- Born in England of an ancient English family.
- 1630 Winthrop Fleet immigrant
Biography
Anthony Colby was born September 1605 in Horbling, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom to Thomas Colby (1567-1625) and Ann Jackson (1574-1681) and died 11 February 1660 Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States of unspecified causes. He married Susannah Haddon (1610-1689) 1632 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States.
1630 Winshiop Fleet
He was a passenger on the English Winthrop Fleet, which sailed under direction from Gov. John Winthrop from England in 1630 bound for to settle Massachusetts Bay Colony, landing first at Salem. The ship arrived safe at Massachusetts Bay. But nearly 200 of the 600 passengers onboard died in the first year there.
Anthony Colby probably immigrated to America with Governor Winthrop. As early as 1630 he was in Boston, was proprietor in 1633 in Cambridge and in 1635 owned two houses there. He was admitted a freeman May 14, 1634.
Salisbury Settlement
He sold out his property in Cambridge and removed to Salisbury MA, where he received land in the first division in 1640 and again in 1643. he was one of the first commoners of the town of Amesbury in 1654 and 1658 and his widow received grants in 1662 and 1664.
Amesbury Founders Memorial
Amesbury Founders Memorial at Golgotha Park, Amesbury, Massachusetts.
In 1640, the first Puritan settlers arrived to Amesbury, Massachusetts; their first burying ground was on a hill overlooking the Powow River, now referred to as Golgotha. The grave stones or markers in this first burying ground have long since disappeared, along with the identity of the people buried here. In 1903, the Amesbury Founders Memorial was erected by the Amesbury Improvement Association, to mark the site of Amesbury's first burying ground. This person is listed there (along with his son John.)
Anthony Colby sold his house and two acres of land in Salisbury in 1647 to William Sargent, seaman, and removed west of the Powow river, between Salisbury and Amesbury. He had a grant of land for his son John in 1660, and a town lot west of the pond.
His widow Susanna married second, William Whitridge, in 1663 and died a widow in July 9, 1689. Her estate was administered by her son Samuel (Essex Files 38, 89).
Marriage & Family
Anthony Colby and Jarrett Haddon were friends before they sailed for Massachusetts. Many researchers construct that Susannah Haddon (1610-1689) was Jarrett's sister, that she had gone before them with her husband; that he had been fairly prosperous before he died; that Susannah was left a reasonably well-off widow; that her marriage to her brother's friend was an advantage to all of them. Susannah had been attending the same church that the other widows and single women of Boston attended. That is where she met her friend, Margaret, who married her brother, Jarrett
From research and analysis of the children of Susannah and from Jarrett Haddon and their lack of intermarriage; the theory that they were siblings is further validated.
Probably married in Boston circa 1632, all children born in 1633 or after in Massachusetts:
- John Colby (1633-1674) bapt. Sep 8, 1633 in Cambridge, m. Frances Hoyt of Amesbury.
- Sarah Colby (1635-aft1721) - bapt. Mar 6, 1634-35, m. Orlando Bagley.
- child died young.
- Samuel Colby (1638-1716) - deposed in 1692 that his age was about 53. Veteran of King Philip's War / 104 Deerfield Raid and a witness at Salem witch trials.
- Isaac Colby (1640-1682) -
- Rebecca Colby b. Mar 11, 1643, m. 9-Sep-1661 to John Williams
- Mary Colby (1647-1716) b. 19-Sep-1647, m. 23-Sep-1668 to William Sargent
- Thomas Colby b 8-Mar-1650/51 at Amesbury, m. 16-Sep-1674 to Hannah Rowell.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| John Colby (1633-1674) | 9 August 1633 Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts | 11 February 1674 Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts | Frances Hoyt (1636-1720) |
| Sarah Colby (1635-aft1721) | 1635 Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts | 1721 | Orlando Bagley (1623-1663) |
| Child Colby (1636-1636) | |||
| Samuel Colby (1638-1716) | 10 August 1638 Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts | 1716 Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts | Elizabeth Sargent (1648-1736) |
| Isaac Colby (1640-1682) | 6 July 1640 Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts | 1684 Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts | Martha Parratt (1649-1730) |
| Rebecca Colby (1643-) | |||
| Mary Colby (1647-1716) | 19 September 1647 Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts | 27 September 1716 Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts | William Sargent (1645-1712) |
| Thomas Colby (1651-) | |||
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Ann Agnes Colby (1591-) | |||
| Elizabeth Colby (1593-1594) | |||
| Thomas Colby (1593-) | |||
| William Colby (1594-1596) | |||
| Margaret Colby (1597-1625) | |||
| William Colby (1598-1638) | |||
| Thomas Colby (1598-) | |||
| Abraham Colby (1600-1625) | |||
| Richard Colby (1602-) | |||
| Thomas Colby (1602-1655) | |||
| Edward Colby (1605-1606) | |||
| Anthony Colby (1605-1660) | September 1605 Horbling, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom | 11 February 1660 Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States | Susannah Haddon (1610-1689) |
| Matthew Colby (1607-1636) | |||
| Robert Colby (1614-1630) | |||
Vital Stats
- Son of unknown parents (link to Thomas Colby and Anne Jackson/Beatrice Felton is discredited)
- 1605 : Horbling, Lincolnshire, England
- 1630 : Immigration to America
- 1632 ? - Married to Susanna, surname unknown. It has been speculated that Susannah's surname may be Haddon, Nutting or Sargent, but as of this date it is pure speculation. No one has been able to prove who she really is.
- 1660-Feb-11 : Died in Salisbury, MA
Research Notes
Unsubstantiated Link to Royalty
James W. Colby's frequently unreliable 'Colby family History', published in 1895, is the basis for the statement that Anthony Colby of Massachusetts Bay Colony was the son of Thomas Colby, esquire, by his second wife Beatice felton of Beccles, So. Suffolk, England. Since the printing of that volume, this relationship has been repeated in many other publications with elaboration's upon the various royal personages which fill the ancestral pedigrees of the Colby and Felton families. Most recently it has appeared in Michel L. Call, 'Royal Ancestors of some L.D.S. Families' (Salt Lake City; 1972), and in Count d'Angerville, 'Living Descendants of Blood Royal', vol. 4. While the first book is so error filled as to make it completely untrustworthy to any serious student of royal genealogies, the second does contain some lineage's of merit. To the discredit of both authors they fail their reader by not giving documentary source material or references for data contained in their book.
It should not be too surprising, therefore, that the claim of the Massachusetts immigrant, Anthony Colby, as the son of Thomas and Beatice (Felton) Colby is without substantiation and most likely completely fallacious. Certain lineage societies have rather blindly accepted his lineage in the past and, I presume, continue to do so. (See Langston and Buck, 'Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants' Vol ii (1974), p 96--Ed.).
Therefore, in order to correct this lineage purported parentage and to warn those who might be tempted to accept the questionable lineage, the following information is presented. Anthony Colby came to New England probably with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630 for in that year he was of Boston and recorded as a church member. He was of Cambridge as early as 1632 when he owned land and buildings there, and was still there when, on 14 May 1634, he took the oath of "freeman" before the General Court in Boston. About 1637 he moved to the settlement at Ipswich, but soon thereafter moved on to Salisbury, then called Colchester, where he received land in the first division of 1639. Additional grants of land were given to him by the town of Salisbury in 1640 and 1643. Anthony Colby was one of the original settlers of the "newtown", now called Amesbury, where he was made a commoner on 19 March 1654, receiving a grant of land there in that same year as well as grants in subsequent years. (1) He died intestate, 11 Feb. 1660/61, in Salisbury, Mass., and the inventory was taken on 9 Mar 1660/61, (2) with the division made 9 April 1661. (3)
References
- Anthony Colby 1605 List of Famous Descendants
- Pg 575 - Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to Families Boston and Eastern Massachusetts - Vol II -Publ 1908 by William Cutler, Google Books
- Colby Family History Project -
- Genealogy of Anthony Colby