About the Dyer Family The Dyer Family was ancient in Somerset County, England. There are many pedigrees of it in the Visitations of that county. It has produced many able men, among whom are Sir James Dyer, Knight, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas 1558. He died in 1581-2. Sir Edward Dyer, Knight, Chancellor of the Garter, a poet of Elizabeth's time, who was buried at St. Saviour's, Southwark in May, 1607, and Sir Thomas Dyer, Knight, Sheriff of Somerset 1558. The Dyer family was severely persecuted by King James and was especially condemned for loyalty to Charles I, which possibly influenced some members of the clan to settle in New England (Hills 1977, 82). Dyer-ImageLibrary.xml Hills, Leon Clark, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1977. William and Mary Dyer BARRETT, MARY 1611-12, London, Greater London, England June 1, 1660 in Boston, Massachusetts, buried in Newport, Location Unknown October 27, 1633, St. Martin In The Fields, London, England to William Dyer [Austin; NEHG 94] Dyer-Questions-of-Heredity.xml 1. William Dyer 2. Samuel Dyer 3. Mary Dyer 4. William Dyer 5. Mahershallalhashbaz Dyer 6. Henry Levi Dyer 7. Charles Dyer 8 Elizabeth Dyer The Parish Registers of St. Martin in the Fields, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, contain thefollowing marriage record: October 27, 1633 Gulielmus Dyer and Maria Barret [NEHG 94]. The "Story of Jane Hawkins": . . .tells of Jane Hawkins, around 1637-1653 who was banished from the community (Boston) for "practicing Medicine" to live in the woods. While at Portsmouth, as a mid-wife, she, with Anne Hutchinson, had assisted at the birth of the so-called "monster" of Mary Dyer. . . as related in Winthrop's "History of New England." The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans contains the following entry: [William Dyre's] . . . wife, Mary Dyre, was the only woman to suffer capital punishment in all the oppression of the Friends the world over. She accompanied her husband on his mission to England with Roger Williams and Dr. John Clarke to obtain the revocation of Governor Coddington's powerin Rhode Island and while there became a convert to Quakerism and a preacher in the society. On arriving in Boston in 1657 she was imprisoned and on the petition of her husband was permitted to go with him to Rhode Island, but never to return to Massachusetts. She returned, however, and with William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson was tried and convicted for "their rebellion, sedition and presumptuous obtruding upon us notwithstanding their being sentenced to banishment on payne of death, as underminers of the government." Robinson and Stevenson were executed, but through the petition of her son, Mayor William Dyre, she was reprieved on the same conditions as before, but in May, 1660, again appeared on the public streets of Boston, and was brought before the court, May 31, and condemned to death. She was executed June 1, 1660. Other references: The date and place of baptism/birth of Mary Barrett is unknown. About 1610 and London is speculative. [Johan Winsser] Mary, wife of William, suffered martyrdom at Boston, May 32, 1660. [RIFR] Women who made a difference. Names of the 19 women to be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame October 7 were announced this week" "Mary Barret Dyer (birth year unknown-1660) She defied Puritan church autorities in Colonial Boston to gain religious freedom for Quakers. Her death by hanging helped establish the right to worship freely in the Colonies. [The Hartford Courant, Saturday, March 11, 2000]. Austin, John Osborne, Albany, N.Y., Joel Munsell's Sons: 1889, p. 21; Dyer, Frank, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~; Dyer, Frank, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mary_notes.htm; Register 61:199n, 94:300 (wife); tag 26:229 (wife); Order of Founders and Patriots of America, Founders of Early American Families, Cleveland, Ohio, 1985, p. 102; NEHGR Volume 114 p. 208; Plimpton, Ruth, Branden Publishing Co.,Boston, 1994, pp. 10-13; p. 99; Volume 3, p.366; Winthrop, John, (1853), p. 2:10-11, 1:313ff; New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 94, July 1940, p. 300. DYER, WILLIAM September 19, 1609, Kirkby la-Thorpe, Lincoln Colunty, England or London, Middlesex, London, England. December 24, 1677 October 27, 1633, St. Martin In The Fields, London, England to Mary Barrett [Austin; NEHG 94] According to Winsser: About Midsummer's Day (June 24) 1624 Blackborne contracted fourteen year old William Dyer as an apprentice. Dyer, the son of an affluent Lincolnshire yeoman, was the future husband of Mary (Barrett) Dyer, the Quaker martyr. How the Dyer family came to select Blackborne is not certain, but it may have been through the Hutchinsons of Alford, Lincolnshire, or through the Carres of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, both families with known long standing associations with the Dyers and with close relatives in London. It may also be that theDyers of Lincolnshire knew of Blackborne through one or more of the many Dyer families living in London, to whom they may have been related. In any case, William Dyer must have labored on a trial basis for the first year, because it was not until 20 August 1625 that his nine yearindenture was enrolled with the Fishmongers, and it was made retroactiveto the previous summer. In assuming responsibility for an apprentice, Blackborne obligated himself to serve as a surrogate father, teaching young Dyer his trade, providing him with bed, food, clothing, and behavioral supervision, and maintaining him in the religious life of the parish. In return, Dyer agreed to serve his master faithfully for the set term of years, to forgo marriage during his apprenticeship, to keep his master's secrets, and to adhere to strict behavorial standards both in his master's house and abroad in the town. On 10 February 1632, William Dyer signed a lease to rent "The Globe" in the New Exchange, formerly occupied by Blackborne, for a term of two and a quarter years. About a year later 1632/33 William Dyer also assumed the lease forBlackborne's tenement on Mr. Greene's Lane. By the autumn of 1635 William Dyer had set sail for Boston and soon was prospering in his new home. He was one of fourteen owners of a wharf inBoston. The Parish Registers of St. Martin in the Fields, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, contain the following marriage record: October 27, 1633 Gulielmus Dyer and Maria Barret [NEHG 94]. According to Theresa E. Dyer of Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts: [Dyer Website]: There seems no doubt that this is the record of the marriage of WilliamDyre (as he consistantly spelled his name) and wife Mary, the Quaker martyr. The date of their marriage was known to be between mid-summer 1633, when William Dyre's nine-year apprenticeship in London ended, and December1635, when his son Samuel was baptized in Boston in New England. It was through the professional services of Mr. Richard Holworthy of London that the record of William Dyre's apprenticeship was found. Through his efforts, also, the baptismal record of William Dyre was discovered. Therefore, when Mr. Holworthy wrote: "There seems to me to be no doubt as to the wife of William Dyre and I want to congratulate you on having this information," there need be no hesitation in offering themarriage record for publication. Mary Dyre's maiden name of BARRETT explains why her son Samuel named a son of his, BARRETT Dyer. The Registers of St. Martin-in-the- Fields record the baptism, October24, 1634 of "William Diar, son of William and Marie," These records show that William and Mary Dyre emigrated to America not earlier than verylate in 1634. The details of the baptismal and apprenticeship records of William Dyreand other facts of his life and that of his wife may be found in anarticle written by Mr. William Allan Dyer and published in the Rhode Island Historical Society's Collections for January 1937. His efforts quite as much as those of the writer made possible the discovery of the marriage record, and it was Mr. Dyer who conducted the correspondence with Mr. Holworthy. Acknowledgement is also due the Harleian Society of London, as it was from their publication for 1936 that the Parish Recordsof St. Martin-in-the-Fields were obtained. Brookline, Norfolk, Mass. Theresa E.Dyer The Weaver Genealogy states: William Coddington, who had been a crown magistrate at Salem, was chosen Governor of the Rhode Island colony. Thus, two flourishing settlementswere planted, each having its own government. Absolute liberty of conscience prevailed, and the persecuted flocked thither from the other colonies. These people were so-called non-conformists and were Quakers,and they formed a plantation which, with Providence and Newport, obtained from England in March 1644, a charter under the title of 'The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the Narragansett Bay in NewEngland.'" Coddington and his party drew up and signed the following agreement: THE COMPACT "We, whose names are underwritten, do swear solemnly, in the presence of Jehovah, to incorporate ourselves into a body politic, and as He shall help us, will submit our persons, lives and estates, unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Hosts and to His Holy Word of Truth, to be guided and judged thereby. Exod. XXIV. 3; 2 Kings XI, 17. William Coddington, John Clark, William Dyer, William Freeborn, John Walker, Samuel Wilbur, Richard Garder, William Baulston, Edward Hutchinson, William Hutchinson, Henry Bull, John Coggeshall In 1670 William granted land to his son Henry Dyer (Dyre): Wm. Dyre to Henry Dyre. . . . William Dyre of Newport . . . Gent . . . .granted to my sonn HenryDyre into that part of my farme lyinge at the northerly and thereof: to witt, from the Stone Ditch. as alsoe from the tree where my sonn MahersTobacco house stood, from the Cave to and by that tree upon an Equidistante line from the said Stone Ditch downe unto and through the swampunto mr. Coddingtons line by the brooke. (the fence is equally devided) . . . percell of Land . . . so . . . bounded with a free Egress ingress and regress to and through the land of my sonn Samuels . . . but in case my sonn Henry should have Isueonly Femailes then my sonn Samuell . . . after the death of the said Henry shall Give one hundred and fifty pounds starllinge the eldest to have a double portion the rest an equall dividend of the Residue, but if only one . . . all to her &c besides the Valluation of the . . . houssinge . . . thereon built . . . the Land to return to . . . Samuell . . . 7th day of July 1670. William Dyre. Wit The X marke off. Robert Spinke John Furnell Other references in the literature include: William Bapt. Kirkby la-Thorpe, co. Lincoln, Eng. 19 Sept 1609. Boston (Mass.) 1635, Portsmouth 1638, Newport 1640. d. by 24 Dec 1677. Milliner in England. Attorney General of R. I. Secretary of the Council. Husband of Mary Dyer (martyr) for whom see DAB and Notable American Women. William, admitted freeman 1636, removed from Mass. to Rhode-Island in 1638. Mary Dyer, his wife, became a Quaker, and for “rebellious sedition, and presumptuous obtruding herself after banishment upon pain of death,” was sentenced to be executed, but upon the petition of William Dyer, her son, was reprieved on condition that she departed the jurisdiction of Mass. in 48 hours, and if she returned to suffer the sentence. She returned and was executed, 1 June, 1660 [Farmer, 91]. William Dyer, of Boston, 1635, who wrote the name Dyre, was a milliner, from London, by wife Mary, had Samuel, 1635, husband and wife united with the church 1636, next year was disarmed as a supporter of Wheelwright, defranchised, and 1638, driven to Rhode Island. Other children were William, Henry, Mahershallalhasbaz, and Charles. At Newport, he was in good esteem, Secretary of that colony, and prevailed with the government of ours in 1659, when his wife had come to Boston to preach Quakerism, and was condemned to die therefor to spare her life; but the insane desire of martyrdom led the poor woman bback here in 1660 to the scaffold; serving to show how useless was the unnatural lenity of Endicott, who knew well what the honor of God demanded [Whittemore]. The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans contains the following entry: Captain William and Mary Dyre, who came from England to Boston, Suffolk, Mass., and joined the First church there in December, 1635. Captain Dyre was disfranchised for "seditious writing" Nov. 15, 1637, removed to Rhode Island, and was one of the signers of the compact of government for that province, March 7, 1638. He was secretary the same year, general recorder, 1648; attorney-general, 1650-53; member of the general court, 1661-62, 1664-66; general solicitor, 1665-66, and 1668, and secretary tothe council, 1669. He was commissioned commander-in-chief upon the sea in 1653, and headed an expedition fitted out in Rhode Island against the Dutch. . . . Austin, John Osborne, Albany, N.Y., Joel Munsell's Sons: 1889, p. 21; Dyer, Frank, N., http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~william%20of%20ri/d1.htm; Farmer, John, A., Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1976, p. 91; Register 61:199n, 9 :300 (wife); tag 26:229 (wife); Order of Founders and Patriots of America, Founders of Early American Families, Cleveland, Ohio, 1985, p. 102; Baltimore Publishing Co. 1970; Volume 3, p.366; pp. 56, 57; Whittemore, Henry, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1967, p. 163; Wilbour, Little Compton, 1949; Winsser, Johan, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 151, pp. 408-416; New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 94, July 1940, p. 300.