Prence of Gloucestershire, England, and Plymouth, Massachusetts
Thomas Prence b 1575, Lechdale, Gloucestershire, England, d 14 Aug 1630, All Saints Barking, London, England. He md Elizabeth Tolderby bef 1600, Lechdale, Gloucestershire, England, daughter of John Tolderby. She was b 1577, Lechdale, Gloucestershire, England.
Child of Thomas Prence and Elizabeth Tolderby was:

Gov. Thomas Prence [a] b abt 1599, of All Saints Barking, London, England, d 29 Mar 1673, Eastham, Barnstable, MA. He md [1] Patience Brewster 5 Aug 1624, Plymouth, MA, daughter of William Brewster and Mary, [2] Mary Collier 1 Apr 1635, Plymouth, MA, [3] Apphia Quicke, and [4] Mary.
Children of Thomas Prence and Patience Brewster were:

  • Thomas Prence b abt 1626.
  • Rebecca Prence b bef 22 May 1627, Plymouth. MA, d bef 18 Jul 1651, Sandwich, Barnstable, MA; md Edmund Freeman 22 Apr 1646, Eastham, Barnstable, MA.
  • Hannah Prence b abt 1629, Plymouth, MA.
  • Mercy Prence b 4 Jan 1630/31.
Mercy Prence b 4 Jan 1630/31, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA, d 28 Sep 1711, Eastham, Barnstable, MA. She md Maj. John Freeman 13 Feb 1649/50, Eastham, Barnstable, MA, son of Edmund Freeman and Bennet Hodsoll.

NOTES:
a. Thomas Prence, son of Thomas Prence, carriagemaker, of Lechdale, Gloucestershire, England, arrived in Plymouth colony in 1621, having sailed from England on the Fortune. He became an important figurehead of Plymouth colony, serving as Governor in 1634, 1638, and 1657 through 1672, Assistant for Plymouth colony 1632-33, 1635-37, and 1639-56, Treasurer in 1637, member of the Council of War, and Commissioner for the United Colonies, 1645, 1650, 1653-58, 1661-63, and 1670-72. From 1633 through 1642, he received at least eleven grants of land from the colony. He married four times, first to Patience Brewster, daughter of Mayflower immigrant, William Brewster; John Winthrop reported that "the pestilent fever hath taken away some at Plimouth, among others Mr. Prence the governor his wife", this in late 1634. Secondly, Gov. Prence married Mary Collier, thirdly, after 1 July 1644, Apphia (Quick) Freeman, former wife of Samuel Freeman. His fourth marriage was to Mary, widow of Thomas Howes. As stated in Plymouth records, "Thomas Prence, Esquire, Governor of the jurisdication of New Plymouth, died the 29th of March, 1673, and was interred the 8th of April following. After he had served God in the office of Governor sixteen years, or near thereunto, he finished his course in the 73 year of his life. He was a worthy gentleman, very pious, and very able for his office, and faithful in the discharge thereof, studious of peace, a wellwiller to all that feared God, and a terror to the wicked. His death was much lamented, and his body honorably buried at Plymouth the day and year above mentioned."
SOURCES:
ANC: The Great Migration Begins, an ongoing research project by Charles Robert Anderson, under the auspices of the NEHGS, profile of immigrant Thomas Prence.
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