GENERATION 11

GENERATION 10

Biography

WILLIAM WILBORE was born May 21, 1630, in Sible Hedingham, Essex, England. He married MARTHA HOLMES in 1653 in Portsmouth, Newport, RI. By some accounts her last name is Potter. She and WILLIAM had ten children in Little Compton, RI.

According to the Manor Rolls of Braintree, Essex, England, WILLIAM bought land in Braintree from Jonas Webb on Mar. 30, 1647, as "WILLIAM WILBORE, son of JOHN." On Jan. 2, 1650, he sold this land to Thomas Rowell and Mary, his wife. WILLIAM was not married in 1647, for usually in the Manor Rolls the name of the wife is given when a person buys land.

On July 10,1654, he received a deed of ten acres from his cousin Samuel, then of Taunton, Bristol, MA. The land belonged formerly to Thomas Emmons. This is the first mention of WILLIAM in America, and is probably shortly after his arrival in the Colonies. On Dec. 10, 1657, he was granted eight acres. On June 7, 1671, he served as juryman. In 1678, WILLIAM WILBORE represented the town of Portsmouth in the Rhode Island General Assembly. He owned property in Portsmouth, Little Compton, Swansea, and in Kingstown, the greater part of which he disposed of by deed to his sons before his death. His will, dated Mar. 1, 1710, was proved Aug. 15, 1711.

WILLIAM died Apr. 15, 1710 in Tiverton. MARTHA died the following year. Their children were never recorded, but are given in WILLIAM's will. Since the births of the children were not recorded in the original records of Little Compton, Newport, RI, it can only be assumed the years of birth were developed by Otis Wilbor in his transcript, and are only approximate.

The original will of WILLIAM is (1958) in the hands of Mrs. Edward P. Garland, of Wellesley Hills, MA, a descendant. In signing the will, WILLIAM uses the mark, "W" for Wilbore. His lack of education is rather surprising in that his cousing, Samuel, and his three sons could write, and the son, Shadrach, was a beautiful penman. This situation might be explained by the adventure to the Isle of Old Providence by his father. WILLIAM would have been the age of eleven when his father joined the settlement there, and would have returned to Braintree in 1647, when the Spaniards conquered Old Providence, thus missing out on formal education for six years.

The work, "The Wildbores in America", fails to identify the parents of William. The book includes him with the children of Samuel (b. 1594, Braintree), but then states that Samuel is probably an uncle. In 1944, Benjamin Franklin Wilbour, a noted genealogist of the Wilbore family, commissioned some research, to be done in England that resulted in an extensive work covering the Wilbore family in England. It was published in 1958-59 in the New England Historical Genealogical Register, Volumes 112-113. Most of the information in this biography, as well as the biographies of WILLIAM's ancestors came from that source.

Relationship of WILLIAM WILBORE to Samuel Wilbore "Emigrant"

              ==================
             | Nicholas Wilbore |
             | b.      -1504    |
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                      |
                      |
        ==============================
       |                              |
       |                              |
  ==================             ==================
 | Joseph Wilbore   |           | Nicholas Wilbore |
 |                  |           | d. 09-11-1611    |
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       |                              |
       |                              |
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 | John Wilbore     |     ......| Samuel Wilbore   |
 |                  |     .     |   "Emigrant"     |
  ==================      .      ==================
       |                  .           |
       |                  .           |
  ==================      .      ==================
 | William Wilbore  |......     | Samuel Wilbore   |
 | b. 05-21-1630    |           | b.      -1622    |
  ==================             ==================