Elizabeth's father was Thomas Holbrook:
THOMAS HOLBROOK
ORIGIN: Broadway, Somersetshire.
MIGRATION: 1635 on the Marygould (on 20 March 163[4/]5, "Thomas Holbrooke of Broudway," aged 34, "Jane Holbrooke his wife," aged 34, "John Holbrooke his son," aged 11, "Thomas Holbrooke his son," aged 10, "Anne Holbrooke his daughter," aged 5, and "Elizabeth his daughter," aged 1, were enrolled at Weymouth, Dorsetshire, as a passenger for New England on the Marygould [Hotten 286; GMN 7:9]).
FIRST RESIDENCE: Weymouth.
FREEMAN: [blank] May 1645 (third in a sequence of three Weymouth men) [MBCR 2:294].
OFFICES: On 25 February 1648/9, "Thom[as] Holbrooke" was one of three Weymouth men appointed to a committee "for laying out of the highway for the country, from Waymoth to Dorchester" [MBCR 2:271]; on 8 May 1648, the committee reported on its work [MBCR 3:158]. Weymouth selectman, 1642, 1645, 1646, 1651, 1652, 1654 [Weymouth Hist 3:268]. As selectman, witnessed the sale of lands by the Indians to the town, 26 April 1642 [SLR 13:350].
ESTATE: The Weymouth land inventory of about 1643 has no surviving section for Thomas Holbrook, but he does appear as a previous owner or an abutter in land descriptions of other residents [Weymouth Hist 1:187, 189, 190, 192].
On 2 February 1651/2, "Thomas Holbrook" was to have a Great Lot at Weymouth [Weymouth Hist 1:199]. On 14 December 1663, "Thomas Holbrook" was granted ten acres "in the first division beginning on Brauntry line" [Weymouth Hist 1:200].
On 10 January 1644[/5], "Tho[ma]s Holbrooke" and "John Holbrooke" were included in a list of eighteen Rehoboth proprietors "who have forfeited their lots for not fencing, or not removing their families according to a former order" [Early Rehoboth 2:134, citing "Rehoboth Town Meetings 1:37"].
In his will, dated 31 February 1668[/9] and proved 24 April 1677, "Thomas Holbrook of Weymouth" bequeathed to "Jane, my beloved wife, during her life, my whole estate ... at her dispose for her necessary and comfortable maintenance"; to "my endeared children all my estate, of whatever quality and quantity soever the same shall be, that shall remain at my wife Jane's decease, there being six of them, three sons and three daughters, to be equally divided between them, always provided that my eldest son, John Holbrooke, shall have a double portion, and the rest of my estate to be divided equally, viz: unto my son, Tho[mas] Holbrook, my son W[illia]m Holbrook, unto my daughter Anne Rennolds, unto my daughter Elizabeth Hatch, and unto my daughter Jane Drake, to be equally divided amongst them as near as may be"; to "my grandchild John Holbrooke the eldest, my sword"; to "my grandchild Peter Holbrooke my gun and my gray mare colt"; to "my grandchild W[illia]m Holbrook my musket"; to "all my grandchildren that shall be living at my wife Jane's decease, two shillings apiece"; "I do hereby make and ordain my loving wife, the abovesaid Jane Holbrooke, executrix during her life, and at her decease, I do appoint, make and ordain executor ... my loving son John Holbrooke" [SPR 6:200-1]. A codicil was added: "Whereas Peter Holbrooke my grandchild hath been as a servant, and hath been helpful to me Tho[mas] Holbrooke and my wife Jane in our old age, for the space of about eight years before the date of these presents, and still remains with us as a dutiful child, I, Tho[mas] Holbrooke, Senior, this 31st of December, 1673, do will and bequeath unto my beloved grandchild Peter Holbrooke, his heirs and assignees, my dwelling house and about three acres of orchard and arable land, situate and being in Weymouth" [SPR 6:201].
The inventory of the estate of "Thomas Holbrooke late of Weymoth deceased," taken 10 March 167[6/]7, totalled 129lb. 1s., of which 40lb. was real estate: "house, orchard and land adjoining to it," 40lb. [SPR 12:153-54].
BIRTH: About 1589 (deposed 2 November 1666 aged seventy-seven [Joseph Neal Anc 128-29, citing SJC Case #815]).
DEATH: Between 31 December 1673 (date of codicil) and 10 March 1676/7 (date of inventory).
MARRIAGE: St Johns, Glastonbury, Somersetshire, 12 September 1616 Jane Powys [Joseph Neal Anc 128]. She died between 31 December 1673 (when she was named in the codicil to her husband's will) and 24 April 1677 (when John Holbrook was named executor of his father's estate [SPR 6:201]).
CHILDREN:
i JOHN HOLBROOK, bp. St Johns, Glastonbury, Somersetshire, 6 April 1618 [Joseph Neal Anc 130]; m. (1) by 1643 Sarah _____ ("Sarah, wife John Holbrook," died at Weymouth on 14 January 1643[/4]); m. (2) by about 1645 Elizabeth Stream; m. (3) by an unknown date Mary (Jacob) Otis (in his will of 12 July 1699, "John Holbrooke of Weymouth" included a bequest to "my beloved wife Mary Holbrooke" [SPR 14:111]).
ii WILLIAM HOLBROOK, bp. St Johns, Glastonbury, Somersetshire, 12 June 1620 [Joseph Neal Anc 131]; m. (1) by 1655 Elizabeth Pitts (on 1 August 1655, "administration to the estate of Mrs. Elizabeth Pitts deceased is granted to W[illia]m Holbrooke & Elizabeth his wife," who presented an account of what "my mother Mrs. Pitts oweth to me & to others in her sickness & health" [SPR 3:26]); m. (2) about 1696 Abigail (Wright) (Sharp) Clapp, daughter of RICHARD WRIGHT and widow of ROBERT SHARPE and THOMAS CLAPP [TAG 67:38; GMB 3:2072-74].
iii THOMAS HOLBROOK, b. about 1624 (aged 10 on 20 March 1634/5 [Hotten 286]); m. by about 1651 Joan Kingman (eldest known child b. about 1651 [Joseph Neal Anc 133]; "Henry Kingman" and his daughter "Joane," aged 11, were passengers on the Marygould with the Holbrook family [Hotten 284]; in his will of 24 May 1677, "Henry Kingman of Weighmouth" included a bequest to "my daughter Holbrooke" [SPR 1:530]; in his will of 25 July 1695, "Thomas Holbrooke of Brantry" included a bequest to "my beloved wife Jone Holbrooke" [SPR 11:326]).
iv ANNE HOLBROOK, b. about 1630 (aged 5 on 20 March 1634/5 [Hotten 286]); m. by an unknown date John Reynolds.
v ELIZABETH HOLBROOK, b. about 1634 (aged 1 on 20 March 1634/5 [Hotten 285]); m. Scituate 6 May 1650 Walter Hatch [PCR 8:19], son of WILLIAM HATCH [Joseph Neal Anc 116-18].
vi JANE HOLBROOK, b. say 1637; m. by about 1657 Thomas Drake (eldest known child b. about 1657 [Weymouth Hist 3:204-5]).
ASSOCIATIONS: Rebecca Holbrook, sister of this immigrant, married CLEMENT WEAVER [Joseph Neal Anc 128].
This immigrant had a brother John Holbrook, whose fate was unknown in 1625 [Joseph Neal Anc 128]. The absurd claim has been made that this John Holbrook was already in New England in 1626, and was the father of every stray Holbrook male who later appeared in New England [M&JCH 17:89]. There was no John Holbrook in Dorchester in 1635, and this entire proposed family did not exist.
At some point between 1620 and 1635 Thomas Holbrook and his family moved from Glastonbury to Broadway. This move may be connected to the migration of Rev. JOSEPH HULL to Broadway by 1633.
COMMENTS: The usually accurate and reliable V.C. Sanborn mistakenly assigned this immigrant as a passenger on the Hopewell, but corrected himself within a year [NEHGR 58:305, 59:324]. Many later writers have unfortunately picked up the initial assertion but missed the correction.
There are clearly several errors in the passenger list entry for this family [Hotten 286]. The ages for the immigrant and his two eldest sons are at great variance with other, more reliable records, and son William does not appear. There are too many errors for us to suggest a reconstruction of what mistakes the clerk might have made.
The identities of the second and third wives of son John require some comment. In her will of 22 September 1672, "Elizabeth Otiss of Weymouth ..., widow," made bequests to "son John Streame," to "son-in-law Lt. John Holbrooke," and to "daughter Elizabeth Holbrooke" [SPR 6:133]. This testatrix had been, before her marriage to John Otis, a widow Streame. In his will of 12 July 1699, John Holbrook included bequests to "my beloved wife Mary" and to "her daughter Loring" [SPR 14:111]. Mary Jacob, daughter of RICHARD JACOB [GMB 2:1069-71], married John Otis, son of the man of the same name noted immediately above. They had a daughter Elizabeth Otis, who married first Thomas Allyn and second, on 20 July 1699, David Loring [Savage 3:323]. Although this latter marriage took place eight days after the making of John Holbrook's will, he would certainly have known of the impending marriage, and so this is very likely the "daughter Loring" named in his will. If all this is correct, then the second and third wives of John Holbrook were related through a string of marriages, although there was no biological connection.
Savage says of this immigrant that he was "of Dorchester 1652, last at Medfield 1668" [Savage 2:443]. Pope claims that he was "Of Dorchester, planter, bought land beyond Neponset, 31 (6)1649" [Pope 234]. On 31 August 1649, "Thomas Holbrooke of the same [Dorchester], husbandman," purchased thirty acres "lying beyond Neponsett River in Dorchester," and, on 10 April 1652, he sold this same parcel [SLR 1:197, 198]. On 8 May 1652, "Thomas Holbrooke" was one of three Dorchester men who bought a large tract of land "on the westerly side of Charles River about three miles from Naticke" [SLR 1:304]. Later deeds regarding this property connect this Thomas Holbrook consistently with Medfield and then Sherborn [SLR 2:308, 8:1, 10:14, 12:264], showing that this was a distinct man from the Thomas Holbrook who is the subject of this sketch and is always seen in Weymouth, and from his son of the same name, who resided in Braintree. This Thomas Holbrook of Dorchester may have been connected with Richard Holbrook of the same place. The existence of this Thomas Holbrook who ended up in Sherborn probably explains the peculiar statement by Savage that the Weymouth man had "three daughters by Experience, d. of first Hopestill Leland" [Savage 2:443]. In this latter error, Savage was doubly misled by the earlier writings of the Rev. Abner Morse, one of the least accomplished genealogists of any generation.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: The best account of this immigrant and his family was prepared by Walter Goodwin Davis in 1945 [Joseph Neal Anc 125-33]. In 1992 The Mary & John Clearing House published many English records on the Holbrook family, but the section on the immigrant has many errors and should not be relied on [M&JCH 17:85-90].