Born in the Dorset area in England in the late 1500s (1575?), William LANE was known to be in Dorchester about 1635, and settled in Hingham by 1637. Question marks about his marriage show the following (p.450, C.A. Torrey's "New England Marriages Prior to 1700," rev. 1992):
Clearly there are more questions than answers about his marriage and birthdate on this record. Taken from the 1992 revision, note that all settlers and wives were listed, with information about birth, date, places, if known or identified. Unfortunately, this marriage item leaves me full of questions. We clearly don't know if the woman with him was his 1st wife and mother of some or all of his children or, was his 2nd wife, possibly mother of any or none of his children. His wife's name is not confirmed.
The record of the Hopewell 1635 shows passengers "William Lane and family". The Great Migrations apparently describe the family as likely including : "William Lane of Beaminster, Dorset, who settled at Hingham, MA. Family members: Agnes Farnsworth, wife; Avis (Lane) Lincoln, 28, daughter, and her husband, Thomas Lincoln; Andrew Lane, 24, son, and daughters Mary and Elizabeth Lane."
His children were as follows, all born in Dorsetshire, England between 1606-1619, not listed in any particular order :
- Agnes/Avis/Anis, m. before 1635 to Thomas Lincoln "The Cooper"; settled in Hingham
- *Andrew [direct ancestor] abt 1610, m. abt 1639 in Hingham to Tryphena [1612-1670]; Hingham
- Elizabeth, m. Thomas Rider
- George, m. Sarah _____
- Mary, m. (1) Joseph Long, and (2) Joseph Farnsworth
- William,
- Sarah,
He is known to have owned a number of parcels of land in Hingham area. He apparently worked as a farmer and also as a "felt-maker".
William died before 6 July 1654, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, possibly where his daughter Elizabeth (Lane) Rider and family lived; this date is when his will was probated. The will was signed and dated "28. 12 mo 1650." The following was taken from the Abstract of the will:
"William LANE, of Dorchester. Inventory, prized by John Wiswall, Wm Clarke, 5 July 1654.
Amt. 82. 10. 08 1/2. Joseph Farnsworth deposed. [Will, vol. V. p. 364.] (See p.54)."
His will lists his children with daughters' married names (note variant spellings), in transcribed Suffolk County Wills (p. 54 mentioned above). Interestingly, in the will, he calls Joseph Farnsworth his "beloved brother", rather than ?brother-in-law. This does give some credence that his wife was indeed Agnes Farnsworth; however, it is still not proved.
If you have questions or more information about William Lane and his family, I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below, or contact me via calewis at telus dot net.
