Person Sheet
NameWilliam CHADBOURNE 
Birthbef 30 Mar 1582, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England
Deathaft 16 Nov 1652
FatherRobert CHADBOURNE (1530-<1622)
MotherMargaret DOOLEY (-<1626)
Spouses
Marriage8 Oct 1609, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England
Notes for William CHADBOURNE
William arrived in New England aboard the Pied Cow 8 July 1634 with James Wall and John Goddard. The three were under contract with Capt John Mason of London's Laconia Company, a joint-stock company seeking profits in the new world. The purpose of the contract, dated 16 Mar 1633/4, was to build mills in Berwick. William was referred to as a housewright or master carpenter. The men began to build the first water-powered saw mill and grist mill in New England on 22 July 1634.
It is not clear when other members of William's family arrived. His daughter Patience may have preceded him, since her husband Thomas Spencer came four years earlier and they may have had children between 1630 and 1634. Mason's list of stewards and workmen sent contains the names "William Chadborn, William Chadborn, jun., and Humphry Chadborn," but also indicates twenty-two women who are unnamed. It is known that the Pied Cow had made at least one crossing in 1631 and that the bark Warwick had made several early crossings, all for Capt Mason, but it is unlikely that William came on any of these trips, given the phrasing of Wall's deposition which implies that he came in about 1634.
Elizabeth is mentioned only in the couple's marriage record. It is not known when or where she died. She may have come to Maine, for there is no burial record for her in Tamworth; however, no account of her has been found in the New World. Some have conjectured that William may have returned to England after deeding his Berwick homestead to son-in-law Thomas Spencer. No record of William's death has been located in England or Maine.
The Chadbournes, like the other people brought to ME by Mason, were not dissenters from the Church of England, emigrating for religious freedom, as was the case with most of the settlers in New England in this period. William's father Robert, raised Catholic, professed to fear God as his reason for not attending the Church of England; but William's family were members of the Church of England who perhaps intended to return to England after the terms of Mason's contract were fulfilled. Indeed, that may be what William and Elizabeth Chadbourne did.
William Chadbourne, as a respected master carpenter and housewright, may have been contracted to build the so-called Great House at Strawbery Banke (now Portsmouth NH) used to house the Laconia Company's stores and serve as a dwelling for the company workmen.15
It is not clear when other members of William's family arrived. His daughter Patience may have preceded him, since her husband Thomas Spencer came four years earlier and they may have had children between 1630 and 1634. Mason's list of stewards and workmen sent contains the names "William Chadborn, William Chadborn, jun., and Humphry Chadborn," but also indicates twenty-two women who are unnamed. It is known that the Pied Cow had made at least one crossing in 1631 and that the bark Warwick had made several early crossings, all for Capt Mason, but it is unlikely that William came on any of these trips, given the phrasing of Wall's deposition which implies that he came in about 1634.
Elizabeth is mentioned only in the couple's marriage record. It is not known when or where she died. She may have come to Maine, for there is no burial record for her in Tamworth; however, no account of her has been found in the New World. Some have conjectured that William may have returned to England after deeding his Berwick homestead to son-in-law Thomas Spencer. No record of William's death has been located in England or Maine.
The Chadbournes, like the other people brought to ME by Mason, were not dissenters from the Church of England, emigrating for religious freedom, as was the case with most of the settlers in New England in this period. William's father Robert, raised Catholic, professed to fear God as his reason for not attending the Church of England; but William's family were members of the Church of England who perhaps intended to return to England after the terms of Mason's contract were fulfilled. Indeed, that may be what William and Elizabeth Chadbourne did.
William Chadbourne, as a respected master carpenter and housewright, may have been contracted to build the so-called Great House at Strawbery Banke (now Portsmouth NH) used to house the Laconia Company's stores and serve as a dwelling for the company workmen.15