Pease Genealogy



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To clarify the first few generations of Pease's to America beginning with the immigration of the brothers John and Robert Pease in 1634 aboard the ship Francis. Click for American Peases (on this page)
To help clarify the English Ancestry of these brothers by an examination of the parish registers of their English parish of St. Mary's in Great Baddow, Essex County. Click for English Ancestry
To provide a brief description of the major sources used in these pages and other resources yet to be examined. Click for the sources page
To provide a "Cousins" page to which descendants can contribute their line and make contact with others. Click for the Cousins page


The American Pease Immigrant Family:

Existing genealogies, the LDS Ancestral File, and town historians have confused the descendants over the years for several understandable reasons. The two brothers, Robert and John Pease, went their separate ways after leaving Salem and over time the two branches knew little of the other. But chiefly, the descendants used the name John and Robert for about four generations, and these individuals, especially in Enfield, Connecticut, were the town founders and progenators of the line. To illustrate this, the following chart was created by removing everybody NOT named John or Robert, the sons of Robert Pease (born 1565) and who lived and died in Great Baddow while his widow came to America:

In the late 20th century, genealogist Rick Bart compiled the family into a massive work published in a spiral bound book. Since that time the Martha's Vineyard Museum has published a great number of their collected historical records, including Rick's work on the Pease family.
In three parts: The Pease Family of Great Baddow, England and Martha's Vineyard.
Click for a page on Sarah Pease - Accused Salem Witch - 1692
A summary of an article on a 'famous' colonial Pease ancestor.

English Ancestry and English Cousins:

map_greatbaddow.gif (16161 bytes)

That the American branch of the Pease family originates from Essex, and Great Baddow, is fairly certain. But in reality, firm documentation as to the English Ancestry of the Pease line only goes back several generations into the records, and the American relationship to the English branch may never be known for sure. The English branch has been described by Charles E.G. Pease on his web pages (see the "Cousins page") and it includes some very interesting "fathers" of the English Industrial Revolution.
    The lineage presented by Philip Rice in his book on the Pease family goes back to Robert Pease "The Smythe" who lived between about 1485 and 1550, but whose existence is only told by an entry in the parish register of the burial of his wife Joan: "Joan Pease, widow late the wife of Robert Pease was buried 25 February 1552". Two earlier burial entries indicate daughters, but it is even presumptions to state that the entry "John Pease Smythe was buried 13th October 1556" is that of his son. The family of John Pease "Smythe" is a bit more certain, and the lineage gets even firmer in the next generation, but the fact remains that no records exist further than 1540. For the serious student of this, I have placed not only Philip Rice's version of the lineage online with annotations and notes, but also the register as he published it. There is more about this subject on those pages, links to which follow.

Fifty-six entries of the Pease surname in the Great Baddow Parish Register, 1540-1632
The Essex, England 16th Century Wills containing the Pease Surname.
Also included is the will of Richard Hyches - the father-in-law of John "The Clothier".
The Parish Church Today

Great Baddow Today

Click for the sources page Sources Page Click for the Cousins page Cousins Page

The crest at the top of the page is from Frederick Pease's article in the NEGHR of 1849 in which he identifies it as having been used as the family seal for one hundred and fifty years.

Page updated January, 2020 to correct the crest image.

Feel free to contact me about this page.