Bridget DRYDEN

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Will dated 12 Feb 1644, and her estate administered on 2 Apr 1645

Notes:

Name:
Bridget Dryden, b. ca 1563 Canons Ashby, co. Northampton; d. 1644/5 Berkhamsted, co. Hertford. She was the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Cope) Dryden, Gent. of Canons Ashby, co. Northampton. Bridget spent much of her time helping others. She was a skilled midwife, who assisted the women of the community whenever they were giving birth. As she grew older, Anne accompanied her mother on these goodwill visits, and in time she herself became a midwife. Bridget's royal and noble ancestry included descent from Edward I of England through his daughter Elizabeth, wife of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex. Bridget m. 2nd Rev. Thomas Newman of Berkhamsted, co Hertford. Her will of 12 Fb 1644/5 was administered 2 Apr 1645.

Bridget married Rev Francis MARBURY about 1587. Francis was christened on 27 Oct 1555 in St. Pancras, Soper Lane, London; died before 14 Feb 1610/11. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Rev Thomas NEWMAN. Thomas was born in of Berkhamsted, co. Hertford. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
She immigrated on 18 Sep 1634 to Boston on the ship "Griffin". She was no stranger to religion as the daughter of a deacon at Christ Church, Cambridge, co. Cambridge. She was devoted to teachings of the Reverend John Cotton, who had immigrated a year earlier to Boston on the "Griffin", along with her sister Catherine and husband Richard Scott. She missed his departure very much, which inspired her to follow him to New England a year later. She and her husband eventually settled in Boston where she became a skilled midwife. However, she soon found her environment to be religiously oppressive. only the men were allowed to hold prayer meetings Nevertheless, she organized her own meetings with the women in her home, to discuss the previous Sunday sermons. However, she began to tell them of her own beliefs in direct contradiction to the Boston ministers. She attracted hundreds of women, along with many men who joined her as well. Among the men who visited her home was Sir Henry Vane, who became governor of the Colony in 1636. However, when Gov. Van lost his position in 1637 to John Winthrop, Anne's behavior was considered immoral. Winthrop described her meetings as "a thing not tolerable nor comely in the sight of God, nor fitting for your sex," and accused her of breaking the Fifth Commandment by not honoring hr father and mother (in this case, the magistrates of the colony). She was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony in march 1638. She joined rev. Roger Williams who was banished from Salem in 1636. He established Rhode Island in 1638 where Anne and her family lived from 1638 until her husband's death in 1642. She moved with her children to New Netherland (to what is now Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx), where she and five of her children were massacred by Indians in 1643.

Anne married William HUTCHINSON on 9 Aug 1612 in London. William was christened on 14 Aug 1586 in Alford, co. Lincoln; died in 1642 in Newport, Newport Co., Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Katherine married Richard SCOTT on 7 Jun 1632 in Berkhampstead, co. Hertford . Richard was born on 9 Sep 1605 in Glemsford, co. Suffolk; died before Mar 1681 in Providence, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]