Margaret (Unknown) Hicks (abt. 1579 - bef. 1666)

Born about 1579 in Bermondsey, Surrey, England

Wife of Robert Hicks — married about 1602 in Surrey, England

Descendants

Died before 5 Mar 1666 before about age 87 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Jillaine Smith [send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Bob Carson [send private message], Linda Plummer [send private message], and Kim Elder [send private message]

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

Disputed Origins

Despite claims made on many unsourced online family trees (and Torrey, which uses question marks^[1]), she was the only known wife of Robert Hicks, mother of all his children, and her maiden name and origins remain unknown. There is no proof or even compelling evidence that she was daughter of Edward Winslow; he had no documented daughter by this name.

While a 1978 article discusses the likelihood that Robert Hicks may have known the Winslows-- at least in New England and possibly even in London-- there remains no proof of a last name for his only known wife, Margaret:^[2]

"...an extensive search into the church records of various London and Worcester-area parishes has failed to produce the ultimate proof hoped for."

Biography

Already married, Margaret (_______) Hicks arrived at Plymouth in 1623 on the Anne with her children Samuel and Lydia (others say she came with four children) to join her husband Robert who had sailed two years prior. (Also on the same ship with her was Edward Bangs who would marry her daughter Lydia.)^{[citation needed]}

Last Will & Testament

Dated 8 July 1665; proved 6 Mar 1665/6,

"Margarett Hickes widow of the town of Plymouth" bequeathed to "my son Samuell Hickes" L5; to "my daughter-in-law Lydia Hickes" 30s; to "my son Samuell's children" 10s each "there being seven of them"; said legacies to be paid by "son Samuell Hickes" from his debt "he having already received a large portion of that which God hath given me not only in lands but also in goods and chattels which was not only my husband's and son Ephraim's estate formerly but also given to me by will at my son Ephraim's death"; to "my grandchild John Banges" 40s; residue to "the children of my son-in-law Gorg Watson and my loving daughter that is deceased Phebe Watson," also said estate to be "at the dispose of my son-in-law Gorg Watson"; "my son-in-law Gorg Watson and my friend Captain Southworth" overseers. ^[3][4]

The inventory of Margaret Hickes, taken 5 Mar 1665/6.^[5][6][7][4]

Children

First eight baptized at St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, Surrey.^[8]

1. Thomas, bp 19 Feb 1603/4; bur. 23 Apr 1604
2. John, bp 12 Oct 1605; no further record, but clearly dead before 1645 when a) not named in father's will, and b) when father's will named a younger son Samuel "eldest son". Therefore, we have detached him from John Hicks who settled in Long Island.
3. Sara, bp 25 Oct 1607; bur 24 Feb 1617/8
4. Richard, bp 18 Aug 1611; no further record
5. Samuel, bp 18 Aug 1611; m Plymouth 11 Sep 1645 Lydia Doane [PCR 2:88], dau of John Doane. Called oldest son in father's will; called son in Margaret's will.
6. Lydia, bp 6 Sept 1612; m by abt 1633 Edward Bangs^[9]
7. Phoebe, bp 15 Mar 1614/5; m by abt 1636 George Watson
8. Mary, bp 11 May 1617; bur 14 Sept 1619
9. Ephraim, b Plymouth abt 1625; m Plymouth 13 Sep 1649 Elizabeth Howland [PCR 8:8], dau of John Howland; Ephraim Hicks d 12 Dec 1649 "a violent death" [PCR 3:202] and his widow m2 in Plymouth 10 Jul 1651 John Dickenson [PCR 8:13]^[10][11]

"The Great Migration..." gives a "Bibliographic Note" at the end of the account of Robert Hicks that says:

"In 1938 Louis Effingham de Forest compiled a comprehensive summary of all that was known about Robert Hicks at that date [Moore Anc 295-308]. (This summary includes children Elizabeth and Daniel, for whom there is no evidence.)"

Previous versions of this profile claimed, without source, these additional children:

1. Elizabeth
2. Stephen

Sources

1. ↑ Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700, vol 2, p 749. American Ancestors (subscription)
2. ↑ R.G. Rider, "More on the Robert Hicks Ancestry: Clues to the Identity of his Spouse," in The American Genealogist, Volume 54 (1978), pp 31-34. Examines the possibility that Margaret, wife of Robert Hicks, might have been a Winslow, but concludes that while the Hicks and Winslow families likely knew and possibly even had business dealings with each other prior to migration, it is still just a theory that Margaret was a Winslow.
3. ↑ abstracted in MD 16:157-58
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-897D-VQQ1 : 8 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 239 of 616; State Archives, Boston.
5. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration Begins, Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1995, p 926-7, citing PCPR 2:2:32
6. ↑ Mayflower Descendant, 16:157-58
7. ↑ Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony Its History & People 1620 - 1691, 1986
8. ↑ Anderson, citing TAG 51:58
9. ↑ Belle Preston, Bassett - Preston Ancestors, Call number (LDS?) 929.273 B294p., Page 19
10. ↑ See also: Helen Ester Adams, et al, The Wayland George Adams Family, (1972), Page 59
11. ↑ See also: Charles Roscoe Howland, A brief genealogical and biographical record of Charles Roscoe Howland..., Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing Co Inc. (Year?), Call # (LDS?) 929.273 H843h., Page 30

See also:

• Wikipedia for Margaret Hicks on the Anne
• Geni.com profile of Margaret; as of the following date, this profile aligns with the wikitree profile for her. Smith-32867 13:55, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
• Torrey's sources (vol 2, p 749):
  • Williams (,16) 97, 167;
  • Seaman 82-3;
  • Shotwell 237 280;
  • Blood Anc. 67;
  • Newell Anc. 123, 134;
  • MD 8:143
  • Fulton Anc. 268;
  • Brainerd Anc. 111;
  • Barlow Anc. 190;
  • Cape Cod Lib. 33:19;
  • Reg. 6:187; 4:282
  • NYGBR 38
  • Plymouth (Davis) 332;
  • Duxbury 266;
  • Winthrop-Babcock 262;
  • Davol-Willets 96; Sh
• A former Rootswb Freepages web page (no longer online) by Thomas E Corey], who sites:
  • Rep Men & Old Families of Rhode Island V. 3, pg 1609
  • Sir Ellis Hicks and descendants pg 77
  • Morman Microfiche - Co Surrey, England Lists as children of Robert & Margaret (Winslow [sic]) Hix
  • Little Comptons Families vol 1 page 338, ,which cites:
  • Pearce papers in the New Bedford public library,
  • the Woodworth Genealogy,
  • the Leonard papers,
  • the Tabor collection at the Rhode Island Historical Society.