William Paine

Biography

Life summary. William Paine and Agnes Neves established their family in Lavenham, Suffolk, after marrying in 1584. Their children’s baptisms, early losses and marriages trace more than thirty years of family life there. William was buried in June 1621, four days after his daughter Phebe’s wedding.

William Paine married Agnes Neves at Lavenham on December 28, 1584. Their children grew up in a Suffolk town whose prosperity and working life had been shaped by woollen cloth. Preparing, spinning, weaving and finishing cloth linked many kinds of work within the town and its surrounding countryside. This was the setting of the Paine household, although William’s own occupation is unknown. ^697-1697-2

The family grew through the closing years of the sixteenth century. Elizabeth, Anne and Judith were baptized between 1586 and 1589, followed by Susan early in 1590/91. Susan was buried in October 1591. The following spring another daughter was baptized under the same name. Their growing family thus included a repeated name as well as the loss of the child who had first borne it. ^697-1

Phebe followed in 1594, and Richard and William were baptized on the same day in February 1596/97. Another daughter, Francis, was baptized in July 1600 and buried the next month. Over these years, the household changed through the arrival of children and the deaths of two daughters, while the older children approached an age to form families of their own. ^697-1

Elizabeth married William Hammond at Lavenham on June 9, 1605. Sixteen years later, on June 5, 1621, Phebe married John Page. William the elder was buried on 9 June, placing a daughter’s wedding and her father’s burial just four days apart. ^697-1

Agnes remained associated with Lavenham long afterward. Her later will made provision for Susan and Richard in England, while other children became part of the family’s migration to New England. William’s children would give the family a wider geography, but the sequence of baptisms, marriages and burials that shaped his own household belonged to Lavenham. ^697-1697-3

Family chronology. The following are baptism dates, not substituted birth dates. ^697-1

| Child | Baptism | Recorded early loss |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | September 11, 1586 | — |
| Anne | December 17, 1587 | — |
| Judith | June 22, 1589 | — |
| Susan | January 1, 1590/91 | Buried October 9, 1591 |
| Susan | April 9, 1592 | — |
| Phebe | April 1, 1594 | — |
| Richard | February 20, 1596/97 | — |
| William | February 20, 1596/97 | — |
| Francis, described as a daughter | July 20, 1600 | Buried August 12, 1600 |