Richard Champney (abt. 1604 - 1669)

Richard Champney migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 2, p. 39) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

A summary of his life, delivered in 1855

Be aware that his Norman origins referred to aren't based on actual records.

From an address by Frederic Augustus Whitney, 1812-1880 , delivered in the First Church, Brighton, Feb. 14, 1855, at the funeral of Mrs. Susanna (Park) Champney, widow of his great-great-grandson, who died Feb. 10, in her 95th year, with an appendix, containing a genealogical notice of the Champney and Park families:

Elder Richard Champney was descended from Sir Henry Champney, one of the thirty brave warriors who fought at the battle of Hastings, October 14, 1066, under William the Conqueror. William, after his conquest, erected a magnificent Abbey at Battle, six miles from Hastings, over the spot where" the body of the unfortunate King Harold was found. The ruins of Battle Abbey are very stately, and it is still occupied. The names of the thirty' brave warriors are recorded here, and, among them. Sir Henry Champney. His descendant Richard, came from Lincolnshire, England, to this place in 1634-5. He was made freeman in 1636, and, with Jane, his wife, was among the first members of the Church. Shepard, the first Cambridge minister, in his autobiography, speaks of "Brother Champney " as a " most deare saint." He was Ruling Elder in the church ; " whose business," says Cotton Mather, in his Ratio Disciplinse, " it was to assist the pastor in visiting the distressed, instructing the ignorant, reducing the erroneous, comforting the afflicted, rebuking the unruly, discovering the state of the whole flock, exercising the discipline of the Gospel upon offenders, and promoting the desirable growth of the church." The office, distinct from that of the deacons, was held in most, but not in all, of the New England churches, and has long been discontinued.

Richard Champney appears often in " The Regestere Booke of the Lands and Houses in the Newtowne," (which became Cambridge) as " Grantor " and "Grantee," — that is seller and buyer of real estate, — first as early as Sept. 25, 1637, when he buys of William Wadsworth. His name occurs often in the early town records.

" June 7, 1647. Ordered by the Townsmen that the land on the south side of the water [now Brighton], abutting upon the east side of Mr. Sparahawk's fields, about 40 acres, more or less, is by these presents sold unto Richard Champnis, to be prized by the Townsmen at a valuable price.'"

" Also there having been granted unto bira 100 acres of land to be an addition to his farm, by 12 men that were deputed to dispose to every man his portion of the common lands, it is by these presents confirmed to him ; and he is to have it on the east side of the further division on the further side of the water [Brighton], and is to allow unto the Town what it shall be thought more worthy than if he had it by his farm on the other side."

" July 30, 1647. Ordered that Elder Champnis shall pay to the Town 20s. per acre for the upland lying by Mr. Sparahawk's raile ; 6s. 8d. per acre for the swamp. Also he shall allow for the hundred acres in exchange for that by his farm either £ 20, or else let the wood lie common to the Town."

It appears that Elder Richard first built on this side of the river, in 1647, the date of his purchase. May 13, 1672, a committee appointed to view a piece of land on the south side (now Brighton) in dispute, claimed by Samuel and Daniel Champney, sons of Richard, " testify it is no part of the 40 acres sold to Elder Champney by the town, when he first built in that place [italics ours] and testify that it was no part of the 100 acres which the Town granted him, and was laid out on the westerly side of Mr. Mitchell's lot."

Richard died here, November 26, 1669, bequeathing forty acres of land on the south side of the river to Harvard College, " as an expression of his willingness to further the education of youth in all godly literature."

This was no inconsiderable bequest, even rating the land at 205. per acre, as above. An order, we may remember, was passed by the Court, November, 1644, desiring every family in the Colony to contribute twelve pence, or a peck of corn, to the treasury of the College.^[1]

Origins

Richard Champney^[2] was born about 1604 (based on estimated date of marriage), perhaps in the town where he had his first four children: in Stisted, Essex, England. (Frederic Whitney, in the address quoted above, says he came from Linconshire but offers no source, and no other indication of his association with that county has been cited.)

Richard, with his wife and some children, emigrated probably on the Defence in 1635 (though not listed) (explanation needed) and settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay where he became the ruling elder of the Cambridge church. And, like almost all the first settlers, he was a farmer or Yeoman.^[2]

He engaged in numerous land transactions, being granted or purchasing hundreds of acres in Cambridge and Billerica. The inventory after his death listed real estate in Cambridge valued at over 1200 pounds and in Billerica valued at 410 pounds, surely one of the richest men in Massachusetts Bay.^[2]

Marriage and Children

He married by about 1629, in England, to Jane who was alive at 30 Jun 1669.^[2] Her maiden name hasn't been found. About eleven miles away, in Halstead, Essex, there is the marriage of Richard Champney to Jane on 21 August 1628.^[3] The parish clerk didn't include her surname. Both were single.

Children of Richard and Jane Champney:

1. Sarah, bp. Stisted, Essex, 21 Jun. 1629; no further record
2. Esther, bp Stisted Essex 31 Oct. 1630; m1 in Woburn 25 Mar. 1651 Josiah Converse, son of Edward Converse [GMB 1:462]; m. 2 in Billerica 17 Nov. 1690 Jonathan Danforth
3. Joseph, bp, Stisted 8 Apr. 1632; m, by 1656 Sarah Poole, dau of John Poole of Reading; he d. by 23 May 1656 (inventory of his estate); his widow m2 in Cambridge 18 Aug. 1656 William Barrett
4. Noah, bp. Stisted, 8 Apr. 1634; nfr
5. Samuel, b. Cambridge Sep. 1635 [NEHGR 4:55]; m. 1 in Billerica 13 Oct. 1657 Sarah Hubbard; m2 Ruth (Mitchelson) Green, dau of Edward Mitchelson and widow of John Green.
6. Mary, b. Cambridge Nov. 1639 [NEHGR 4:55]; m. in Billerica 20 Sept. 1665 Jacob French.
7. Daniel, b. Cambridge 9 Mar. 1644/5 [NEHGR 8:345]; m. 1 in Cambridge 3 Jan. 1665/6 Dorcas Bridge; m2 in Cambridge 9 Jun 1684 Hepzibah (Corlet) Minot, dau of Elijah Corlet [CaChR 8] and widow of James Minot, son of George Minot [GMB 2:1268]
8. Lydia, b. abt 1648; m. Cambridge 20 May 1668 John Hastings.

Death and Estate

Richard died in Cambridge 26 Nov 1669.^[2]

Richard's will is dated to 30 June 1669 and was proved on 21 December 1669. An estate inventory was made on 14 December 1669:

• to my loving faithful wife Jane Champney...
• to my 3 daughters - Ester Convars, Mary French & Lidea Champney...
• to Harvard College
• to Daniel Gookin the eldest son of the worshipful Captain Daniel Gookin
• to Nathaniel Mitchell, son of the Rev. Mr. Jonathan Mitchel
• to my two sons Samuel Champney & Daniel Champney...

Sources

1. ↑ The Christian Mother : An Address Delivered in the First Church Brighton Feb. 14 1855 at the Funeral of Mrs. Susanna (Park) Champney Who Died Feb. 10 in Her 95th Year with an Appendix Containing a Genealogical Notice of the Champney and Park Families. Crosby, Nichols; 1855. Internet Archive Accessed 8 Feb. 2024.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F, Boston, MA: NEHGS, 2001, pp 39-46
3. ↑ Parish register of Halstead, Essex, England, Essex Record Office, D/P 96/1/1, images at Essex Archives Online ($), image 84.

• Sharples, Stephen Paschall. Records of the Church of Christ at Cambridge in New England, 1632-1830 (Eben Putnam, Boston, 1906) Page viii & Page 2
• Find A Grave: Memorial #206861126
• American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI), Volume 27, Page 45: Directory of the anc. heads of New England fams. Comp. By Frank R. Holmes. New York, 1923. (274p.):45 A recd. Of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation. Ed. By Ezra S. Stearns. New York, 1908. (4v.): 1113
• Colket, Meredith B., JR. Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe, 1607-1657. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975. Page: 60 (from Filby)
• Cambridge. Thomas W. Baldwin ed. Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850, volume 2: Marriages and Deaths. (Boston: NEHGS, 1915). p 500. (Deaths Chamney, Champney) Internet Archive
  • "Richard, Ruling Elder of Cambridge Church, Nov. 26, 1669."