John Bent

     John Bent was born in 1596 at Southampshire, England. He was the son of Robert Bent and Agnes Gosling. John Bent was baptized on 20 November 1596 at Wayhill, Penton Grafton, Southampshire, England.^2,1 He married Martha Blanchard on 3 October 1624 at Penton Grafton, Hampshire, England. John Bent died on 27 September 1672 at Sudbury, Middlesex Co, Massachusetts.^1,3
     John, his wife and five small children sailed from Southampton in late April 1638 in the ship "Confidence" of London. Captain John Jobson had 110 passengers on board.
John Bent's farm was in Sudbury, but what is now Wayland. He was one of the original settlers of the town which incorporated in 1639 with fifty-four residents.⁴ He left a will; Agnes is mentioned in the will of her father, John Bent: : ..."I give and bequeath unto Agnis Rice, my daughter, the summ of ten pounds to be paid within a year of my decease, that is to say, the one third part of it, and the other two thirds after the decease of Martha, my beloved wife, or at her marriage."... "I give to John Rice, the son of my daughter Agnis Rice, four pounds to be paid within a year after my decease."...¹