Selling up and leaving Great Ellingham
Around 1638, miller Stephen Paine together with his wife Neele Rose (known as Nellie), three sons and four servants, left the village of Great Ellingham for a new life on the other side of the World.
It is said that Stephen Paine sold his property ‘Heynons’ in Great Ellingham to his father-in-law (John Adcoke/Adcocke), and some seven roods of land and other property to his mother and step-father, Margaret and Francis Stacye. The proceeds of which funded the journey.
Paine Family join a large Party bound for New England
The Paine household joined a large party of emigrants from the nearby town of Hingham and the surrounding area. This included the family of John Sutton of nearby Attleborough.
Stephen Paine’s departure from Great Ellingham may have been due to his religious beliefs. Between 1620 and 1640, large numbers of Puritans left England bound for Massachusetts.
A note written in the Attleborough Parish Registers c.1639 by the then Rector of Attleborough, John Forbie, would suggest this was the case.
He wrote of John Adcocke, who for many years had lived in the town, saying that Adcocke’s ‘dearly loved daughter‘, with her children and a man with the name ‘Payne’ had “with many such other factious people” gone to New England. John Adcocke’s wife died not long after their daughter left.
The Reverend Forbie went on to say that Adcocke “went and dwelt” in his daughter’s house in Great Ellingham where his daughter and her husband, Stephen Paine, had last lived [presumably the property named ‘Heynons’ mentioned above]. Adcocke was said to be desolate and “there laye verie longe in a languishe sickness about a quarter of a yeere, and then died.”
The Reverend Forbie described John Adcocke as a mason by trade, and “honest in all his labours and dealings“. He and many others were sorry for his death. John Adcocke was buried in Great Ellingham.
The Paine Family Set Sail and Arrive in New England
With Master, John Martin, at the helm the ‘Diligent‘ with around one hundred passengers (including the Paine family), left England (either departing from Gravesend in the April, or from Ipswich in the June) and arrived in Boston on August 10th, 1638.
It is believed that one of the sons of Stephen and Rose Paine may have died either during the journey, or not long after reaching Boston. Records only refer to two of their sons reaching adulthood.
The Paine family settled in Hingham, Plymouth County in Massachusetts, where Stephen Paine was granted land. In 1639, he was made a Freeman, and later elected as a Representative (or Deputy) in 1641.
The Authorities of Plymouth Colony granted leave for Stephen Paine to “sit down at Seacunk” (Seekonk), and the Paine family moved there around 1643/4. The new settlement was called Rehoboth.
Paine was a man of considerable wealth, and was prominent in the affairs of the new settlement.
Stephen Paine dies some 3000 miles from his Birthplace
Stephen Paine, a man with his roots in Great Ellingham, Norfolk, England died in Rehoboth, New England in 1679, outliving his sons Stephen and Nathaniel, who had both died the previous year.
By the way, the city of Attleboro lies to the north of present day Rehoboth and Seekonk.
Updated 20 May 2024
Sources:
Extracts of Pages 3, 4, 5, 6 & & from Paine Genealogy, A Brief Account of the Founders of the Paine Family of Rehoboth, Mass. Communicated by Nathaniel Paine, of Worcester, Mass. Held in the Great Ellingham ‘Village Box’ at the Norfolk Family History Society, Kirby Hall, 70 St Giles Street, Norwich NR2 1LS. Viewed 2020.
Puritan Migration to New England (1620 – 1640) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan_migration_to_New_England_(1620%E2%80%931640)#:~:text=The%20Puritan%20migration%20to%20New,declined%20sharply%20for%20a%20time.&text=They%20came%20in%20family%20groups,to%20practice%20their%20Puritan%20religion. Accessed 31st July 2020
Diligent Passenger List. https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ski/scott/diligent.html Accessed 31st July 2020
“The Alden F. Rosbrooks of Queen Creek, Arizona”: Information about Stephen Payne, L. https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/r/o/s/Alden-F-Rosbrook/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0200.html Accessed 31st July 2020
Attleborough Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office. PD/438. Viewed on CD. Norfolk Genealogy Series. Attleborough Parish Regisers. Norfolk Family History Society. Volume 12.
Thanks also to Robin Paine