Bare Cove, Hingham
Hingham
A grouping of our ancestors settled in Hingham and some of the land holdings of this family included property in “Nantascott.” Hingham was first settled about 1633 and was known as Bare Cove and renamed as Hingham in 1635. At the time it was formed, Hingham was part of Suffolk County although it is now part of Plymouth County.
Richard Ibrook (1583-1651) and Margaret (1587-1664)
Parents of Helen Ibrook (1622-1700)
Richard Ibrook was born at Southwold, Suffolk about 1583. He married Margaret who has not been identified about 1607. Richard and Margaret were parents of eight children born at Southwold four of whom died as infants. Richard was well-established in Southwold serving as the bailiff (churchwarden) in 1624. Richard, Margaret, and their four children came to New England in 1635 and settled at the newly formed settlement of Hingham. Among the property he received, Richard Ibrook obtained six acres at Nantascott and four acres of meadow at Nantascott. He had an additional 18 acres of land. In 1647, he obtained a “small island called by the name of Mr. Ibrook’s Island, it is the first island northward as you come from Nantascott lying to the west of the old planters’ hill and to the east of the Crow Point.” This island is now known as Langlee’s Island, one of the Boston Harbor islands.
Richard had one documented legal problem. In 1639, Richard Ibrook, “for tempting 2 or more maids to uncleanness, was fined £5 to the country, & 20s. apiece to the 2 maids, Rebecca Phippen & Mary Marsh.”
Mr. Ibrook's Island, now Langlee Island
Edmund Hobart (1575-1645) and Margaret Dewey (1574-1633)
Parents of Joshua Hobart (1614-1682)
Edmund Hobart was born at Hingham, Norfolk about 1575. He married Margaret Dewey at Hingham on 7 September 1600, Margaret was born about 1574. Edmund and Margaret were parents of ten children born at Hingham, Norfolk. It is thought that Margaret died in England before 1633. If she did migrate, she died very soon after arrival as Edmund remarried in 1634. Edmund and at least three of his sons came to Charlestown in 1633 and two years later were in Hingham, Plymouth Colony.
Edmund was educated and held important civic posts including Charlestown constable in 1635 and Deputy from Hingham to the Massachusetts Bay General Court from 1639 to 1642. In 1638, he was fined 40 shillings for leaving a pit open in which a child was drowned. In 1639, he was sued for trespass by entering and causing damage to the Indian corn field of Thomas Hammond.
Joshua Hobart (1614-1682) and Helen Ibrook (1622-1700)
Parents of Hasina Hobart (1639-1660)
Joshua was born at Hingham, Norfolk, England on 9 October 1614. Helen was born at Southwold 10 November 1622. Joshua Hobart and Helen Ibrook married at Cambridge 14 March 1637. They settled in Hingham and were parents of thirteen children. Their daughter Hasina is our ancestor. Hasina married Joseph Grafton the son of Joseph and Mary (Moore) Grafton who are profiled in A Mariner and A Midwife (https://www.treelines.com/story/12683-a-mariner-and-a-midwife/).
Joshua was prominent in the local affairs of Hingham. He was admitted as freeman 3 September 1634 and served as selectman in eight years from 1662 through 1681. He was a Captain in command of a company in King Phillip's War and a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1641. He was the Deputy to the General Court 1643 and served in this position several times over the next 24 years. He was speaker of the House of Deputies in 1674. He resided on Main Street in Hingham just east of the First Parish meeting house.
References
Anderson, Robert Charles. 1995. The Great Migration Begins, Volumes I-III. Boston, MA: NEHGS.
—. 1999-2011. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635. Boston, MA: Great Migration Study Project.
Town of Hingham. 1893. History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts in Three Volumes. Hingham, MA: Published by the town.