The English settlement of Maine began in 1623 with the earliest settlement at Portland. But by 1628 there was a trading post on Richmond Island at Cape Elizabeth (named by King Charles after his sister, Elizabeth of Bohemia). In 1631 the island was granted to Robert Trelawney and Moses Goodyear, merchants of Plymouth, England, who made it a centre for fisheries and trade. By 1638, Trelawney employed 60 men under his agent, John Winter.
PHILIP HINGSTON (or Hinkson) seems to have been one of these men who arrived on the ship Fortune on 10 May 1638, with John Holman, master. Philip was described as a fisherman, in Winter's fishing company at Richmond Island 1639-1643. Resided at West Saco (Biddeford) in 1653. He is reported to have appointed Arthur Gill attorney to take possession of a house and lands, fallen to him by inheritance in the parish of Halberton, co. Devon, Eng. II (5) 1646. [A.] ( This should almost certainly be Holbeton - there is a Halberton in Devon but it is inland, near Tiverton and it is unlikely that a fisherman would have come from there. There is also no record of Hingstons in that area ) Philip must have been married to MARGARET because it is reported that when widowed she married George Taylor of Black Point, who joined with her 20 Jun 1662 in a letter of attorney to Peter Hinkson, fisherman, of co. Devon, to demand, receive and let out a tenement in Hobberton [ Holbeton? ], a legacy to Philip from John Wedge and his wife for the use of SARAH and MERIBAH, the two daughters of Philip and Margaret. [York De. I.] This report from The Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire 1623 to 1660, written by Charles Henry Pope, originally published in 1908 implies that Philip died in Maine. However, because he appears to have left only daughters, the Hingston name may not have continued there. (It is unlikely that Philip was born after 1620 and he was dead by 1660, so we should probably look for a birth in Holbeton in the period 1600-1620)
WILLIAM HINGSTON was reported by Pope to have been Master of the ship Hercules , which fished and traded on the coast of Maine and southward from 1637 to 1648. he took a cargo of fish to "Bilbow" 17 Jul 1639; made many voyages to and from Plymouth, Eng. Was a legatee in the will of Robert Trelawney. Residing at Saco, 5 Jul 1653, he took oath of allegiance to Mass. govt.
THOMAS HINGSTON is listed by Pope as being of Portsmouth, NH, proprietor in 1660, dying in June 1664, he bequeathed his estate to his wife (MARTHA) and child (MARY).
GEORGE HINGSTON , bapt 1 Nov 1631 at Newton Ferrers, Devon, England, died on or after 22 Aug 1667 and certainly before 10 Oct 1667, either at sea or at Boston, Mass., was the son of BARTHOLOMEW HINGSTON and MARGARET WEBBER (from Probate Record). He was married 25 Oct 1660 at Newton Ferrers to ALICE GREENSLADE (NF Register), He was a mariner and served aboard the ship Elinor and Christian under the command of John Shepway. His brother WALTER HINGSTON was granted administration of his estate 31 Jan 1667(OS) by Suffolk County Court at Boston. The estate had a net value of £17.9s.4d, mainly made up of wages due. (The information about George is taken from an article by Richard M. Hinchman of Groton, Mass. in the NEHGR, 124, 3 (July 1970), p. 202).
Bartholomew may be the same as one of the potential ancestors of HF#1 Joseph Hingston. The implication of this article is that his brother Walter was also in Boston, but his wife remained in England. A footnote to the article speculates that George's widow was the Alice Hingston who married John Cowley at Newton Ferrers 17 Apr 1683. No children are mentioned.
On 4 Mar 1681, Charles II of England granted the Province of Pennsylvania to William Penn to settle a £16,000 debt the king owed to Penn's father. Penn founded a proprietary colony that provided a place of religious freedom for Quakers. Penn named the colony Pennsylvania after his family, Penn, and the Latin word for "woods," sylvania. Penn landed in North America in 1682, and founded the colonial capital, Philadelphia, that same year.
ABLE (or ABEL) HINGSTON was the subject of an obituary in the Friend published in Philadelphia (2 May 1857, vol 30, page 268). "This Friend was born in England about the year 1661. He was an early settler in Philadelphia county, where he resided for many years. Being faithful to the convictions of truth, he grew in religious experience, and became qualified for usefulness in the church. In 1719, he was appointed an elder of Abington Monthly Meeting for Byberry Particular Meeting, and this, as well as many other appointments, testify to the consideration in which he was held by his friends. He was a useful member of religious Society, continuing even ti advanced age a willing labourer for the Truth, in the station to which he was called. He deceased Eleventh mo., 26th, 1747, aged about 86 years." Able is also reported to have been assessed for tax of 6s. in township of Bensalem, Bucks Co. Pennsylvania 1693. At first glance these may be assumed to refer to the same person (Byberry and Bensalem are only about one mile apart). We know of HD#6 Abel Hingston , born in about 1637 in Holbeton, who had a son, also Abel, born in the 1660s. The son is a good fit to be the subject of the obituary, and we know nothing about the rest of the elder Abel's family. So it is possible that these two Abel's are father and son, rather than being the same person.
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Added 12 Aug 2015, C J Burgoyne