Williams - Richards Family Tree » Captain William Dyer II (1609-1677)

Personal data Captain William Dyer II 

• He was born on September 19, 1609 in Kirkby la Thorpe, Lincolnshire, England.
• He died on October 24, 1677 in Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island, he was 68 years old.
• A child of William Dyer

Household of Captain William Dyer II

(1) He is married to Marie Barrett.

They got married on October 27, 1633 at St Martin, London, England, he was 24 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Samuel Dyer  1635-1678 
2. Edmund Dyer  ± 1634-????
3. William Dyer  1634-1634
4. Unnamed Infant Dyer  1637-1637
5. William Dyer  ± 1642-< 1688
6. Mahershalalhashbaz Dyer  < 1642-1670
7. Mary Dyer  1647-> 1679
8. Henry Levi Dyer  1647-± 1690
9. Charles Dyer  ± 1650-1709

(2) He is married to Catherine Unknown.

They got married on June 1, 1660 at Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, he was 50 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Elizabeth Dyer  ± 1664-????

Notes about Captain William Dyer II

{{Puritan Great Migration}}
[[Category:Puritan Great Migration Project Needs Biography]]
[[Category: Antinomian Controversy]]
[[Category: Portsmouth, Rhode Island]]
[[Category: Signers of the Portsmouth Compact]]
[[Category: Newport, Rhode Island]]
[[Category: Rhode Island Monthly Meeting, Newport, Rhode Island]]
[[Category: Founders and Settlers of Rhode Island]]

== Disputed Parents ==
Over a century ago, Professor Louis Dyer of Harvard University published a pamphlet with the supposition that William Dyer was the son of George Dyer and [[Shirley-13|Dorothy Shirley]] of Bratton St. Maur, Somerset. This has been disproved, and it is now known that William Dyer was baptized in 1609 at Kirby Lathrope, Lincolnshire, son of William Dyer. William Allen Dyer, [https://archive.org/stream/rhodeislandhisto14rhod#page/n173/mode/2up "William Dyer, a Rhode Island Dissenter -- From Lincoln or Somerset?"] in ''Rhode Island Historical Society Collections'', vol. 30, no. 1 (Jan. 1937), pp. 8-26, especially pp. 22-23.

== Biography ==
{{Notables Sticker|Activists_and_Reformers}}
{{Activists and Reformers|name=Antinomian}}He was baptized 19 Sep 1609 in Kirkby Laythorpe, Lincolnshire.Anderson, Robert Charles; Sanborn, George F. Jr.; Sanborn, Melinde L. (2001). The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England 1634–1635. Vol. II C-F. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society. ISBN 0-88082-120-5. [https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/great-migration-immigrants-to-new-england-1634-1635-volume-ii-c-f/image/?pageName=379&volumeId=7373&rId=22175260 pp 379-___] (membership required), esp. p. 381, citing (among other things) William Allan Dyer's, "William Dyer, a Rhode Island Dissenter - From Lincoln or Somerset?" in ''RIHSC'' 30(1930):9-26
He emigrated in 1635, settling initially in Boston, then Portsmouth 1638 and Newport 1639. He was a milliner (a maker of hats) as well as a fishmonger. He and Mary were admitted to the Boston church on 13 Dec 1635. While made a freeman in Boston 3 Mar 1635/6, he was disenfranchised on 20 Nov 1637 (as part of the Antinomian controversy).
One of the founders of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, signer of the Portsmouth Compact, 7 Jan 1638.
He removed to Newport by 16 Mar 1640/1 when he was made freeman there. Once in Rhode Island, he served in public office under many different roles, including town clerk, recorder, general attorney, grand jury and more. He had a decades' long lawsuit with William Coddington, that even his widow attempted to pursue.
He married first at St. Martin-in-the-field, Westminster, Middlesex, 27 Oct 1633 Mary Barrett;Anderson cites for this marriage Theresa A. Dyer, ''NEHGR'' 94(1940):300-1 she was hanged as a Quaker in Boston on 1 Jun 1660.
He married second by about 1664 (estimated birth of daughter) Katherine ____ She was living in 1687. (Anderson cites "Arnold 292, source not stated") She sued (unsuccessfully) her step children for part of her husband's estate as late as 1682.

He died before 24 Oct 1677 when his wife was referred to as widow.

Children by Mary:# William bp St. Martin in the fields 24 Oct 1634; bur there 27 Oct 1634# Samuel, bp Boston 20 Dec 1635; m by 1663 Anne Hutchinson, daughter of Edward Hutchinson.
# Daughter, premature, stillborn and deformed, 17 Oct 1637# Henry b abt 1640; indicted 11 May 1674 for fornication with Elizabeth Brayton; m by an unknown date Elizabeth Sanford, dau of John Sanford.# William, b abt 1642; m Mary ____ (no supporting evidence has been found that she was the daughter of Richard Walker of Lynn.# Mahershallalhashbaz, b by 1642; m Martha Pearce, dau of Richard. (Anderson cites Austin 146, 290, no evidence given) Along with brother Samuel, was charged by the (RI) General Court of Trials for "larceny against the state," probably for refusing to serve in the military. (Evidence that they practiced Quakerism as did their mother.)# Mary b abt 1647; m by 1675 Henry Ward; emigrated to Cecil Co., Maryland.# Charles, b abt 1650; m1 Mary _____ (no documentation to suppot that he was dau of John Lippett); m2 after 1690 Mary (Brownell) Wait who survived him. He died by 1721.

Children by Katherine:
# Elizabeth, b abt 1664; m by 1693 John Greenman.

== Research Notes ==
=== NEGHR excerpts ===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. It was not until 20 August 1625 that his nine year indenture was enrolled with the Fishmongers, and it was made retroactive to 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 behavioral 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 for Blackborne'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 in Boston.Johan Winsser, "Walter Blackborne, London Milliner, ''NEHGR,'' Vol 151, pages 408-416

=== Proof of marriage date ===The Marriage Record of Mary Dyre The Quaker Martyr - 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
There seems no doubt that this is the record of the marriage of William Dyre (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 December 1635, 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 the marriage 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, October 24, 1634 of "William Diar, son of William and Marie," These records show that William and Mary Dyre emigrated to America not earlier than very late in 1634.
The details of the baptismal and apprenticeship records of William Dyre and other facts of his life and that of his wife may be found in an article 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 Records of St. Martin-in-the-Fields were obtained.Author?, "Article title?," in ''New England Historical and Genealogical Register,'' Volume 94, July 1940, Page 300

=== Mary Barrett Dyer ===Finally, we are able to prove who Mary Dyer was, thanks to Miss Theresa E. Dyer, of Brookline, Norfolk, Mass., who published in ''The Register'' for July 1940 (vol. 94, p.300) the marriage record of William and Mary from the parish register of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London (cf. also Harl. Soc., 1936).
On 27 Oct. 1633 William Dyer married Mary BARRET. In this connection it should be noted that Samuel Dyer, son of William and Mary, named his sixth son BARRETT, obviously for his mother's family (cf. Austin's Gen. Dic. of Rhode Island, p.291)G. Andrews Moriarty, A.M., LLB., F.A.S.G., F.S.A., "Article title?," in ''New England Historical and Genealogical Register,'' Volume 104, January 1950, Page 42

=== The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans ===Captain William and Mary Dyre removed 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth_Compact Portsmouth Compact] of government for that province, January 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 to the 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. His 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 power in Rhode Island and while there became a convert to Quakerism and a preacher in the Society [of Friends].
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.(e-mail from Aurie Morrison), [http://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury02john The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans], Vol. 3, p.366

=== Magazine of History references ===William Dyre did receive a commission the English Council of State (about 1652) that appointed him admiral and, upon his return to Newport in 1653, received a commission from Rhode Island to operate as a privateer against the Dutch. Some of the details are found in: Arnold, James N. "The First Commission at Sea from Rhode Island," in ''The Magazine of History,'' Vol. VII, No. 4, April 1908, 197-207; Vol. VII, No. 5, May 1908, 262.

=== RICR references ===Three weeks later (2 October 1652) Coddington's authority in Rhode Island was effectively undercut by an official decree issued by the Council of State. The new document is explicit in appointing William Dyre to oversee measures against the Dutch at sea -- clear sanction for Dyre to act as a privateer. When war broke out between the English and Dutch in early 1653, William took quick advantage of the hostilities to advance his own position. On 18 March, he had himself appointed head of a committee of seven to oversee the fortification and arming of Newport. Dyres appointment was legitimized in part through his prior military experience, having been directed by the General Court a few years earlier to organize the Newport training band, which had apparently lapsed.
Then in May, the island towns held their first General Assembly since the Coddington usurpation but this was an Assembly still without the representatives of Providence and Warwick. On 17 Mary Dyre was chosen, along with John Sanford and Nicholas Easton, to attend to the colony's part of all prizes secured in the war (RICR 1:265).(RICR = Rhode Island Colonial records, and United Colonies = Records of the United Colonies.)
The next day the General Assembly was more explicit and forceful; it granted commissions to "Captain John Underhill, Commander-in-Chief upon ye lands and Captain William Dyer Commander-in-Chief at ye sea "to go against the Dutch. Captain Edward Hull of Braintree and Boston received a similar but more plainly stated commission (RICR 1:266 and Arnold, 1908). A meeting of the United Colonies noted with concern that Dyre had quickly gathered around him a band of "resolute fellowes" to fall on the Dutch farmes (United Colonies, 51). Some would hold with that old English proverb that Dyre had now put out a bigger sail than his boat could sustain.
The news of these preparations for war and Dyres commission were received with alarm by the more sober magistrates in Providence. On 25 May 1653 the town of Providence noted Dyres commission as one "to make war upon the Dutch." The Providence magistrates were still further disturbed because the commissions granted to Underhill, Dyre, and Hull were awarded also in the name of the mainland towns without their consent and Dyre, in particular, was regarded as an opportunist and provocateur. Where there already had been considerable ill-feeling between the mainland and island towns, this presumptuous appointment became a further wedge between the divided colony.
On the 3rd and 4th of June, the towns of Providence and Warwick addressed "A Brief Remonstrance" intended to disassociate themselves from what they perceived to be the "illegal and unjust proceedings" of Dyre and those who supported him. The commission was characterized as one "tending to war, which is like, for aught we see, to set all New England on fire, for the event of war is various and uncertaine (RICR 1:270).(RICR = Rhode Island Colonial records, and United Colonies = Records of the United Colonies.)
In June, 1660, there is record of a challenge from William Dyre of Newport as to "ye proporiety of our lands and libarties of ye people."Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society, New Series Vol. V, January 1898 No. 4, Whole Number, 20

=== Land transfer from William to Henry Dyre ===
Wm. Dyre to Henry Dyre
: William Dyre of Newport, Gent, granted to my sonn Henry Dyre 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 Mahers Tobacco house stood, from the Cave to and by that tree upon an Equi distante line from the said Stone Ditch downe unto and through the swamp unto 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 Isue only 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 FurnellRhode Island Land Evidences 1648 -1696, Baltimore Publishing Co. 1970 (Collections were made of these land evidences by the Rhode Island Historical Society. Some are viewable on line, like [https://books.google.com/books?id=q49IAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=Rhode+Island+Land+Evidences+1648+-1696 THIS ONE]

=== Death ===William died 18 Apr 1672 Newport, Newport, Rhode Island.{{Citation Needed}}
Feb. 20, 1686/7, his son, William(2) mentions his deceased father and his Rhode Island in his will.will of William Dyre 1687/88 in Delaware Wills: Sussex: General index, 1682-1948; Wills, book A, 1682-1781. Image 348-349

== Sources ==

* Leach, J. Granville. "Major William Dyre, of New York", ''[[Space:The American Historical Register|The American Historical Register]]'' (The Historical Register Publishing Co., Philadelphia, Sept. 1894) [https://books.google.com/books?id=yswQFkkNipEC&pg=PA37 Vol. 1, Page 37]* Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011) Original data - Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook). Death: 18 Apr 1672 Dorchester, Massachusetts* ''[[Space:U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970|U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970]]''. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls. Volume: 249; SAR Membership Number: 49705* Torrey, Clarence Almon. ''[[Space:Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700|Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700]]'' (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1985)* The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635, New England (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Provo, UT, USA; 2013) * Find A Grave Index, 1700s-Current, U.S. & International (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Provo, UT, USA; 2012) * Hatcher, Patricia Law Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots (Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Provo, UT, USA; 1999) Volume: 1; Serial: 8399; Volume: 7.* Filby, P. William, ed. ''[[Space:Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s|Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s]]'' (Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2012)
::: Boston, Massachusetts; Year: 1635; Page Number: 96.
::: Boston, Massachusetts; Year: 1637; Page Number: 191* Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014; Repository: [[#R1]]
*Delaware, Wills and Probate Records, , 1676-1971: Sussex: General index, 1682-1948; Wills, book A, 1682-1781. Image 348-349. Images available at FamilySearch.org: [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C95D-F3FR-V?i=347&cat=47102], accessed 13 Oct 2019
::Will of WILLIAM DYRE of Sussex County
::Signed: 20 February 1687/88::Heirs: wife, Mary Dyre; children: eldest son William Dyre ; second son Edmund Dyre; youngest son James Dyre); youngest daughter Mary Dyre :wishes friends John Hill and Mr Samuel Gray to assist my wife and children also “I humbly request his Excellency Sir Edmond Andross Govr Gen’l of New England to be assistant to my said wife and children in their affairs.”
::Executors: wife Mary Dyre and son William Dyre“Also all my land and horses in the Pequot in Narraganset County in New England ''with all my right and title of inheritance to the estate of my late father William Dyre deceased, upon Roade Island within the province of Providence Plantation and also an Island called Dyres Island lying and being between Providence and Roade Island''* Edmund West, comp. ''[[Space:Family Data Collection - Births|Family Data Collection - Births]]'' (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001) Birth: 19 September 1609 London, London, England* AGBI: ''[[Space:American Genealogical-Biographical Index|American Genealogical-Biographical Index]]'', Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, CT, USA. Birth: 1610 Eng, Massachusetts* [http://archive.org/stream/completerecordof00olin#page/n13/mode/2up A complete record of the John Olin family : the first of that name who came to America in the year A.D. 1678: containing an account of their settlement and genealogy up to the present time--1893 (1893)] by C. C. Olin* William Allan Dyer, ''The Name of Dyer, A Genealogical Record,'' 194* John Osborne Austin, ''Ancestry of Thirty-Three Rhode Islanders Born in the 18th Century,'' Albany, N.Y.: Published by Joel Munsell's Sons: 1889* William Allan Dyer, "William Dyer, a Rhode Island Dissenter - From Lincoln or Somerset?," in ''Genealogies of R.I. Families,'' Vol.1, Gen Pub. Co. Inc. 1983* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dyer_%28settler%29 William Dyer (Wikipedia)]* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dyer/william_of_ri/D1.htm Review of Dyer children]* Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 04 December 2019), memorial page for William Dyer (1609–18 Apr 1672), {{FindAGrave|37682815}}, ; Maintained by Linda Mac (contributor 47062703) Unknown.* Joy-Dyer, Cornelia C., compiler. ''Some Records of the Dyer Family,'' New York, New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1884; digital images, ''Internet Archive'' (https://archive.org/details/somerecordsofdye00dyer : accessed 7 October 2021);

External link: https://www.WikiTree.com/wiki/Dyer-493

Do you have supplementary information, corrections or questions with regards to Captain William Dyer II?
The author of this publication would love to hear from you!

Timeline Captain William Dyer II

Click on the names for more info. Symbols used:  grandparents    parents    brothers/sisters    children