston: Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1913). Online at HathiTrust, Pages 119 -121 and Internet Archive
8. ↑ Susan Hardman Moore. Abandoning America. Life-Stories from early New England, (Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Boydell Press, 2013), p. 152 [not available online].
9. ↑ "Early Rehoboth Families and Events: Richard Wright" in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847). Online at AmericanAncestors.org, vol. 99, pages 227-242 (see 232).
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} Colket, Meredith. The Pelhams of England and New England, The American Genealogist (TAG), volume 20 (1943), page 68. https://archive.org/details/sim_american-genealogist_1943-10_20_2/page/68/mode/1up (Internet Archive) https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/american-genealogist-the/image?volumeId=11817&pageName=68&rId=23574126 (NEHGS)
11. ↑ "Documents Relating to Col. John Humphreys's Farm at Lynn" in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston, MA: NEHGS, July 1877). Online at AmericanAncestors.org, vol. 31, pages 307-308: 29 Dec 1701 deposition of Eleanor Clarke.
12. ↑ "Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850". Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). Online at American Ancestors, Swansea Vol. I - pages 26-27.
13. ↑ "Abstracts from the First Book of Bristol County Probate Records" in The Genealogical Advisor, vol IV, page 123. Online at Ancestry.com.
14. ↑ "Bristol County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1686-1880". Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017. From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives; digitized by FamilySearch.org. Online at AmericanAncestors.org, pages 17670-1, 2, 3.
15. ↑ James Arthur Heffernan. An Update to the Later Life and Children of John Humfrey (1597–1651), Deputy Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 'The New England Historical and Genealogical Register', Vol. 178, Winter 2024, pp. 173-186, American Ancestors website ($)
16. ↑ "New England Marriages Prior to 1700". (Boston, MA: NEHGS, 2015). Online at AmericanAncestors.org, page 1035.
17. ↑ Bowen, Richard LeBaron. Early Reboth: Documented Historical Studies of Families and Events in this Plymouth Colony Township, Volume III, Privately printed, Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 1948, page 127 (Suffolk County Court Files, original papers No. 5,400). https://ia601004.us.archive.org/13/items/earlyrehobothdoc03bowe/earlyrehobothdoc03bowe.pdf
18. ↑ Waters, Henry. Documents Relating to Mr. John Humphreys's Farm at Lynn, New England Historical and Genealogical Register (NEHGR), vol. 31 (1877), page 308; Copied from the Essex County Court Files by Henry F. Waters. https://archive.org/details/sim_new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register_1877-07_31/page/308/mode/1up (Internet Archive) https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register/image?volumeId=11630&pageName=308 (NEHGS)
19. ↑ Wright, Alexander. The Descendants of Veach Williams, of Lebanon, Conn., Who Was of the Fifth Generation from Robert Williams, Who Came from England in 1637, and Settled at Roxbury, Mass., Tuttle, Morehouse, and Taylor publishers, New Haven, Connecticut, 1887, pages 31-33 (see especially footnotes on page 32 and 33). https://archive.org/details/descendantsofvea00wrig/page/31/mode/1up

• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry.
• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.

See also:

• Rounds, H.L. Peter. "Vital Records of Swansea, Massachusetts to 1850". 1992. (Boston: NEHGS. 1992), pages 25 (25 Oct 1686 marriage Samuel Avery of New London to Susanna Miles), 26 (Mrs Anne Myles dec'd 17 Dec 1693), 27 (John Miles died 3 Feb 1682/3) [not available online].

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was reviewed and approved for the Magna Carta Project by Thiessen-117 on 25 Nov 2020.

Anne (Humphrey) Myles is listed in Magna Carta Ancestry as a Gateway Ancestor (volume I, pages xxiii-xxix "List of Colonial Immigrants") in a badged trail to Magna Carta Surety Baron William de Mowbray that was reviewed and approved in May 2015 by a Magna Carta project member. The trail was re-reviewed in July 2017 and was updated again in August 2019. Badged trails from her 1st cousin, Herbert Pelham, to Gilbert de Clare, Richard de Clare, John de Lacy, Saher de Quincy, Hugh le Bigod and Roger Bigod also exist and were re-reviewed by the Project in June 2020 as part of the trail review from the West Gateways. All the trails are outlined in the Magna Carta Trails section, below.

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".

See also the related West and Pelham trails.

Magna Carta Trails

Badged trails to Mowbray (2015), the Clares, Lacy, Quincy and the Bigods (2020):

Gateway Ancestor Anne Humphrey (badged/100% 5-star)

1. Anne is the daughter of Elizabeth Pelham (badged/re-reviewed 2 June 2023)

2. Elizabeth is the daughter of Elizabeth West (badged/re-reviewed 2 June 2023)

3. Elizabeth (and the West Gateways) are children of Thomas West (badged/100% 5-star)

4. Thomas is the son of William West (badged/100% 5-star)

5. William is the son of George West (badged/100% 5-star)

6. George is ths son of Thomas West (badged/100% 5-star)

7. Thomas is the son of Richard West (badged/100% 5-star)

8. Richard is the son of Reynold West (badged/100% 5-star)

9. Reynold is the son of Joan de la Warre (badged/100% 5-star)

10. Joan is the daughter of Eleanor de Mowbray (badged/100% 5-star)

11. Eleanor is the daughter of John de Mowbray (badged/100% 5-star)

12. John is the son of John de Mowbray (badged/100% 5-star)

13. John is the son of Roger de Mowbray (badged/100% 5-star)

14. Roger is the son of Roger de Mowbray (badged/100% 5-star)

15. Roger is the son of Magna Carta Surety William de Mowbray

13. John de Mowbray is the son of Rose de Clare (badged/100% 5-star)

14. Rose is the daughter of Richard de Clare (badged/100% 5-star)

15. Richard is the son of Magna Carta Surety Gilbert de Clare

16. Gilbert is the son of Magna Carta Surety Richard de Clare

14. Rose de Clare is the daughter of Maud de Lacy (badged/100% 5-star)

15. Maud is the daughter of Magna Carta Surety John de Lacy

15. Maud de Lacy is the daughter of Margaret de Quincy (badged/100% 5-star)

16. Margaret is the daughter of Robert de Quincy (badged/100% 5-star)

17. Robert is the son of Magna Carta Surety Saher de Quincy

11. Eleanor de Mowbray is the daughter of Joan of Lancaster (badged/100% 5-star)

12. Joan is the daughter of Maud Chaworth (badged/100% 5-star)

13. Maud is the daughter of Isabel de Beauchamp (badged/100% 5-star)

14. Isabel is the daughter of Maud FitzJohn (badged/100% 5-star)

15. Maud is the daughter of Isabel Bigod (badged/100% 5-star)

16. Isabel is the daughter of Magna Carta Surety Hugh le Bigod

17. Hugh is the son of Magna Carta Surety Roger Bigod